Day 7.. Quiet Listening

Day 7... Quiet Listening

Bible verse;

One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.  Luke 6:12

My apologies for the delay in this post, I wondered how long it would take before I faltered, and I allowed myself to be distracted.  I pray I do not let it happen again.  Please forgive me.

We live in a world that is so full of noise, not all of it bad but a lot of it can be such a time waster.  I spend many days driving to work without the radio on, on purpose.  I do most of my praying in the car on the way to work, but as the author says "prayer also involves listening, quietly listening for Christ to talk to us."  I need to continue working on this and pray for God to help me.  I find it difficult to stop the noise in my head sometimes. I have not learned to recognize God's voice yet.  That doesn't mean I'm not listening for it, or being guided by it, I just haven't waited long enough or been patient long enough to actually hear it.

Once we stop talking and quietly listen for His reply, we realize that;

• Christ can help us better understand our situation.  He helps us to see it more clearly.
• Christ can help us put our situation into perspective.  He helps us to be able to manage that situation better.
• Christ reminds us that we are not alone in facing whatever situation we are faced with at that time.  He is with us always.
• Christ gives us the right attitude or frame of mind with which to see things.  Isn't this wonderful, we may be angry or feel defeated about a particular situation, but once we start to pray about it he softens our heart or encourages us that with His help we can endure, or climb the mountain.
• Quietly listening give Christ the chance to work in our life or in circumstances in ways that He would not do if we did not come to Him and wait before Him.  Isn't it wonderful that the Creator is willing to wait on us, we need to learn to wait for Him.

During the days that will come while we are walking on this journey, there are things we can do to quiet our environment and learn to listen for Him;

• Turn off the television, radio, etc
• Go for a walk on in the woods, or on a trail where it is just you, nature and God
• Take a drive without the radio on and listen for God
• Take a retreat; lesson your obligations, take time away from a busy schedule to listen for God
• Sunday was God's day of rest, go to worship then learn ways to spend time with Him on your own, reading a devotional, and sitting quietly listening.

Remember that taking the time to be quiet, or sit quietly is not just "logging time", it is not a one way street, we still need to do our part, we need to actively listen, and expect to hear God's voice.  "Christ speaks to us; we must tune our ears to hear Him."

God Bless