Learning how to hear from God
Early this morning, three dear friends and I gathered together to pray. One friend will undergo hip surgery and another will undergo brain surgery — all in this same week — so we met to lift these women up in prayer.
Over the weekend, I read a really neat book about hearing from God. The author explains that as we spend time building a relationship with God, we can learn to hear from Him. Similarly, when you spend time with a friend, you get to know him/her. I know it may sound weird — to become friends with God — but the author reminds us that God‘s entire character is goodness and love. As we build a relationship with Him built on this love, God will direct us to show His love to others in a variety of ways (i.e. helping someone pay his/her rent, giving a person an encouraging word, volunteering at a preschool). After reading the book, I excitedly pondered the ways God may be speaking to me, but soon thought Wait, God doesn’t speak to me. Yes, I see him in nature and hear him through books and people, but I don’t really hear words in my mind all the time like this guy does.
During this season of life, in a variety of ways, God has repeatedly answered questions I’ve asked Him. God, what is your heart like? God, what does this mean in the Bible? God, what do you think about this? And He has “spoken” to me through names of boats in the harbor and bright orange fish and people’s words. So I decided to ask God, will you speak to me like you speak to this author? Hey, it’s worth a try, right?
God is so cool. So early this morning, I rolled out of bed, barely brushed my teeth and headed out the door to pray with the girls. As I was leaving, I asked myself, Should I bring my Bible? Almost instantly, the words “Psalm 91” entered my head. So I took that as a yes and headed out the door, Bible in hand.
We finished praying together and I told the girls that Psalm 91 popped into my head this morning. I opened up my Bible to read:
“Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.’
Surely he will save you
from the fowler’s snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
He will cover you with his feathers,
and under His wings you will find refuge;
His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.”
-Psalm 91:1–4
The Psalm goes on to explain God’s protection. Pretty awesome reminder as these women head into some pretty big surgeries. One of the women let me know that she had been praying Psalm 91 all week! Coincidence? No way — that’s a God sighting folks!
God answered my prayer. What I love most about it is that it was all Him. I rolled out of bed this morning barely awake. I wasn’t even really thinking yet (I am really not a morning person). But God made sure I heard “Psalm 91” in my mind and He used it to encourage my friends.
God knows the desires of our hearts. I think He loves when we express our hearts to Him. And He loves to share His heart with us. When our prayer is to know Him better, I think He always finds a way to answer that prayer. He delights in knowing us — His creation — and delights in us knowing Him. The best part — you don’t have to be qualified. You don’t have to be perfect. You don’t even have to be wide awake. If you seek Him with all your heart, you will find Him (Jeremiah 29:13). And that’s a promise.
Joyfully,
Lauren
