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~ I’ve been suggesting for the past several weeks that prayer is the “rhythm of life”. It is the invitation and freedom to share your day/life with the God who so desires to be with you that you need not fear “doing it wrong”. “…in everything… prayer … with thanksgiving” (Philippians 4:6-7) 1 Peter 5:7 “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you”. Our prayers need not include any unnecessary effort at getting God to care… because he already does! ● I have discovered that there is a (2)-way dynamic that always exists in any healthy relationship: they must seek each other! An on-going sense of discovery. So, prayer becomes, for me, simply the appropriate response to the God who “reaches”… “reach back”! ● And maybe, within that context, prayer shouldn’t feel like such effort; maybe it shouldn’t be about exchanging information, but simply the free exchange of hearts… God’s and mine. We ‘communicate’, but we don’t ‘commune’ (lit. ‘intimacy; heightened sensitivity and receptivitiy’) I discover, in the life of Jesus, that God places very little emphasis on techniques and formalities. Mostly, I think God cares about being noticed and loved and trusted. When I’m praying from my head, I’m saying what I think God wants to hear. When I’m praying from my heart, I’m saying what I need to say… which is what he wants to hear! Reflections on hearing God… ► Our very nature requires that God speaks. God has actually designed us in such a way that necessitates communication with him. So, being human does not prevent us from communicating with God (listening/speaking); it actually makes it possible! ►There are situations in our life which will demand “uncommon sense”. 1 Corinthians 2:10-16 (read) Paul contrasts (2) human conditions: “with the Spirit”- aware; responsive to a new (renewed) order for life. “without the Spirit”- unresponsive to God (unseen); purposed to rely solely on human reason and logic for explanations of reality. ● As Christians, our belief in an “open universe” (where God is uniquely “other”, but involved) must embrace the notion that God is not only free to act within his creation, but to do so in ways that he determines best (even if those ways are supernatural; or beyond our explanation). With that understanding, we must also be cautioned that we not limit the ways in which God can speak. He must be free to choose the medium and we must simply learn to be more aware (i.e. whether it’s burning bushes, or talking donkeys: Numbers 22). ►Know that you will struggle with both how to hear and what you hear. Honestly, most often it’s hard to tell whether it’s me or God, because He sounds just like me! John 16:12 “I have so much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Holy Spirit comes, he will guide you into all truth”. ● Because life is not scripted or scheduled, there must be an avenue for continued dialogue in order to communicate what I call “situational truth” (wisdom- the application of truth for your particular situation), much of which would appear irrelevant now, but is timely for our life-circumstance (i.e. like teaching parenting classes to 2nd graders: it has nothing to do with the content or the information, but the readiness of the learner). It allows God to speak and offer guidance, not just in generalizations, but in ways which address specific situation. ● In this process, I believe there’s something about learning to discern God’s voice which is best developed in the community of Christ-followers. - those in the community are often able to assist us in our awareness (1 Samuel 3:8-9: Eli and Samuel). - God often uses those very people to speak to you! (“I felt like you were talking to me!” Ever considered it was God trying to get your attention through me?) - that there will be times when it becomes necessary to enlist the prayerful-support of others (i.e. elders, confession, etc.) I have found that there are times that we are so emotionally overwhelmed that we’re not sure that we can pray. During those times, we learn to rely on the strength (faith) of others. ►Know that God will never “trump” you with His guidance. One of the consistent themes addressed in the scriptures is God’s desire to consistently interact with us and to do so in such a way as to share life with us without violating our freedom. This idea of a more personal, inward manner of relating to us seems most consistent with God’s nature- love. ● God must deal with us in such a way as to not overwhelm or coerce a response form us; He won’t make us love Him back! ● So, in love he becomes most vulnerable; he taps on our hearts in such a way that we can “quench” (supress) his attempts or “grieve” (make sorrowful) him. That language is not that of anger over a rule being violated, but a heart being broken (1 Thessalonians 5:19; Eph.4:30). ● So, his desire is to develop us into the kind of people who share his heart and are not merely good at following orders (to know his heart and respond without having to be told). ►Pay attention to your heart. The explicit teaching about the new creation is that we have been given a new heart; and do you realize what that means… for the first time our hearts can be trusted! (that’s why they are to be ‘guarded’). So, when you set out to hear God, don’t expect it to come from above you or around you, but within you (John 14:17 “with you and in you”). ● It often comes as an impression on our heart so subtle it can be ignored, yet so compelling that we can’t let it go; sometimes it is prompting us to take some sort of action and at other times, it seems to be an attempt at restraining us. While many of the thoughts we think come from the ordinary function of our consciousness (awareness), sometimes we find thoughts that seem to come from somewhere else; thoughts so out of the ordinary that it could not likely be attributed to our own sensitivity. ● I have had moments of incredible insight which I was fully aware were not the product of my own capabilities or sensitivities. “But how can I trust it?” General principle: Unless it clearly violates a God-ordained boundary, or contradicts God’s word in principle or the revelation of his nature, we should feel free to experiment with our understanding. So, guidance involves choice. ►What do you want? It stands to reason, then, that with the coming of God’s Spirit, our nature has been radically altered in such a way that it “re-shapes” our perspective (Philippians 2:13 “For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him”). ● Assume that once you’ve taken all the necessary measures to attain wisdom but don’t sense a particular direction… you are free to “choose” (Exodus 14:15 Moses at Red Sea: “Why are you crying out to me; raise the staff!) Maybe ‘confirmation’ is not what we need; maybe it’s courage! ● One of the most effective ways that God has of revealing our hearts is what we choose when we are allowed! When God says, “What do you want?” ►Does it sound like God? Matthew 12:19 “He won’t yell, won’t raise his voice; there’ll be no commotion in the streets. He won’t walk over anyone’s feelings, won’t push you into a corner” (Message). ● Most often, God whispers. For the most part, God will not compete for our attention; he won’t yell over the other noises so that He will be heard… you won’t find him that aggressive. Our willingness to ‘stop the noise’ demonstrates our desire for communication. What does God sound like? ● Know that there will be other voices. 1 John 4:1 says that we are to “test” the spirits; discerning; defining. Each voice will have a ‘tone’, or ‘attitude’, or ‘agenda’ associated with them. Sometimes it’s our own conscious or old tapes from our past (in the future it will be “old MP3s from our past). Sometimes, it’s demonic in origin (John 13:2 “The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot to betray Jesus…”). ● We learn to recognize voices by experience. Individual voices have certain distinctive qualities which identify the speaker even when we cant’ see them and which distinguish them from other voices (we sense their mood; their intent). When you answer the phone and hear the other person’s voice, you automatically do this mental search through the directory in attempt to determine the identity of the caller. The more frequent your communication with that person, the easier it is to identify them. [It’s just too bad that when God attempts to address us we don’t have some spiritual form of “Caller ID”!] Ask yourself… “How is it being said?” Is the tone harsh or demanding; critical or condemning? All inconsistent with God.
“What is being said?”
What’s the content; is it consistent with what’s revealed about God in the
Bible? (i.e. we say things like, “That sounds like something ________ would
say”. Because of our experience of another’s attitudes and thoughts. Or, by
the same token, “That doesn’t sound like ___________”.) |
