Thoughts for Life: #23 Hearing from Heaven

Alvin Vandergriend- Prayer is a dialog between the believer and God — a dialog of love. It's two-way communication that involves both talking and listening. That's the kind of prayer relationship God wants with us. Prayer isn't complete if we do all the talking and expect God to do all the listening. True prayer requires both.

When Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice," He meant that people who are truly believers recognize and respond to His voice. That's the kind of listening that prayer requires.
https://unsplash.com/s/photos/talking-with-god- Nathan McBride

A tourist traveling early one morning in an eastern country spotted a number of sheep in a fold. Shepherds standing at the gate of the sheepfold were calling their sheep one by one out of the fold and taking them to pasture. "Would you let me call out your sheep?" said the stranger to one of the shepherds. "Sure," said the shepherd, with a smile, and told him what to say.

The stranger called for the sheep to come out, using the very words the shepherd had given him. Not a sheep moved, though he called several times. Finally, the shepherd stepped forward and called to his sheep with the same words he had given to the stranger. In response to his call, the sheep came out of the fold and followed him into the fields. They knew his voice.

Prayer is all about hearing our Shepherd's voice. In fact, when we pray, it's probably more important to listen than to speak. After all, God has far more to say than you or I do. Before rushing into God's presence with your thoughts and needs, be attentive to what God is trying to tell you.

Hearing God also means a readiness to obey. God does not speak just to give people a chance to decide if they want to obey. God speaks to those who take Him seriously and who stand ready to respond to whatever He says.

When listening, be sure that the voice you hear is the Shepherd's voice. There are other voices clamoring for attention — the voice of the evil one, the voices of the world, and the inner voices of your own selfish desires.

The better you know the Shepherd, the more sure you will be of His voice. If you are unsure, ask Jesus to open your ears to His voice and to close your ears to the misleading voices of the enemy. He will be more than happy to do that.

If this kind of listening is new to you, begin by asking the Shepherd to tune your ears to His voice. Be conscious of Him. Expect to hear His voice. Be prepared for His voice to break through at any time of the day for any purpose. And be ready to respond.

The Shepherd is eager for you to hear His voice! Are you as eager to listen?

(pp. 62, 63 in Love to Pray- 40 Day Devotional for Deepening Your Prayer Life by Alvin Vandergriend)

Let's pray-

Father, help us understand that prayer consists of both You and our talking. Make us mindful of our need to listen for Your Voice when we pray. A two-way communication with You is what You desire to happen.

We know that there have been times that You've impressed us with Your thoughts, even when we were not attentively listening. May we learn to be more open to what You're telling us! We want to obey Your Voice of direction, even correction, as we want Your will to be done in and through us.

We are thankful that You can cause us to hear Your Voice when You tell us the truth about Yourself, ourselves and others we connect with. We confess to our lack of attention to Your speaking to us, as we may have had closed ears to You, and have been opened to the evil one.

Help us intercede for those who do not invite Your Spirit to speak clearly to them in their praying; for this may cause them to stray from the truth. When in times past we have had to deal with people who caused a troubled relationship, we ask that You please help us to wait in prayerful silence for Your direction concerning meeting with them again. May we write down what we think You're saying, compare it with Scripture, and then obey what we believe You tell us to do.

Today's Bible verses-

John 10:27 (NKJV) "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me."

Romans 12:1-2 (NKJV) "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. (v. 2) And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."

Quote for today-

~ Octavius Winslow- (1808-1878) "You shall see greater things than you have yet seen: greater depths of your sin shall be revealed; deeper sense of the cleansing efficacy of the atoning blood shall be felt; clearer views of your acceptance in the Beloved; greater discoveries of God's love; and greater depths of grace and glory in Jesus shall be enjoyed.

Your communion with God shall be close, and more the fruit of adopting love in your heart. Your feet shall be as hinds' feet and you shall walk on high places. Your peace shall flow as a river, and your righteousness as the waves of the sea. Sorrow shall wound you less deeply, affliction shall press you less heavily, tribulation shall affect you less keenly; all this, and infinitely more, will result from your deeper knowledge of Jesus."

Today's question-

What happened when Gabriel showed up!

When the angel, Gabriel, came to young Mary that day, many years ago, she was startled and wondered at his message for her. It turned out that she was favored by God, and would be impregnated with His Son.

She was honored by this, but was confused as to how it would happen, as she and Joseph were not together yet as man and wife. She was told that she would be

overshadowed by God's Holy Spirit, and would become pregnant with the Son of the Most High God, and that He would save His people from their sins.

Mary was grateful for this honor, and proclaimed her readiness to obey what the angel told her. She proclaimed her willingness to do what she was told, believing that God would enable her to accomplish what He'd revealed to her.

She was also told that her cousin, Elizabeth, who'd been barren, was pregnant. She immediately left for her house, which was 80 miles away, a 7-10 day walking trip, to see the evidence of what she was told.

Her cousin greeted her with the greetings: the "mother of my Lord!" This encouraged them both to believe that what had been told to Mary had been true. She celebrated the news with Elizabeth, staying till she delivered her son, John, and then went home. Mary knew that the baby within her was the Son of God, and that He was to be named, Jesus!

May we also receive the challenges God gives us, and to obey them for our good and for Christ's glory in His kingdom work. Mary's willingness to serve God should inspire us to listen to His voice, too. May we be willing to walk out what we've been told from what we read in the Bible. We are encouraged to celebrate life itself through what our particular mission is for Him.

When Christ comes into our lives and redirects our ways, everything changes!