Walking and Talking with God (Part II)
If you missed Part 1 you can read it here.
Listening to God and obeying His voice may be new to most American Christians. We’ve been taught to go to church, sing songs, give money, and ask God to bless us. Our prayers are a lot more talking than listening. Inviting God into our decisions . . . asking Him for specific guidance requires patience and intentionality. When we do it, and when He answers with specificity, it’s way cool. We know what to do. Then it’s all about obedience. Execution.
But it’s a stretch to think God wants us wrestling with every decision. He loves us way more than that. I’ve experienced God’s involvement in my daily stuff in three other ways, all just as real and just as helpful as ‘specific revelation’ in response to prayer. Here’s a quick rundown . . .
- Interruption – Sometimes I’ll decide to do something and I get a ‘check in my spirit.’ Kind of a ‘hold on there’ type thing. It’s more than conscience because it happens in situations beyond right and wrong. It’s my Heavenly Father nudging me to rethink what I’m about to do or say.
- Peace – Sometimes I’m moving toward a decision and I have a sense of peace. It’s like my Heavenly Father is standing in the back of the room. Lips sealed. Arms crossed. Watching. A smile on His face. What a perfect dad would do. It’s like He’s thinking “You go boy . . . I’m proud of you and what you’re doing here.” I move forward in confidence and gratitude. “Thank you Father for loving me . . . for being on my side!”
- Presence – When I’m spending time with Him in the morning, reading and ‘digesting’ His Word, worshipping Him in my in-between times . . . between appointments, driving from place to place, I have this wonderful sense of His Presence. Of being loved and free. In the ‘bubble’ of His Presence, decisions almost make themselves. There’s joy . . . real joy in my heart.
God is our perfect Father. Think about what the perfect Dad would do in a given situation and you can make a good guess as to how God will respond. Approach a perfect Father humbly and under the weight of a huge decision, He might just guide you and take the weight off. If a perfect Father sees you about to ‘crash and burn,’ He might tap you on the shoulder and nudge you toward what’s best for you. If it’ll help most to ‘check’ you . . . cause you to rethink your decision, that’s what He’ll do. If it’ll grow you more to fail, He’ll watch as you choose badly and suffer the consequences. But His great pleasure is to walk in community with His sons and daughters. To give us the strength of His Presence, the ‘fear of the Lord’, and the warmth of His grace, all at the same time.
Because God is silent doesn’t mean He’s still. Knowing He is with me and for me and He fuels me. Don’t misunderstand . . . I’m not pretending I have God in my back pocket. I’m saying God has me in His.
Question: Have you experienced His interruption, His peace, His Presence? Tell us here.
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Responses (2)
My family and I are going through the greatest of our lives. Yet, God has drawn us closer to Him than we’ve ever been before. In the midst of the storm, we have peace. God’s presence is so real. His care for us is great.
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I am learning in even greater ways how to really listen to God. Thanks for sharing.
Great post Regi. In my life and in our church families vision for this year actively pursuing and recognizing God’s Presence is the major theme. I have to say in my own experience, and in my observation of other Christians, the ability to stay in touch with God and look to Him for guidance after morning prayer is seriously lacking. It’s so easy to get on my own agenda and just ask God to bless it that I miss the Presence and therefore the power of God cheating myself and others of His glory and compartmentalizing our relationship to small parts of the day. Fortunately, He is an understanding Father, but that certainly doesn’t mean we can’t be much more cognizant of His Presence though out the moments of our day.