Tag: prayer

How to hear from God – where to look

How to hear from God

Want to know how to hear from God? Listen.

Know what to listen for. In this post I describe a few ways I’ve heard God speak. In addition, time spent in the Bible gives us a feel for how God speaks, what God says, and truths about God. Not sure where to start? Here are a few ways and verses to get started.

Before much else I prayed

I woke up this morning with a big project on my mind. I wasn’t sure what direction to go in, but I knew I had some writing to do on a book project.

Before much else I sat down for ten minutes and prayed. My prayer happened to be written down, but you can say yours aloud or in the quiet of your heart.

I said what was on my heart, then, wait for it, I listened. Yup. Gave God a chance to speak.

I waited

I waited. In my heart I sensed I was supposed to open my Bible and spend time reading Scriptures instead of going straight to writing. This was a bit counterintuitive because I have a lot of writing to do, but I obeyed, complied, did what I sensed God wanted me to do.

Well, guess what? I took four pages of notes, made some incredible discoveries, and ended up with fresh ideas and plenty of notes for my writing project.

Not sure how?

Not sure how to go about listening?

Share a prayer with God, then pause. Wait. Without an agenda. It’s OK if all you hear is silence or distracting sounds of everyone and everything around you. The key is to start. Create an expectation that you will hear from God.

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” John 10:27 NIV

Where to start

Not sure where in the Bible to start? Are you familiar with the 23rd Psalm? Start there. Open your Bible to the middle, approximately where the Psalms are, and read through Psalm 23.

Try reading it slowly or one verse at a time then pausing.

Does a word or a phrase catch your eye?

Does it bring you a sense of peace?

Does it convict you of something in your life?

Scripture is one way God speaks to us.

God can speak to us

Taking a moment to open the Bible and focus on Scripture creates an opportunity for God to show us something in the text, to show us something about who He is, or something He wants to show us about ourselves. These are just a few ways that God can speak to us through Scripture.

And if a person’s name or a situation comes to mind while you are reading, that could also be a prompt you are to pray for that person or situation.

What to pray

Not sure what to pray? There’s an app for that.

Apply this Scripture during your prayer time anytime you don’t know the words to pray:

“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.” Romans 8:26-27 NIV

Prayer

The more comfortable we get with the idea of praying to God, the more likely we can say a short prayer in any context of our lives. Stuck in traffic? Pray. Sitting at work? Say a quick prayer. Doing chores around the house? Say a few words in prayer. Stuck at home? Pray.

The more we practice this notion of prayer, the more easily it can become a habit of prayer.

In a season of uncertainty, prayer might just be the thing to help our hearts.

Coping in the darkness – a guiding light

Ask my husband how the ride through the tunnel was and you will get a very different response from mine. He knew some of the history of the railroad. He noticed the markers inside the tunnel that gave clues as to how far we’d traveled or how much was left. He really enjoyed the ride through it.

I was merely focused on not falling.

His start was filled with anticipation. Mine was filled with anxiety.

Grateful for a guide

I was grateful that he rode ahead of me so I had a notion of where I was going. Farther down the trail I realized the light on my bike was pretty dim. Much of the light that guided me through the tunnel came from my husband’s bike light and that of the other riders, even the ones headed in the opposite direction.

The tunnel is 1.661 miles long and not in a straight line. There is no visible “light at the end of the tunnel” for the majority of the ride through it. I was very much “in the dark” on this journey. And it felt that way.

Making room

While trying to stay upright and going much slower than the other riders, they would pass me. Each time a bike neared, its rider would call out, “Left!” That was the signal to move over and make room for someone to sail past, but that meant scooting closer to the dreaded gutter and riding on the slanted portion of the trail. I didn’t know at the time that the path slanted in that section. I just knew peddling and steering on that part challenged me more than in the middle.

I struggled to take in the sights and enjoy this stretch of the ride because I was so focused on not crashing into the gutters or another rider.

Foxhole prayers

At one point I started to hum to distract myself. I’m sure I also started to pray. You know, one of those foxhole prayers in the moment of deep distress and need. Praying and humming was calming. When I’m not struggling to stay upright on a bike, I write worship songs and play the violin with a worship team, often creating a violin part during the service. So I drew on these skills that were comforting and familiar, and made up a melody to draw me into a place of comfort and peace.

Connecting to Jesus

This praying and music making connected me to Jesus. I no longer focused on what was worrisome, but instead on that which brought peace and calm.

I know it’s early to talk about Christmas, but it’s like when we hear the beginning of a favorite Christmas carol. It can transport us to a memory or a feeling that brings comfort and joy. A place or sense that all is calm. That’s what praying and humming did for me.

Do I remember the prayer I prayed? No, though it was probably along the lines of, “Jesus, please keep me upright on this bike and help me make it through this tunnel.” I’m guessing my prayer was even shorter as that probably would have taken too much concentration. More like short bursts of hope to grasp onto. A simple, “Jesus, help,” (which I just noticed is the first word of each of those phrases).

So whether or not you’ve prayed before, I invite you to give it a try. Take a moment and just say, “Jesus, help,” and maybe you, too, will find a place where all is calm.