"Prayer is not conquering God's reluctance, but taking
hold of God's willingness,” said Martin Luther.
God is
both able and willing to do so much more in your life that
you can even dare to imagine (Ephesians 3:20). He is willing
to amaze you and the world, when you ask, and keep on asking
(Lk.11.5-8).
Yet prayer is more than asking.
Much more. Like any communication process, it requires listening
as well. Being still, quiet,
observant and watchful of God at work is key to prayer and
neglected by many of us. God never slumbers, and is at work
answering prayers all of the time, but like the 10 lepers healed
by Jesus, we simply (and ungratefully) accept His blessing
without recognizing them as incredible answers to prayer or
the longings of our hearts. Richard Foster reminds us that "Countless
people pray far more than they know. Often they have such a
'stained-glass' image of prayer that they fail to recognize
what they are experiencing as prayer and so condemn themselves
for not praying."
Someone once said “the heart wants, the heart wants.” The
Bible says the “heart is deceitful above all things and
beyond cure” (Jeremiah 17:9). So how do we hear the "still,
small voice of God” and listen for the Divine will in
our lives, distinguishing between our own, sometimes wrong-headed
desires and God’s good plan? This part of prayer is the
most difficult. Listening.
Some ways in which we can prayerfully listen for the voice
of God are described by Marjorie Thompson, in her excellent
book on Spiritual life, Soul Feast.
1. The Scripture
is the very Word of God, and the clearest voice of all. If
what we hear is contrary to the Biblical ethic
and tone, it is probably the dark side of our heart and not
the Spirit of Christ.
2. God’s creation - Nature – can
speak us. I know that I have personally sensed the living word
of God
in my heart, speaking with clarity, as I have sat at the base
of an oak, near a stream, with my feet in the grass, and understanding
the depth of God’s care for me.
3. God’s people are often the tool through which
Christ speaks. No doubt you have had an ‘aha’ moment
regarding God’s will for you as a trusted friend or mentor,
or perhaps a book or article, has provided you with insight.
4.
God speaks through our circumstances, sometimes elevating
blocks that prevent us from going a particular direction, or
opening doors that make it clearly a divine intervention has
occurred.
5. Though often ignored in our culture, dreams may well
be a vessel through which God speaks to us.
6. The Spirit may speak directly so that we have a definite
and clear impression, maybe even the words themselves, regarding
God’s will for us at a particular time and place.
Have you heard from God
lately? Are you listening? Oswald Chambers tells us that "Prayer is not an exercise.
It is the life of the saint." As you pray, remember to
take time to listen.
Mother Teresa said, "Prayer
enlarges the heart until it is capable of containing God's
gift of himself."
Be blessed, be praying, be listening.
Zig Ziglar tells the
story of a little guy valiantly but futilely trying to
move a heavy log to clear a pathway to his favorite hideout.
His dad stood nearby and finally asked him why he wasn't
using all his strength. The little guy assured his dad
he was straining with all his might. His dad quietly told
him he was not using all his strength, because he hadn't
asked him (his dad) to help.
We little ones work so hard trying to accomplish our goals,
or even God’s goals. We work with all our might,
or so we think. All the while God, our ‘Abba’ – our
daddy – is just waiting to be invited to add His Might
and Power to the living of our lives. Have you been praying?
The great Christian soul Andrew Murray wrote, “Time
spent in prayer will yield more than that given to work. Prayer
alone
gives work its worth and its success. Prayer opens the way
for God Himself to do His work in us and through us. Let our
chief work as God's messengers be intercession; in it we secure
the presence and power of God to go with us.”
Prayer
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| last update 09/20/08
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