How to Listen to God- part 2

3) Pay attention

I have distinct leanings towards ADHD- I go a zillion directions at once, while simultaneously thinking a gazillion different things.

In order to actually accomplish anything in life, I had to learn some attentiveness skills. Throughout the day, whenever I can, I follow these simple steps:

1) Take a deep breath.

2) Ask myself, “Self, what should I be doing now?”

It works (most of the time, anyway).

Listening to God works the same way for me. In order to listen (to pay attention) to what He is saying, throughout the day, whenever I can, I follow these simple steps:

1) Take a deep breath.

2) Ask myself, “What is God doing now?”

3) and “What is God saying now?”

When I first began practicing those attentiveness skills,  I began to notice that God was at work around me all the time. Then I noticed that he was working on things inside me. I simply stopped and paid attention to those things he was doing- acknowledging them (even if I did not understand them).

Then, after I began to understand how he:

1) speaks in Scripture and

2) works in and around me,

I could begin to listen for what He was saying to me through those things. This step 3) “What is God saying now?”

He is always working and often speaking to us. We should pay attention.

More next time…

How to Listen to God

“God is speaking to you. Enter the conversation”- Eugene Peterson

Have you ever heard someone say, “God told me…”?

How on earth do they do that? How does someone know if God is telling them something?

Here are some ways to learn to listen to God and to recognize when he is speaking to you:

1) Learn His language

God speaks Bible (not King James only- He speaks NIV, ESV, RSV, even the Message).

Think about it this way:

My friend, Pauline, is from Liberia. If she spoke in her home language to me- I wouldn’t understand and might not even notice. In order for me to listen to her speak in her language, I would have to learn her language.

When you have learned your way around Scriptures, you will recognize God’s language as he speaks to you. You will know that the thought, “Have a hissy-fit at so-and-so” cannot be coming from God, since his word coaches you to be patient.

2) Be quiet

Hey, it works the same way in real life. You have to shut the mouth in order to hear what someone else is saying.

Now, there are folks in my life that I never have to worry about holding a conversation with. When we are together, they talk- and talk and talk and talk. I can’t get a word in edgewise. They leave never having heard anything that I might have wanted to contribute.

Even though you can’t see God, he is there- in you, around you. He has things to say. Be quiet and listen.

more later…

At Least be Grateful for What I DO Have

I was navigating my way home last night from work- through ANOTHER snowstorm. Although I have a tough-looking Dodge Magnum, it is one of the souped-down models without four-wheel drive (I got it because it was cheap, not because it made sense).

Wet squalls buffeted the vehicle; snow froze right to the windshield despite the fact that the defroster was going full-blast. I couldn’t see where the lanes were- just had to guess.

As I sweated down another hill and around a slick corner, I caught myself grumbling, “And as if the snow isn’t bad enough- I’m going to miss another day of work- and pay. Ugh.”

Then, almost embarrassingly (well, it WOULD have been embarrassing if another human had heard me whining), I heard a corrective “thought” down inside me.

“At least, you can be grateful for what you DO have.”

I mean, really. I was going home in a heated car to a heated home to enjoy a cup of hot tea. I could spend the next day watching the blizzard from safety. I could spend a day in wonder of the beauty that God placed in his creation.

So, that is what last night’s prayer looked like. It was just a list of those things that I have been so abundantly given by an abundantly giving God. Large and small gifts.

I don’t want to miss the good God is giving me by pouting.