Don’t rest from your work, work from your rest.

That could mean a bunch of different things, but when I read it, it speaks to me of this verse:

For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength  (Isaiah 30:15, biblegateway.com)

Returning: to Who? God

Rest: How? in prayer and waiting

Quietness: Why? in order to listen and hear His voice

Confidence: in Whom? if we were capable of doing what we must or surviving the latest trial, we wouldn’t need God. He puts us in positions where we use up our talents or wisdom and can only persevere by our confidence that He will do the work in and through us- and that He will be glorified

What happens next? We are saved and find strength.

Assignment: Pray about the places in life you feel stretched thin or worn out. Ask God about it. Meditate on Isaiah 30:15. What is it saying to you?

Ever feel like that’s how it goes when you talk to God? Just that: YOU talking to God, a one-way conversation?

But how do you listen to an Invisible Person?

I can’t tell you exactly because God doesn’t give formulas, but if you try it, you’ll find out. Listening to Him is the loveliest part of a day!

While I can’t give you a formula for listening to God, I can give you some tips that might help your prayer time become more of a two-way conversation:

1) Start by getting stuff off your chest

The stressors in life are going to be nagging you while you try to listen. God cares about them. Talk to Him about them.

2) Physically quiet yourself

Did you know that the part of your brain that processes spiritual information is near the “watch-out!” parts of your brain? Sometimes we have to physically turn off the brain’s stress centers in order to allow our spiritual processing centers to be attentive. We do this by deep breathing! Oxygen turns off the stress hormones that are activated by the stresses in life. BREATHE, BREATHE, BREATHE…

3) Get your mind on God

Spend a few minutes thinking specifically about God, about Christ. Think about Jesus being the author and finisher of your faith. Think about His sacrifice for you. Think about the throne room of Heaven.

4) Now be quiet

No problem solving, no requests. Breathe and listen. If your mind wanders, direct it back to thoughts of Christ. Mostly be quiet and listen.

What you might hear at first is the crickets chirping outside your window, but eventually, you will start to recognize a still, small Voice. That Voice has been speaking all along. You just needed ears to hear- and practice listening.

5) Be grateful

When God has spoken, be sure to be grateful. Then, WRITE it down! (You WILL forget if you don’t.)

Blessings on you as you listen!

7 daily minutes that is.

I have been reading Robert Wick’s Touching the Holy. Wicks is a counselor who works with clergy. He has noticed something:

When we have lots of responsibility  we work harder. When we work harder we often work longer. When we work longer, we often pare down devotional time.

When we pare down devotional time, eventually we begin to burn out.

This is what Wicks has his in-danger-of-burnout clergy do:

1) Spend 2 minutes each morning listening to God

Not talking to God. Instead, being quiet, breathing, then simply listening to see what God has to say.

2) Spend 5 minutes right before bedtime, in a relaxed, comfortable place- reading Scripture.

The last things your brain engages with before sleep, tend to influence your dreams. What a perfect way to improve quality of sleep (and knowledge of God).

Wicks has found that these daily 7 minutes are the tipping point for the positive turn around for the clergy he is helping.

I am big on prayer- much of my prayer is intercessory. Listening to God and meditating on Scripture is different. I’ve added that. It is making me feel more in touch with the One who matters most and who supplies my strength and wisdom.

I betcha this could help many of us!

What do you do to quiet yourself, to rest in the Lord, to know Him better?

We had an adventurous week here on the East Coast.

First there was an earthquake: 5.9 on Richter Scale.

Where was God during the earthquake?

He was right there with you and with me.

Then there was a hurricane. Only a Level 1 hurricane, but a hurricane nonetheless.

Where was God during the hurricane?

He was right there with you and with me.

Sometimes it is difficult to feel attached to the Lord (and hear His still, small voice) when the world is crazy. Here is a good prayer project:

Daily ask God to help you be sensitive to His presence in you and around you. The more you look for Him, the easier it will get. (Then during really scary times, it will be harder to forget!)

The real problem of the Christian life comes where people do not usually look for it. It comes the very moment you wake up each morning. All your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists simply in shoving them all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in. And so on, all day. Standing back from all your natural fussings and frettings; coming in out of the wind.

What would happen if you caught your first thoughts of the day and directed them straight to God (before deciding the schedule of the day, what to wear, what the weather is like)?

I am not much of a party-person.

My job uses conversation all day long, so if I go to a party, I sort of dread needing to cook up another conversation.

However, there are some folks I don’t mind going to a party with. They are the ones you ask one question, and like a runner at the starting post- they’re off. They chatter and chatter- and I can just lean back, listen, and relax.

But, then, a party is not a place to get into deep, meaning-of-life conversation. It is not a place to learn a person’s heart.

If I truly want to know a person’s heart, I will pray with them often. When I pray with someone, it seems that the Holy Spirit works in us both to understand each other.

How much deeper and more meaningful prayer can be if I am truly trying to understand God’s heart.

I think that is what fasting is doing:

-calibrating

-setting aside my agenda

-listening to Him

-quieting my own noise

-seeking His thoughts and wishes

I feel like at this point in the process I am listening better, am quieter.

What are you noticing about your prayer life now?

I know this, because I make a living as a therapist. Counseling is basically paying attention to someone.

Our daily prayer is our daily counseling session with God. Only we are not the therapist, (duh). HE is the Wonderful Counselor.

Why not allow him a daily therapy session with you? Try this:

1) Allow a few minutes to dump your garbage, tell your side of the story, honestly and passionately get everything out. (He knows anyway, but He likes to hear you say it.)

2) Allow a few minutes to tell Him everything and everyone you care about. Ask Him for help. (Again, He knows anyway, but He likes for you to ask.)

3) Allow a few minutes to sharpen your recognition of His voice. You do this by reading Scripture. (He already has said and written down a lot of things that are important to Him in the Bible.)

4) Now He has something to say to you. You will have to pretend you are the counselor now- not that you do anything for Him, but that you listen to him as attentively as He listened to you.

4) So, you be quiet:

No agenda from you.

No expectations from you.

5) Listen.

This listening comes inside you. Listen to the thoughts and feelings within you.

6) It will feel awkward and unfruitful at first. Practice.

Soon you and God will know each other attentively. It will be good.

What does God say to you?

Got anything confusing or irritating. Want to try praying these 3 questions?

1) Ask God, “Where are You in this situation?”

2) Ask Him, “How do I love with His love in this?”

3) Ask Him, “What is He working in me through this situation?”

See what God says…

My fourth son is just 13. I used to know his voice. Then he hit puberty. Now whenever I hear his voice on the phone, I have to figure out which brother is talking. It will take time- but every time I hear his voice on the phone, I’ll get better.

Same thing with listening to God.

We come to know his voice by listening. The longer we listen, the better we know who is talking.

Practice.

Practice  by:

-reading His Word (Scripture) often

-being quiet often when you are spending time with him.

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…