It was like a light bulb going on as I read the fourth week of the Priscilla Shirer Discerning the Voice of God study. Suddenly I released that I’ve been doing it all wrong.
For the past three weeks, Priscilla has been setting the stage to help the readers recognize when God is speaking. She’s explained that God desires to speak and reveal Himself to us, claiming it to be His “chief aim.”
Wonderful news because I (and I’m sure you do as well) desire to hear God’s voice so that I can know His will.
But halfway through the devo, she revealed the truth of my heart with this statement.
Let’s be honest, our intentions in hearing God are not always pure.
What? How can well-intended priorities become misaligned?
It’s easy to start seeking God’s direction more than just seeking to know God Himself.
Then Priscilla shot right at the heart.
Think carefully. What does your current desire to hear God’s voice revolve mostly around?
- Your desire to know what God wants you to do
- Your desire to know where God wants you to go
- Your desire to know God
Sigh…
While I feel very “Christian” praying and seeking God’s will for my life, I realized I was missing the fact that “God wants to speak to me because He wants me to know Him.”
Priscilla continues, “Knowing His direction is just a by-product. He wants to reveal truth about Himself to you because this knowledge will lay the firm path toward fulfilling His purpose for your life.”
I had it backward.
My focus was on me. What I need to do. What God needed to show me so that I could do His will. This is religion.
Instead, I need to focus on who God is. And as I grow in my understand of Him, He will speak to me what He wants me to know. This is grace.
And we come back to what God has been teaching me for the last 8 years. It all comes down to daily being in the Bible…reading, listening, and praying.
There is no short cut to knowing God’s will for your life. It begins with knowing God.
How are you getting to know God?
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