Last week I challenged you to spend 1% of your day in the Word and in prayer realizing that 1% is only 15 minutes a day. Doesn’t it seem worth this small amount of time knowing that it will cause you to grow, change, and begin to hear God’s voice?
In her book Discerning the Voice of God: How to Recognize When God is Speaking, Priscilla Shirer helps the reader recognize when God is speaking. If I was to share every profound quote from Priscilla’s book, I would be blogging until Christmas just on this topic. I even asked my accountability girls if it was bad to underline an entire book! While I haven’t really done that, I have come close.
Today I want to answer the question “How Do I Begin Hearing God’s Voice?” using a few quotes from Priscilla’s book. Then I will end with a question to all of us.
To begin, if you follow this blog closely you know that I am passionate about helping women develop a daily quiet time. Not something that they simple check off their list but a time of focus and surrender. It has changed my life and I want to come along side you to experience the same thing. If you haven’t heard God speak to you through the Holy Spirit, His
Word, and others, you are seriously missing out, because it is amazing.
To know that what you just learned had to have come from the Lord is powerful.
Read what Priscilla says about her quiet time.
While I’m still growing and fighting my tendency toward busyness, I now look forward to every opportunity to get alone with God, Bible open, pen out, ready to concentrate. When you know He’s going to speak, listening for Him ceases to be a chore and becomes a cherished delight. Exhilarating. Exciting. Hearing the voice of the Almighty has changed my humdrum Christian experience from a discipline to a passion.
Deep down, isn’t that what we all desire? Isn’t that what we all need? Isn’t it what we were created for?
For whatever reasons, I never put two and two together. I want to know God’s will but I never truly understood the relationship between knowing God’s will and daily spending time with God. Seems pretty elementary when I type it. Priscilla makes it very clear that if you truly want to know God’s will and recognize when He is speaking to you, each day you must be mediating on the Word and listening to Him.
Read a couple more quotes:
The more you know God, the more clearly you can hear God.
The enemy wins a victory every time we let our jam-packed schedules invade the sanctuary of our quiet time with God.
Do you want to know God’s will for you life?
“Creating time, space, and opportunity to hear God is paramount for those of us who desire to sense His Spirit’s conviction, to receive His detailed guidance, to discern His intimate leading. Before I could even begin to explore further instruction concerning how God speaks – or even why He speaks – I first had to ask myself whether or not I wanted to hear Him… .”
Do I really want to hear Him speak enough to stop talking all of the time?
Do I really want to hear Him speak enough to make reading the Word part of my day?
Do I really want to hear Him speak enough to pray to my Father?
Do I really want to hear Him speak enough to put my wants and desires aside?
Do I really want to hear Him speak enough to _______ … you fill in the blank.
So I ask all of us… Do we really want to hear Him speak?
Next Post: What Do You Want?
On October 6th, we will begin a group online study of Discerning the Voice of God. Joining the study will automatically enter you to win one of three copies of this book. Click here to find out more.
Thank you to Moody Publishing for allowing to share this book.