Ears to Hear

 

(photo from banter.com)

In this season of life, I find myself floundering a bit. What doors might God be opening for me now? What purpose has He created for me to fulfill in 2021 and beyond?

Once your children are grown, and their children are grown to the point where they don’t really need you anymore, the whole landscape of your life changes. Retirement might someday become boring if we just continue to have fun and doing nothing of importance.

Life without purpose is empty. Although, I don’t feel empty, I’m in a holding pattern, waiting on God.

Or is He waiting on me?

So, while pondering this conundrum, I began to ask myself, just what do I know about hearing God’s voice? Here’s what I came up with. What points can YOU add?

In no particular order:

*I need to be in God’s Word regularly; daily.

*I need to be actively listening for Him, aware of His presence with me.

*I need to check my heart, making sure I’m not in rebellion or harboring bitterness and unforgiveness that could hinder my ability to hear God speak to me.

*I need to minimize distractions.

*I need to recognize that God may be saying something, right now!

*I need to realize that what God is trying to say to me, might be something I don’t really think I want to hear.

*I should probably journal and look for patterns or repetition of thoughts, and what’s drawing my attention lately, while most definitely reflecting on His goodness, and offering up thanksgiving.

*I need to be praising Him! The Bible tells us that He inhabits the praises of His people.

*I need to be coming together for fellowship with other Christians. Often, God speaks through our friends and strangers we haven’t made friends with yet.

*I need to be more purposeful about communication, it’s generally between two or more. Prayer involves as much listening as it does speaking, maybe more – He did give us one mouth and two ears.

So, that’s what I’ve got so far. Feel free to include me in your prayers, that my listening will pay off and I’ll get myself pointed in the right direction and begin to feel purpose again. And if you have any more points to add, PLEASE let me know!

I love you.

 

What Authority Do I Have?

(picture from phillyvoice.com)

“You will ask Me nothing, most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My Name He will give you.” – John 16:23 

This verse, and others like it intrigue me. What am I missing? What am I “doing wrong”? I pray, like many others, in Jesus’s Name – and yet, sometimes fail to see my prayers answered. Or, at least, that’s the way it appears to me. And let’s face it, the way it appears to me effects my faith, and can stir up doubt and unbelief. 

Knowing Jesus doesn’t want me filled with doubt and unbelief, but with the faith of God He’s given me, I need understanding. 

As I pondered this today, it occurred to me that I’m not just using or borrowing Jesus’s Name. He’s given it to me; I am Christian, Christ-like. He is in me and I am in Him, in the same way that He is in the Father and the Father is in Him. That’s why when I ask the Father for something in Jesus’s Name, I have the authority to use the Name of Jesus. Because He said so. 

I’m not supposed to just slap on the phrase, “In Jesus’s Name. Amen.” I am supposed to be in Christ; in Jesus, in the shadow of the Almighty, in His presence, in His Word, in HIM! Am I abiding (staying) in Him? 

Yes, I am. 

Satan will try to weaken my resolve with whispers of lies, and tell me I’m not in Christ. Sometimes my heart listens. 

“You didn’t spend enough time in the Word today, your prayers won’t be effective.” 

“You must be harboring some unforgiveness in your heart, you’ve been praying for this same thing for years now and yet, you see nothing.” 

“You missed church last Sunday, don’t even expect God to be listening while you pray for your friends.” 

“You were critical of that person yesterday, and you think your prayers for them today will be effective? Ha!” 

“I heard you say a bad word this morning. You can’t pray with that mouth.” 

“You fell asleep while praying last night. If your prayers are THAT uninspired, do you really think God was listening?” 

Satan has all sorts of lies and they’re all meant to tear us down and steal our faith. Fortunately, we always know when he’s lying to us – when his lips are moving. I know, old joke. And we can’t even see his lips moving. 

The fact of the matter is, God is not negative or confusing. He is not the author of confusion; He does not condemn us at all. When He looks at us, He sees the blood of Jesus, nothing here to condemn! Hallelujah! So, when our mind tries to tell us otherwise, those thoughts come from the evil source, not from ourselves, and certainly not from God. Dismiss them. 

Once we’ve submitted ourselves to God, He hears every prayer we pray – and He answers them. 

When we are in Christ, when we STAY in Christ and keep His Word in our hearts, His Words will always fill our minds. We may be pulled away from them for a minute or two. Okay, in the midst of a pity party, we may be pulled away for even longer. But His Words are always there to return to. 

With His Word in our minds and in our hearts, we can pray effectively because we can pray with authority. 

A woman once told me that she would pray for me. Then she quickly tacked on, “Not that I believe or anything like that….” What? Why would you even pray if you don’t believe that your prayers are being heard or answered, or for that matter, if you don’t believe in the very God you claim to be praying to? 

God wants us to believe IN Him and to rely ON Him and to snatch up the authority He’s holding out for us to grab ahold of and use. 

We can do things our way. 

Or, we can do things His Way. 

What is His Way? Jesus said, “I am the WAY, the Truth and the Life, no man comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6NKJV) 

When we submit our hearts to Him, His Way becomes our way. 

This is abiding in Christ. This causes the authority of Jesus Christ to operate in our lives. Jesus didn’t tell us that once we reach a point where we never mess up, THEN we can use His Name. 

We are perfect in Him; not as in we will never again make a mistake, but as in perfected, completed in Him. Once the blood of Jesus is applied to our lives, nothing can make us holier, and nothing will separate us from His love. Nothing else is necessary to gain access to God’s throne room. 

What holds us back? 

Believing those stupid lies. 

We DO have the authority Jesus gave us, whether we missed church last week or not, whether we used inappropriate language or not, whether we read God’s Word today, or not. 

But we have to believe that in order to operate with the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead. It’s that Spirit that fills us with the authority of Jesus Christ, Himself. 

But, Helen, you don’t know some of the things I’ve done! God would never extend that kind of authority to ME! 

Lies. Lies. Lies. 

The Bible tells us this beautiful truth: “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8 (NKJV) 

He’s seen our sin and knows the blood He spilled at Calvary is enough to pay the cost. 

Who better to believe than the One Who gave His life so that we could be free from sin? 

Dare to believe.

(picture from blogspot.com)