Often, while I am settling down in my lovely, comfy "productive" chair that is stationed in the corner my room, I throw my phone on my bed and turn off any noises that might distract me from being completely present with Jesus. I hate it when I accidentally leave my phone on loud because then when I get a text message, of course it reminds me a few minutes later and, being the human I am, all I can think about is who that message is from and why they are texting me right now. I get so frustrated with myself because I feel like if I was truly present in my quiet time I would not be distracted with the phone going off or even want to go check it.
This exact thing happened this morning. I am working on a group project and we are finalizing some stuff this morning so I knew it was from them and I knew we needed to get it done... but what do I do? Go ahead and get it and respond so they can move on or have them wait until I am finished even if that means I am thinking about rushing through so that I can respond to them after? How terrible is that! I hate when things like this happen because I am feeling the tugs of peace with Jesus and our world.
This week in the Blue Book, the subject is listening to God. Oh boy, if ever there was something I needed to work on -- this is it. It's funny because as I talk with friends about what's going on in their lives we all seem to be dealing with similar things and one of those right now is "listening to God."
When I hear that phrase, "listening to God," I immediately think of Old Testament scenes where God's voice is heard and the recipient answers like responding to a friend. It's hard for me to associate God's voice with our world today, but that does not mean He does not speak!
Think about when you pray... is it mostly you who does the talking? Yeah, me too. I even find myself filling up pages and pages of my journal without realizing how annoying my voice can be. What does it mean to sit and listen and let God speak to you through prayer? Well, don't ask me for the answer to that because I am learning, too.
One of the readings for reflection this week is from James Houston in The Transforming Power of Prayer:
"Our relationship with God would be greatly improved if we saw prayer as listening to God rather than talking to Him. Think of those boring people who talk endlessly to others (or rather at others). All their words show that they are distanced from others rather than close to them. Could this also be the reason why our prayers lack insight into the character of God? Openness to God, submissiveness to God, listening to his "still, small voice," may give us far more insight than the constant chatter which we are used to calling prayer."
Reading scripture over and over and not predicting the ends of the sentences because I am familiar with the verse but actually understanding what is going on and why this passage was written. What God was doing in that persons life or what Jesus is teaching through these words. These types of questions in my mind have helped so much with reading scripture and actually studying it rather than taking a verse and applying it to my day so that I feel better. Scripture is God-breathed so don't you think if we took the time to actually study and meditate on it that God's breath would fill us and we would be able to understand His voice?
Lastly, I'd like to point out that the devotion book by Sarah Young, Jesus Calling, makes me laugh every day. I always read it at the end of my time with Jesus and it never fails to speak directly to what I learned through that time and what my mind is thinking as I open it! Haha literally, everytime and it's crazy! Seriously, here's the example from this morning:
This exact thing happened this morning. I am working on a group project and we are finalizing some stuff this morning so I knew it was from them and I knew we needed to get it done... but what do I do? Go ahead and get it and respond so they can move on or have them wait until I am finished even if that means I am thinking about rushing through so that I can respond to them after? How terrible is that! I hate when things like this happen because I am feeling the tugs of peace with Jesus and our world.
This week in the Blue Book, the subject is listening to God. Oh boy, if ever there was something I needed to work on -- this is it. It's funny because as I talk with friends about what's going on in their lives we all seem to be dealing with similar things and one of those right now is "listening to God."
When I hear that phrase, "listening to God," I immediately think of Old Testament scenes where God's voice is heard and the recipient answers like responding to a friend. It's hard for me to associate God's voice with our world today, but that does not mean He does not speak!
Think about when you pray... is it mostly you who does the talking? Yeah, me too. I even find myself filling up pages and pages of my journal without realizing how annoying my voice can be. What does it mean to sit and listen and let God speak to you through prayer? Well, don't ask me for the answer to that because I am learning, too.
One of the readings for reflection this week is from James Houston in The Transforming Power of Prayer:
"Our relationship with God would be greatly improved if we saw prayer as listening to God rather than talking to Him. Think of those boring people who talk endlessly to others (or rather at others). All their words show that they are distanced from others rather than close to them. Could this also be the reason why our prayers lack insight into the character of God? Openness to God, submissiveness to God, listening to his "still, small voice," may give us far more insight than the constant chatter which we are used to calling prayer."
Reading scripture over and over and not predicting the ends of the sentences because I am familiar with the verse but actually understanding what is going on and why this passage was written. What God was doing in that persons life or what Jesus is teaching through these words. These types of questions in my mind have helped so much with reading scripture and actually studying it rather than taking a verse and applying it to my day so that I feel better. Scripture is God-breathed so don't you think if we took the time to actually study and meditate on it that God's breath would fill us and we would be able to understand His voice?
MAN, that's some good stuff.
Lastly, I'd like to point out that the devotion book by Sarah Young, Jesus Calling, makes me laugh every day. I always read it at the end of my time with Jesus and it never fails to speak directly to what I learned through that time and what my mind is thinking as I open it! Haha literally, everytime and it's crazy! Seriously, here's the example from this morning:
I was frustrated with myself for letting my phone distract me and as I opened Jesus Calling, this is what it reminded me... (pictures of today's for dramatic effect)
Really!? haha Goodness! Praise Jesus for speaking through anything He wants!
Kicking yourself only gives you bruises no matter what you're frustrated about. Work out schedules always remind you to not get too discouraged when you miss a day because you're more likely to fail Simply pick back up and be positive at what you are doing rather than what you have not done. It is better when we are weak anyways because then God is strong!
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