This morning I read in the book of Numbers. Not the most exciting Bible reading. A phrase kept coming up a total of fourteen times in six chapters. What was the phrase? "Then the LORD spoke to Moses." That struck me especially since the bulk of my prayer this morning was asking God to speak to me and listening.
Prayer can be rushed with a list of requests without taking time to listen for what God wants to say to us. What He has to say to us is always more important than what we have to say to Him. How many really take time in prayer to listen? Some might ask how do you listen to an unseen God who rarely speaks audibly. You train your spirit to get in touch with His spirit. You must discipline the mind to be quiet before Him. I find this to be one of the most challenging aspects of listening. My mind often races like wild stallions across the prairie. Reigning in those thoughts is a battle. Satan uses his demons to plant thoughts in us to keep us distracted. The father of lies does not want us to quiet our minds to listen to God. With the weapons given us to fight these battles, we have to trust God to take our thoughts captive in obedience to Christ. [II Cor 10:3-5]
Do we really want to hear from God? He does not always speak uplifting devotional thoughts. He sometimes rebukes calling for repentance. He chastises when we are not compliant with His commands. He prophesies about future events. He calls us to assignments that require faith and courage. He guides us in decision making. He also reveals important truths that we do not know.
My favorite part of seeking God is the listening. I never know what He might speak. This is the difference in religion and a relationship. The relationship consists of back and forth dialogue between followers and our supreme leader. There are times when God speaks something so important it changes our lives.
He did that for me three years ago one morning reading Acts 16:9-10. Paul had a dream one night about a man from Macedonia calling him to come and help. That same passage showed up repeatedly that same week in several books I read. I knew God was speaking to me. A casual conversation over lunch days later confirmed it. I told Brenda that I sensed God was going to move us to a new church and I believed it was going to be in the Panhandle of Texas. Two years passed. One morning I received an email from pastor search committee in Fritch, TX telling me they received my resume. A friend sent my resume to them without my knowledge. I did not seek them or pursue a job with them. Based on the Acts 16:9-10 I agreed to a phone interview. For two years I believed there was a church crying out to God to send them help and that Brenda and I were the answer to that prayer. The last thing I told them during our phone interview that day was not to ever contact me again unless they were convinced I was God's man for them. I did not hear anything from them again for five months. After all that time they contacted me to inform I was their number one candidate. We had an in person interview and the rest is history. Brenda and my whole lives changed based on God speaking through one passage of scripture on a mundane morning. That is the thrill of seeking and following God. The same God who spoke to Moses also speaks to us. Are we listening? May He show us great and mighty things we do not know. Jer 33:3
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