LISTENING TO GOD

SATURDAY, August 4  "Wake up Call"
Mark 14:41-42 (The Message)
"He came back a third time and said, 'Are you going to sleep all night?  No! You've slept long enough.  Time's up.  The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of sinners.  Get up.  Let's get going!  My betrayer has arrived."
     Jesus doesn't appear to lose his patience often in the New Testament.  The only other time I can recall is with the money changers in the temple.  But here Jesus is a bit frustrated with the disciples.  Things are getting a bit stressful for Jesus and they are sawing logs!  Wake up!  It's time for action!
     Is God sending us a wake-up call?  Are we listening and receptive to hear his call in the unlikely places from which it might come?  Is it time to stop sleeping through our faith but to take action to start living the call of Christianity?  Do I hear the alarm going off?  


GO! d365.org for this week:

"What might God be calling you to do this year? Listen and respond. As you go on your way today, continue listening for God’s voice in surprising and unexpected ways.

Listen for God!"

FRIDAY, August 3  "Practice Prayer"
Mark 14: 39-40 (The Message)
"He then went back and prayed the same prayer.  Returning, he again found them sound asleep.  They simply couldn't keep their eyes open, and they didn't have a plausible excuse."
     How do you learn to hear the voice of God?  Jesus seems to be demonstrating in this story: practice, practice, practice. He returns to pray the same prayer over and over.  The disciples appear to be practicing a different sport - sleeping.
     We understand the concept of practice as it applies to sports, music, and other endeavors.  Do we ever apply the idea to our prayer life?  To develop a disciple of time and heart for God - to hold conversations in which we not only talk but also listen - is a practiced endeavor.  So many say they can't pray 'aloud' or in public.  Pray more!  The eloquence of the words is not nearly as important to God as the practice.
      Practice prayer.  We might find it gets easier to listen to God's will and word.
   

THURSDAY, August 2  "Sleeping"

Mark 14: 37-38  (The Message)

"He came back and found them asleep.  He said to Peter, 'Simon, you went to sleep on me?  Can't you stick it out with me a single hour?  Stay alert, be in prayer, so you don't enter the danger zone without even knowing it.  Don't be naive.  Part of you is eager, ready for anything in God, but another part is as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire."

     I can sympathize with the disciples here.  There are times I just can't seem to keep my eyes open, to stay focused and awake.  The sunlight hits me in the car or the pencil slips from my hand as I work my puzzle.  I WANT to stay awake (Rick needs me while he is driving late at night to be awake!) - the spirit is willing, but my body fails me!  Jesus was struggling.  He needed a little support with "the driving" and the disciples let him down.  We can be jacked up and ready to serve when the path is easy, but when things get tough we sometimes fail and let God down.  In the sleepy moments, the tough times, we really need to focus, stay awake, and listen.  Those are the moments when we just might REALLY hear God speaking to us.

WEDNESDAY, August 1  "Stop...and Listen!"
Mark 14: 35-36 (The Message)
"Going a little ahead, he fell to the ground and prayed for an way out. 'Papa, Father, you can - can't you? - get me out of this.  Take this cup away from me.  But please, not what I want - what do YOU want?"
     What do YOU want, God?  How infrequently do we include these words in our prayers.  We tend to focus on what we want from God - our will rather than THY will be done.  Jesus knew what he wanted - he did NOT want to go through the physical agony he knew was coming.  But ultimately?  His prayer is 'your will, God, not mine.'
     Listening to God helps us hear God's will in new ways.  Listening opens us up to what God wants rather than our selfish desires.  May we all discipline ourselves to stop talking long enough to hear the whisper of God.  May we stop voicing our list of wants, what we want God to do, and hear what God wants!




TUESDAY, July 31  "Quiet Place"
Mark 14:32-34  (The Message)

They came to an area called Gethsemane.  Jesus told his disciples, 'Sit here while I pray.'  He took Peter, James, and John with him.  He plunged into a sink-hole of dreadful agony.  He told them, 'I feel bad enough right now to die. Stay here and keep vigil with me."  
     Having a quiet place, a place of inner sanctuary, a place where we find it easy to not only talk TO God, but to listen FOR God is important.  Jesus found such a place in the garden of Gethsemane.  He was troubled and probably a bit frightened of the events to unfold.  This was Holy Week, after all. 
     My quiet place has changed lately, and while I find it adequate for study and reading, I'm not sure I am having as many conversations with God there.  I need to develop a new location - either physical or mental - where God receives my total concentration, where I can listen as well as speak.  Without interruption.  A time and place just for God.
     Where is your quiet place for God?

PAUSE!  (d365.org) 
"Listening for God requires us to be tuned in with all of our senses.  God may speak to us through our ears, but more often God speaks through our hearts, minds, souls, and even our bodies.  We need to learn to be open to listening to God on God's terms, not our own."  (Rich Richards, this week's d365 author)

SUNDAY, July 29  "Tuned In"
Psalm 118: 5-6   (The Message)
"Pushed to the wall, I called to God;
From the wide open spaces, he answered. 
God's now at my side and I'm not afraid;
Who would dare lay a hand on me?"
     We call out to God often - when life gets tough.  We cry out for help - and want it NOW!  And then we continue trying to fight the battle alone while we murmur, 'God, where are you?  Where are you when I need you?'  God is there.  God is here.  Answering and responding, but we aren't always listening.  We are still too busy talking, asking.
     Where are the wide, open spaces?  Our imagination conjures up the expanse of a mountain meadow, the flowing ripple of a wheatfield, the rolling waves of the ocean.  Yet, God answers everywhere!  In all the cracks and crevices of life!  He is answering.  Why can't we always hear God?  Perhaps we aren't tuned in.  If we focus on God time everyday, if we stayed "tuned in" on a regular basis, we will begin to hear and recognize the multiple God responses in our daily life.

MONDAY, July 30  "Hire God" 
Psalm 118: 7-8 (The Message)  
"God's my strong champion, 
I flick off my enemies like flies. 
Far better to take refuge in God than trust in people. 
Far better to take refuge in God than trust in celebrities." 

     People (mere mortals) are human, imperfect.  They can betray our trust.  If we put God at the top of our champion or companion list, we will never be turned away.  Mere mortals can be our confidants and trusted guides, but they will be 'God sent', God approved if we keep God always in the Number One position.  This reminds me of a story I read just this morning (God at work?) about an Olympic hopeful who was in a dry stretch of training, struggling to improve.  He heard God's voice - "Let ME be your coach!"  Everything changed with that transfer of trust.  God then sent what the athlete called his angel advisers:  a nutritionist, a masseuse, etc.


     Take refuge in God.  Trust in God.  What part of my life do I need to turn over to God?  What aspect do I need to 'let go and let God'?