Are you struggling to hear the voice of God?

Today's post comes from Anita at Scattering the Stones

 

‘Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place

and get some rest.’

Mark 6:31 NIV

Are you aware of God’s voice throughout the day, or is the noise surrounding you drowning out His voice?

Silence can mean many things to different people; some love it, while others fear it, some fight against it. I am sure that it is no co-incidence that the level of noise has increased, as the separation between God’s ways and the world’s ways, are becoming further apart. Noise clouds judgement, overwhelming the still small voice, causing further confusion.

Is it easier to fill your life with noise, than to be still in silence?

If I asked what you heard right now, what are you hearing?

I am not just talking about the voices from those who need us, calling for our attention, or the noise from traffic, radio, TV, phone …. But also the words we repeat over in our minds, our worries, the words we carry around in our heart, the endless list of things we need to accomplish …

I used to be frightened of silence. Very rarely would I be without some sort of noise in the background. It wouldn’t necessarily be anything I was particularly listening to, but would be an essential tool to prevent me from thinking too much.

In my late teens I went on a long retreat of several weeks; to help me get through a difficult time. It was the first time I had really been on my own, without family and friends. I was broken; in need of God’s healing. Most of the time I felt afraid, in grief and in desperate need of a hug. I would walk around lost. But the retreat centre ministry team knew what I needed. I needed to work it all out with God by my side and Him alone.

‘Serve only the LORD your God and fear him alone.

Obey his commands, listen to his voice, and cling to him.’

Deuteronomy 13:4 NLT

Apart from services, there was very little noise. You could drop a pin at one end of the building, and I expect you would probably hear it at the other.

Though it was extremely hard, I will always cherish that time of great pain, as when I went home, never again would I need to always have background noise. I actually spend most of my time craving silence. Through my time there I learned to truly listen; to me and to God. I began a beautiful journey of discovery, deepening my hunger to hear God’s voice through the noise of this world.

Are you taking the time to listen?

Often when we come before God with our prayers, we ask to hear from our LORD through words of encouragement, help or direction; either through being led to specific scripture or by other means. But when we ask, are we taking the time to listen to His response, His voice?

‘Be still and know that I am God’

Psalm 46:10 NIV

God calls us into His presence, to present our needs before Him, but we also need to remember that it is about relationship.

The Bible is full of people with their requests to God to listen to their prayers, such as -

‘LORD hear my prayer!

Listen to my plea!

Don’t turn away from me in my time of distress.

Bend down and listen, and answer me quickly when I call to you.’

Psalm 102:1-2 NLT

God is waiting for us to listen to His voice.

When we ask Him to be near, He is already there. Like Mary, we need to sit at His feet. (Lk 10:39). We need to go to Him, sit at His precious feet, and bathe in His Holy presence and just listen.

As we grow in our relationship with Jesus, not only do we need to read His word daily, but we also need to take time out to listen, as this pleases our God (Deut 13:18).

Let us crave being still in His Holy presence, to cry ‘Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord Almighty’ (Isa 6:3) from the depths of our hearts.

‘Come, let us worship and bow down.

Let us kneel before the LORD our maker, for he is our God.

We are the people he watches over, the flock under his care.

If only you would listen to his voice today!

Psalm 95:6-7 NLT

Let us pray:

Lord I worship You and bow down before Your throne of grace.
Please remove the barriers in my life, to only hear Your voice.
Help me to be still in Your holy presence, to hunger and thirst for Your truth and light.
I want to listen to Your voice; I am sorry for the many times I have not listened, when I have placed my focus upon other things.
May my relationship with You deepen; may there be no need for words, just being.
May my life be refreshed in Your green pastures.
In Your name
Amen

Application:

Today, I invite you to plan some time to spend purely listening to our Lord. Take your Bible, go where there are little distractions, sit, wait, and be.
I love visiting woodland, a garden, or the coast. Ask God to speak and just listen to what He wants to share with you; nothing about needs, just be, in complete worship of the King of kings.

I hope and pray that you will be abundantly blessed.

Blessings in Him

Anita x

Image by A Hunt  © Scattering The Stones

I run a Christian Ministry called 'Scattering The Stones', sharing God's love through encouragement, prayer and praise. You would be most welcome to join me. If you would like prayer, please feel free to contact me.

Where is God in our suffering?

Today's post comes from Anita at Scattering the Stones

'And when they suffered, God suffered too;

And the messenger of His presence acted to save them.

Out of enduring love, compassion, and concern,

God Himself rescued them.

Through all those years long ago,

God picked them up and carried them through.'

Isaiah 63:9 (The Voice)

  

Today, are you tempted to wear a mask to hide your true feelings?

 

Is it a happy mask? You know the one, where your smile is stapled onto your face, and if you dare move your lips, the sheer weight of the sadness, pain, hopelessness, fear or the guilt you feel in your heart, will end up causing your face to plummet to the ground. If Jesus was to stand before you and look into your eyes, would He see an expression of joy that matched up with your carefully applied smile, or would they tell another story?

  

Being real with one another 

 

In a world that encourages us to hide our true feelings, no matter where we are in our relationship with God, sometimes the truth we know in our hearts is affected by how we are feeling. Where we are travellers making our way along the journey set before us, there are many mountains we must climb and valleys to walk through. Sometimes that path can feel like it is littered with potholes of every size. 

Life isn't easy! If it was easy we wouldn't have seen the tears shed by our Saviour, as God came in the form of man, to demonstrate His great love for us.   

'My eyes are swollen with weeping, and I am but a shadow of my former self.'

Job 17:7 NLT

 

 Pain is real, suffering is real, you only have to turn the news on the TV or pick up a newspaper, let alone talk to our friends and neigbours to know that many are suffering. I read a powerful post by Beth Moore the other day called - Big Sisters and Little Sisters, this post received almost 1,000 comments! Talking about real life issues, the daily battles that are affecting each of us; the battle in the spiritual realm being felt in daily life. 

One of the enemies fiery arrows and great lies, is to make us feel that we are alone, through whatever we are going through. We often can't see how there may be thousands of others, struggling with similar issues that we do. Sometimes we just don't understand how anyone, including God, can truly know the true extent of how we feel, or worry about how other's will see us.   

'My heart is troubled and restless. Days of suffering torment me.'

Job 30:27 NLT

 When we are tired and our hearts are heavy from the burden of troubles, physical or mental pain, the very act of suffering tears at our heart, tormenting our minds and bodies. With the weight often becoming unbearable; hope often feeling very far away, wondering if we will get through it all. But there is great hope, we need to listen to the voice of our Saviour whispering to us, 'give Me your burdens' (Ps 55:22).

 

In the middle of the battle, it may feel like God has turned His head in the opposite direction, as though He has closed His ears to our pain; with our prayers seemingly left unanswered. We may be persecuted and struck down, but we will never be abandoned by our God (2 Cor 4:9) . We only have to read the book of Psalms to catch a glimpse of the process of suffering right through to songs of praise of God's glory, in the middle of the writer's darkest hour and the revelation of God's grace.

  

'I am suffering and in pain. Rescue me, O God, by your saving power.'

Psalm 69:29 NLT

 

If there has ever been a time that we need to be real with one another, to lift one another up in love as God intended, to our LORD who listens to the cries of our hearts, it is now!

We need one another; Jesus knew this, and demonstrated how real love should be.

Instead of judging and criticising one another, praise for our Saviour needs to be on our lips, reflecting Jesus to one another, as the Holy Spirit prompts us from within.

  

Nothing can separate us from the love of God (Rom 8:31-39)

 

When the enemy likes to whisper into our brokeness that we are alone, that no one cares, that we can't get through this fiery trial, we need to speak out the words of truth to one another, that God will never leave us (Heb 13.5).

When we feel despair, not knowing where to turn, we need the body of Christ to shelter, encourage and mourn with us in our sorrow, for we have been adopted into God's family (Eph 1:5) 

When we feel overwhelmed (Ps 55:1-2) our first call should be to the King of Kings. He who has recorded every day of our life (Ps 139:16) and every tear shed (Ps 56:8) in His book. 

When we look to God for help though times of pain we are reminded to read the stories of the prophets in God's word, for strength and encouragement, of how God helped them in their struggles (Jas 5:10).   

 

In our suffering, God suffers too

 

The powerful, life changing ministry of Jesus, speaks right into the heart of darkness; that tries to overwhelm us, to press us down and imprison us. Our Saviours light is there, for the enemy's darkness will not be able to extinguish the true light! (Jn 1:5) 

When Jesus was suffering greatly with the knowledge that a friend was about to betray Him, handing Him over to his death, Jesus taught the disciples to love one another (Jn 13:34-35). As Jesus waited in the garden of Gethsemane, asking the disciples to watch and pray with Him (Matt 26.41), He felt alone in His time of need, abandonded by His friends, as their flesh was weak. As Jesus cried out to His Father, He wept, asking for the cup of suffering to be removed for Him, but also wanted the will of God to be completed (Mk 14:36). 

Unless we take off that mask, risk being vulnerable with each other, and reach out to our Christian sisters and brothers, they won't know our need. We are many parts of one body, let us be the Church that God intended without walls, and reach out to those who are in need, providing encouragement and support.   

'So in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.'

Romans 12:5 NIV

In our weakness, there is great opportunity to be strong, as we depend on the One who knows our hearts, and everything we go through.   

Power of prayer

 

Prayer is such an amazing gift! The more I spend time in prayer, the more I fall in love with it. Not only are we able to share our concerns, tears, pain, with our Creator, but it also draws us closer to Him as we present the needs of our brothers and sisters in Christ to God. As we come together at the throne of grace.

Let us be real with one another. Let us pray for one another, and join together in prayer with our shields latched on to one another, keeping our eyes focused on the Author and Perfecter of our Faith (Heb 12:2).   

'He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others.

When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.'

2 Corinthians 1:4 NLT

Let's pray

 

Father we come together on our knees for one another,

please help us to be aware of one another's needs. 

May we be aware of the prompting of the Holy Spirit, to pray for one another. 

We praise you for all that you bless us with; we thank you for your mercy, and gift of grace. 

For the sisters and brothers who are suffering, we ask for your love to surround them. 

Where they feel alone, and don't know where to turn, may they know your comfort. 

Where they are in great pain, may they feel your arms wrapped around them and know your healing touch. 

Please raise us up to be your church to one another, to shine brightly for you in the darkness.

In our weakness, may we know your strength. 

We pray for each sister or brother who leaves a prayer need here today, we thank you for each one of them. We join with them, we stand with them in their pain, and present their requests to you as the body of Christ. 

Thank you Lord that you hear our prayers, we pray a blessing on each person who reads this devotion. 

May Your kingdom come, Your will be done. 

In Your name, 

Amen   

Today I invite you to share a need or if you are not comfortable with that - just your name, as God knows your needs.

Let's be on our knees for one another, and seek the face of our God together.   

Anita x

Image © Nita Joy Designs

Jesus, say a prayer for me...

Today's post comes from Toya at Faith.Hope.Love - Inspiration for Life's Journey

“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. ” (Luke 22:31, 32 NLT)

Simon, I've prayed for you in particular that you not give in or give out...(Luke 22:32 MSG)

Have you ever felt that your faith was failing? That you've prayed, fasted and praised yourself into a "holy tizzy" but you still find yourself discouraged and faithless? Or that you've grown so tired of waiting on God that you no longer pray, dropped out of your bible study and would rather spend Sunday lying on the couch than going to the house of worship? 
 
There are certain situations and times in our life where we will be discouraged. Discouragement is a tool of the enemy to get us to give up on God and get distracted from our purpose. In my own life I've seen Satan use what I refer to as the the "triple threat" to weaken my faith : Doubt, Fear and Anxiety. 
 
Doubt: Anytime you've been believing God for something and there's been no breakthrough or change in a situation doubt can easily creep in. While you still may keep the request on your prayer list and make your petitions known to God and others, that doesn't always stop thoughts like "can God really fix it?" or "whats the point in praying?" to take over and chip away at your faith. I often hear people say "Well I believe God CAN do anything but I just don't believe he will do it for MY situation". Sound familiar, huh? I've come to learn that kind of thinking is a trick of the enemy. If not dealt with quickly, doubt can become a hindrance to the very prayer we are already "wishy washy" about. 
 
Fear: Once Satan has planted a seed of doubt into our mind, fear is usually the next culprit to strike. Satan wants us to become fearful that our situations won't turn around and our prayers will never be answered. Having fear of what your future holds instead of hopeful expectations can be a recipe for disaster. When you operate out of fear you can begin to think the surest way to get your desired outcome is by manipulating people and situations to take control. If we are controlling a situation, this leaves no room for God to work a miracle, which is exactly what our enemy wants to happen. While fear is a common feeling we all have, we don't have to give in to our fears to the point where they hinder our faith. We have to confront our fears and fight back with an unshakeable confidence that trusts in Gods perfect plan. I love how Joyce Meyer says it: "Fear is a dead end but Faith always has a future" 
 
Anxiety: Now that the enemy has us doubting Gods power and fearful of the future he uses feelings of anxiety to completely wear us down! The root meaning of the word anxiety is: 'to vex or trouble'; in either presence or absence of psychological stress. So even if there is no REAL danger, stress or threat anxiety can still come up on us (it's all in our mind!) 

Playing out all the "what if" scenarios only lead to worry, dread, uneasiness and depression. We can getso caught up in worry about things that may or may not happen that we lose focus on what's happening in our life now!

Matthew 6:34 MSG translation says : "Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes."

Worrying about the future will not accomplish anything or make your prayers get answered faster. We have to trust God and his timing, he will give us all we need to persevere through any pain. 
 
At some point, most of us will be hit with the "triple threat". However, isn't it encouraging to know that we have a savior who is interceding for us? The same way he did for Peter we have to believe that he can and will do the same for us. If the enemy is attacking you with doubt, fear and anxiety, I invite you to say this simple prayer: 
 
Jesus, I come to you asking you to replace my doubts with belief (Mark 9:23, 24) and help me confront my fears with hopeful expectations that you have a perfect plan for my life (Jer 29:11). When I begin to worry and be anxious about circumstances beyond my control help me to be content with my portion and seek your peace that passes all understanding so that my faith will remain strong. (Philippians 4:6,7) Lord I trust you with my whole heart and I'm grateful that you know just what I need. Thank you for covering me in your love. 
Amen 

A Mission To Seek Him

Today's post comes from Lori at My Evident Faith

The bright blue sky was clear, allowing the sun one of its rare occurrences lately. It was a beautiful day, and the birds were singing and the daffodils blooming. Yet I still walked with my head down, my breath labored, and my mind dark. I felt alone, and I felt the weight of the world on my shoulders. Bills were piling up because I was ignoring them, my house wasn’t cleaned, and the only calm place I had was my crazy busy office. I hadn’t had a chance to visit friends or pray with anyone, outside of my normal church service. I was definitely feeling sad and uncertain. Where was God? Why was I feeling lonely and sad?

God says, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jer 29:13, NIV)

This verse tells us that when we make God our focus, we will find Him. He is always there for us, always ready to embrace us.  When we make finding Him our purpose, we will finally find Him. Happily, knowing that we need Him is enough; He will push open the door to our hearts and fill us with His love.

Through Jeremiah God tells us to seek Him – and this means we must continue to seek him. It is our mission.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:17 we are told to “pray continually”.

This goes hand-in-hand with seeking God with all your heart. And again, it refers to our mission in life.

“Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take” (Prv 3:6 NIV)

Do you feel God’s love in your life? Do worldly worries sometimes overwhelm your conscious desire to spend time with God?

That happens to me so often that I have lamented about it several times in my blog. I have also heard other people express this. But I know those people, and I know their greatest desire is a closer walk with God. So why is it that we lose focus on our mission and let our heart’s desire go by the wayside?

Well, it’s a catch-22…

It is a situation that can’t be avoided even through logic… ie, imperfect humans love God & desire to seek Him, yet because we are imperfectly human, we allow the minutiae of life to carry us away from our mission.

But we are told, “let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.”

This encouragement is from Hebrews 12:2 (NIV) And wow, don’t we have so many things that hinder us in our walk and life? Sins that so easily entangle us?  You see? God knows exactly what pulls us from Him. He is fully aware of the fact that we are imperfect but yet He continues to love us!

The only aid to our imperfection is to continue, daily, to seek Him. Remembering our mission to do His will, we sometimes need to approach our mission like, well, a MISSION… No, He won’t require anything cloak and dagger – our only weapon will be our bible. We need to set an appointed time to read it daily. Then we will be armed with the word, His word, and we will be ready for battle. And because we truly are soldiers on a mission, we must remember that we need to check in and be in constant contact with God, only we won’t use a walkie-talkie, but prayer… prayer alone with Him each day, and prayer with friends and loved ones. You are not alone, and if you can’t reach out to the people in your daily life, remember this virtual world online where you can find friends who love Jesus like you do, and who will be happy to pray with you.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart” (Hebrews 12:1-3)

Let's Pray

I pray that you seek God in your life in all that you do. I pray that you create a schedule for your prayer so that you can find His peace. He wants you to be at peace, He wants you to feel joy. He created us to be holy, so that we can be with Him, and I pray that you and I both are closer to Him for the time we have spent here together right now.

In Jesus' Name,

Amen

Just Ask

Today's post comes from Starla at Keepin It Real

²³ In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. ²⁴ Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. John 16:23,24  NIV

I teach my girls not to be afraid to ask for anything.  Negotiate.  I tell them that doesn't mean that they will always get what they want, "The worst thing that can happen is you will be turned down or told no."  I myself was raised by the creed,  A Closed Mouth Don't Get Fed and in my 34 years of life, I have found that to be very, very true.  Now I raise my girls to apply this concept to their every day circumstances.  Whether it be asking the teacher for help with something that they don't understand, asking me if they can stay the night with a friend (a very brave thing for them to do because they go through a serious interrogation), asking permission to play their favorite computer game, etc...... you get my drift.  

My 11 year old daughter Dayna even went so far as to request a round table discussion to negotiate terms for a computer game that they wanted to play but had recently been grounded from because they were neglecting their chores.  My husband and I were so impressed by the way she went about this request that we agreed to give it a try.  You see, this is something that Dayna really wanted to do and she figured out a way to ask with a resolution.  I mean she had a written plan for their requirements and everything. There have been times when we have given them things w/o them asking but sometimes, I wait for them to ask even though I already know what they want.  God is the same way with us.  He knows what we want and He is ready to give it to us but if we don't ask, sometimes we don't receive.

Case in point.  Did you know that some hotels offer additional amenities that they don't necessarily advertise such as bathrobes, slippers, extended check out and things of that nature?  Just because you don't see it in your room does not necessarily mean that it's not available.  They only give them to the people that ask for them.  There are so many deals and opportunities that we miss out on simply because we don't ask for them.  I have negotiated lower rent, scholarships (basically free versus $100) for summer programs at our local college, daycare expenses for more than 1 child ($100 per week instead of $140 per week) and the list goes on and on.  I'm so glad my girls are no longer in daycare, that's for sure but I managed to save $160 per month by negotiating a.k.a. (asking).

In James 4:2  scripture says that you do not have because you do not ask (see full scripture below).   What does this really mean?  I will tell you what I believe it does not mean.  It does not mean that you will receive everything that you ask for.  James 4:3 goes on to say  When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. Ever done that before?  I know I have.  For the most part, I ask for what I want and I ask God if it be His will, In Jesus name.  I always ask in Jesus' name.  God knows me better than I know myself so I ask Him to open any doors that need to be opened and close doors that need to be closed regarding a specific situation.  You see, every day is an opportunity to be blessed by God but sometimes we miss out on those blessings simply because we do not ask to be blessed.  We may not know specifically what it is but we should still ask.  That's what I recently told my 16 year old daughter the other day.  Part of my daily morning prayer includes asking God to bless me.  Sometimes I forget and I may not always know how He blessed me, but I know that I should always ask.  

I have asked friends and family if they ever pray for themselves and more than half of them said no.  Why not?  They say they never think about themselves.  That is when I quote the scripture as best I can.  Enough to explain to them that God expects you to ask.  

Do you just ask?  Why or why not?

References:

Bible Gateway

James 4:2

New International Version (NIV)

² You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God.

James 4:3

New International Version (NIV)

³ When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

John 16:23,24

New International Version (NIV)

²³ In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.  ²⁴ Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.