Thursday, February 27, 2014

Time spent listening

I have been sharing with you principles I have gleaned from Michael Frost’s book, “The Five Habits of Highly Missional People”. This week the focus is on habit #3: I will spend at least one period of the week listening for the Spirit’s voice.

The Holy Spirit is our companion, our source of strength, and our indispensable source of wisdom. He guides us into truth, illuminates God’s truth to us, prays for us with groans when words can’t be expressed and sustains us through life’s journeys.

And yet many of us are so busy, so active and always on the go that we never listen to His promptings. It is as if we do all the talking and never truly listen to His voice.

So here is what I want to encourage you to do to develop the habit of listening for the Spirit’s voice:

First, set aside a designated time. Don’t try to connect with God on the run. Just once a week – set aside some time. (If you want to do this more than once a week, be my guest!) You need to stop, get quiet, and listen.

Second, eliminate distractions. Avoid intrusions of sights, smells, tastes and sounds. Find a quiet room, a comfortable position in a chair, close your eyes and let God speak to you.

Third, let His love for you give you peace and comfort. Abide in His presence. Listening for God is one of the highest forms of prayer. Let Him into your life to reveal what He wants to reveal to you.

Fourth, follow His promptings. He might bring to your mind the name or the face of a person you are to bless or eat with (the first two habits). He might convict you of a sin, encourage you in your faithfulness, remind you of something you should of said to someone, reward you with love, joy, peace, faithfulness, goodness, self-control or any other fruit of the Spirit.

So, sometime this week…STOP, GET QUIET and COMMUNE with God. Enjoy!
Listening with you,
P.S. Our partners from Mexico will be joining me on the platform this Sunday as we discover how to reach out to our friends with the Gospel! See you at 9:00 or 10:30am!

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