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Are you listening to God, or just talking? 🤔
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Hi Reader, I love our dog, Kuzu, and she loves me. But... She loves my wife more. I give Kuzu more treats than my wife does. But, in comparison, I'm boring. When she's with me at a cafe, she lays down patiently--for hours--waiting for me to finish my work on my laptop. (I do give her a lot of attention as she calmly waits.) She has so much patience. Here's something kind of funny... Kuzu has learned that, when my wife calls me on the phone, it probably means she's on her way home soon. (btw, pretty much no one else calls me. So, when my phone rings, she knows who's calling. Or, at least it's a signal for her.) She'll jump up and look at the door, thinking my wife will be entering right away. It's not that she's listening for the phone to ring. But she responds when she hears it. I wonder how many of us are like that--we're not necessarily listening for something, but we respond when we hear it. And that leads to the question: What if we listened more? And... What if we intentionally listened to God more? Time spent listening to God can be just as meaningful as time spent speaking to God.
My author friend, Brian Plachta, got me thinking about taking time to listen to God. He wrote, ...listening, too, is a way of communicating with God.
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That’s the side of prayer many of us weren’t taught.
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Talking prayer is one form of prayer. Listening prayer is the other half.
Both belong in a life-long relationship with God. ​
Talking prayer is how we bring our hearts to God. We thank. We ask. We confess. We praise. We cry out for help. We bring our fears, our hopes, our burdens, and our needs.
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Listening prayer is how we make room to hear what’s on God’s heart. It’s how we notice the gentle whisper of love, the quiet nudges of the Spirit, the peace, encouragement, and guidance that come when we stop filling every moment with words.
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Can you relate to: "filling every moment with words"?
Brian says that, in any close relationship, both speaking and listening are essential. We speak. We listen (and pay attention). That’s how connection deepens—and it works the same way with God. So, here's a challenge: Spend some time today listening to God. Try it and let me know how it goes. And I need to do it, too. 🙂 Below is a quick poll. I've wondered about recording YouTube videos reading brief prayers or 5-minute devotions. How interested might you be in receiving an email with a link to the first one? Just click one option below:
Thanks for being part of my reader community. John Christopher Frame​ p.s. Would you like to get some of author Brian Plachta's wisdom in your inbox? You can receive his daily short, reflection emails here. If a friend or family member forwarded this email to you, and you'd like to receive my emails, too, just click this link and add your email address: https://www.johnchristopherframe.com/get-johns-emails​ ​_____________________________________________________________________ |
John Christopher Frame.
Join my reader community to see forgotten places in the Bible I've traveled, and to be inspired to better live out your faith!
Hi Reader, A few months ago, a new restaurant opened in our neighborhood. When I saw pancakes on the menu, something you don’t come across very often here in Turkey, I had to try them. So, one day, I took a bottle of pancake syrup with me that I had purchased in the USA, and looked forward to a delicious breakfast. Like my mom or dad makes when my wife and I visit. As an American, my version of good pancakes looks something like this: Credit: Tenor When I ordered, I requested no chocolate...
Hi Reader, I recently was watching an online worship service from HTB Church, the church my wife and I used to attend in London. The worship band played a song that spoke to me - about being still in the presence, glory, and power of the Lord. It's called, "Be Still, for the Presence of the Lord." In recent years, I've been interested in the wonder and mystery of God... God's presence, healing, anointing, and more. And this song captures some of that... It says we stand on holy ground in the...
Hi Reader, Over the past couple of months, I've been listening a lot to Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver (a bluegrass music group). There's one song that plays often that I really like: Be Not Afraid. Maybe one reason that song stands out is because I often tell our dog not to be afraid. "Don't be afraid," I'll say, when I sense she's scared--of a loud noise, or a cat. She saw a street cat at the entrance of the store and refused to move. I'll say those words and I think she knows what I mean. The...