Tag: hearing

How do I keep my heart open to God?

"Keep your heart open to me," those are the words God whispered to me the other morning as I sat looking through the crystal clear water to the bottom of the lake. It was as though He was showing me how he wants my heart to be, so absolutely transparent. No outside disturbances like the slight breeze that was causing ripples in a less sheltered part of the lake. No pollution, like the impure water that flows from the storm water drain mixing in with the clean lake water.

The question is how? How do I keep my heart open to you Lord? How do I know when it isn't fully open? How do I know when I am subconsciously hiding something from you? You know what is hiding anyway!

This scripture comes to mind ... Psalm 51:10

Create a new, clean heart within me. Fill me with pure thoughts and holy desires, ready to please you. Psalm 51:10 TPT

So is that the answer? Ask you God to create a new clean heart within me? Ask the Holy Spirit to prompt me to sit quietly with you and wait for you to give me a word? And upon hearing that word I will know immediately, an aha moment, a revelation of yes that does need to be confessed. You always knew it was there. I just needed to acknowledge it, to confess it.

How happy and fulfilled are those whose rebellion has been forgiven, those whose sins are covered by blood. How blessed and relieved are those who have confessed their corruption to God! For he wipes their slates clean and removes hypocrisy from their hearts. Psalm 32:1-2 TPT

There it is - He wipes our slate clean and removes hypocrisy from our hearts. What peace comes after confession.

Then I finally admitted to you all my sins, refusing to hide them any longer. I said, "My life-giving God, I will openly acknowledge my evil actions." And you forgave me! All at once the guilt of my sin washed away and all my pain disappeared! Pause in his presence. Psalm 32:5 TPT

Pause in his presence.  How often to we really do that? Completely pause in his presence?

This is something God spoke to me about at the end of last year - the need to more often pause in his presence. In fact, He gave me a very specific scripture .... Genesis 24:21 ...

And the man, wondering at her, remained silent so as to know whether the LORD has made his journey prosperous or not. Genesis 24:21 NKJV

The key words for me were the 'remained silent so as to know whether the LORD', ie for me to remain silent until God speaks. So for the first month of this year, once a week I have gone to a peaceful place and sat, remaining silent until God speaks. After only four weeks it has become one of my favourite times in my week. It is a weekly appointment that I certainly don't want to miss. I still have my daily time with God early each morning, and conversations throughout the day, but they are more times of two way communication. Whereas this weekly appointment is time set aside to remain silent and wait until He speaks. I don't want to miss what he wants to say to me. Because it is always exactly what I need to hear, as Psalm 32 says,

I hear the Lord saying, "I will stay close to you, instructing and guiding you along the pathway for your life. I will advise you along the way and lead you forth with my eyes as your guide. So don't make it difficult; don't be stubborn when I take you where you've not been before. Don't make me tug you and pull you along. Just come with me!"

So my conclusion is this: Many are the sorrows and frustrations of those who don't come clean with God. But when you trust in the Lord for forgiveness, his wrap-around love will surround you. Psalm 32:8-10 TPT

Don't let pain, anger, fear and disappointment keep you from having an open heart towards God. Find that time to pause in his presence, listen to what he reveals, confess your sin, ask forgiveness and let him minister his love and kindness to you. Only then we can move towards loving God and others better.

 

Acknowledge God before starting the To Do List

Earlier this week I was walking in our local park, making my way to the beautiful bush walk we are blessed to live near. As I walked from the open space with the heat of the summer sun beating down on my head, into the bush with the canopy providing shade and protection, I was struck by the sudden change of circumstances. With only one step I went from the open, unprotected area into the covered, protected place. And wasn't I glad I'd taken that step!

That sudden physical change in the atmosphere made me think about God's covering and protection, and how different life is when we choose to walk under it.

But let them all be glad, those who turn aside to hide themselves in you. May they keep shouting for joy forever! Overshadow them in your presence as they sing and rejoice. Then every lover of your name will burst forth with endless joy. Lord, how wonderfully you bless the righteous. Your favour wraps around each one and covers them under your canopy of kindness and joy. Psalm 5:11-12 TPT

How reassuring the Psalms are .... Your favour wraps around each one and covers them under your canopy of kindness and joy.....

There was a time when I didn't read anything in The Bible except the Psalms. The deep pain in my heart so often resonated with the words of the Psalmist.

Please, God, show me mercy! Open your grace-fountain for me, for you are my soul's true shelter. I will hide beneath the shadow of your embrace, under the wings of your cheribum, until this terrible trouble has past. Psalm 57:1 TPT

Please, God, show us mercy! And He has.

Open your grace-fountain for me. And He did.

For you are my soul's true shelter. And He is.

I will hide beneath the shadow of your embrace. And I do.

Until this terrible trouble has past. And it has.

If the season you are in now is a difficult one for you, I really encourage you to immerse yourself in the truth of the Psalms. God is listening to the cries of your heart and He is on your side.

You've kept track of all my wandering and my weeping. You've stored my many tears in your bottle - not one will be lost. For they are all recorded in your book of remembrance. The very moment I call to you for a father's help the tide of battle turns and my enemies flee. This one thing I know: God is on my side! Psalm 56:8-9 TPT

The end of this season will come. There will be a time when you can declare this, as the Psalmist does in Psalm 57 ...

My heart, O God, is quiet and confident. Now I can sing with passion your wonderful praises! Awake, O my soul, with the music of his splendor-song! Arise, my soul, and sing his praises! My worship will awaken the dawn, greeting the daybreak with my songs of light! Wherever I go I will thank you, my God. Among all the nations they will hear my praise songs to you. Your love is so extravagant it reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness so astonishing it stretches to the sky! Lord God, be exalted as you soar throughout the heavens. May your shining glory be shown in the skies! Let it be seen high above all the earth! Psalm 57:7-11 TPT

Be encouraged, protect your heart and choose to stay under the canopy of His kindness and joy.

 

 

 

Are you listening to me?

“Mum, are you listening to me?”

“Well, I do know you were talking about ……, but I might have missed some of what you said.”

To be honest, I probably missed quite a bit of what my child said because when they came to speak to me I continued on with whatever I was doing and only half-listened to what they were saying to me! Too task focused.

I apologise for my inattentiveness, but our child still has that sense that Mum doesn’t always listen to me.

God is listening

Thankfully our Heavenly Father is not like that. He, in His majestically mysterious way, is available 24/7 for each one of us. In Jeremiah, the Lord says,

Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. Jeremiah 29:12 NKJV

God listening to us does not necessarily translate into Him doing what we ask. Just like as a parent we listen to our children’s requests, but we don’t always fulfill them as we often have a bigger picture in mind. Our Heavenly Father is the same. Our job is to stick with Him, wait and trust.

But me, I’m not giving up.I’m sticking around to see what God will do.I’m waiting for God to make things right.I’m counting on God to listen to me.Micah 7:7 The Message

Stick with Him and trust

Trust. Trust that His promises are true, despite what we see. How difficult that can be sometimes. We need to remind ourselves of the good things our God has done – starting with our salvation.

This I recall to my mind,Therefore I have hope.Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed,Because His compassions fail not.They are new every morning;Great is Your faithfulness,”The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,”Therefore I hope in Him!”The LORD is good to those who wait for Him,To the soul who seeks Him, It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. Lamentations 3:21-26 NKJV

Wait patiently

Wait patiently upon the LORD – Not always an easy thing to do. But as we go through trial after trial, hopefully we start to hone that skill of waiting patiently. As in each of those trials we see more and more of our God’s faithfulness so our trust levels increase. We come to a place of knowing without a doubt that He listens to us because He loves us, and He has a plan for us. So next time we are tempted to ask God, ‘Are you listening to me?’ remember He is at work in the unseen.

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV

For some more thoughts on God’s faithfulness please visit these posts:
God hears our heart’s cry
God’s timing and our patience
God is listening – Day 22 – Drawing Closer to God devotion

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