Sirach 2:6: “Respect God and expect one beautiful friendship.” In today's episode, I explain various ways that the Lord talks with us. There may be others but I go over the main ones that I have learned. If we take the time to spend listening to the Lord, He will talk with us. He loves us and longs to talk with us. Do you have 5 minutes today where you can sit and listen to Him? Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
God Is Talking To You, Are You Listening?
Sirach 2:6 “Respect God and expect one beautiful friendship.”
I love the first sentence in this verse. Respect God and expect one beautiful friendship. Did you know you could have a beautiful friendship with the Lord? Did you know you could sit and talk with Him, and you can listen to Him as well? I think this is something we should spend some time talking about today as I think this is something many people struggle to believe. God is talking to each one of us. I have been told that I am lucky because the Lord talks to me. I want you to hear me when I say He wants to talk to you, too. I know that is hard to believe. I know you are saying to yourself, “Who am I that God would talk to me?” You are a son or daughter of the one true king, that is who you are! Can you imagine having a son or daughter and not wanting to talk to them? God loves you and He wants to have a relationship with you. He wants to have a beautiful friendship as this verse says.
Let’s take a look at some ways you can hear the Lord because I know if you try to hear the Lord, you will hear the Lord. I also know that we can get very caught up in our own heads and dismiss ourselves from hearing the Lord because we don’t think we are worthy or we don’t think we are holy enough. Jesus died on the cross to make us worthy, and we don't have to be holy to hear the Lord, but we do become more holy when we spend time listening to Him. He leads us to holiness.
The first way I will talk about is how many people “hear” the Lord, and that is by getting a thought in our heads when we are talking to the Lord. For instance, you might be sitting and talking to the Lord, and you ask Him a question. If you stop and expect Him to answer you, the next thought you have in your head is probably from the Lord. It won’t sound like the Lord, and I mean this in two ways. First, most people do not audibly hear the Lord. Some have, and if you do, that is amazing! However, most don’t hear an audible voice it is more of a thought/answer that pops into their head when they have asked the Lord a question. Second, the answer that comes to you might not be in the language you think the Lord would use. It might sound like something you would say. For instance, when the Lord is talking to me, sometimes He will say things are amazing or awesome. It is ok if what you hear sounds a bit like something you would say. The Lord is communicating with you in a way you will understand. It is normal.
A second way that the Lord may communicate with you is through visions. For instance, you ask Him a question, and then a picture comes into your mind that answers your question. Sometimes, it is just a still image, and sometimes, it is like a scene in a movie where things are movie, and it is not just a quick screenshot but rather a scene that plays out for a few seconds. Many people in my prayer group get visions and it is amazing to listen to them describe what they are seeing. I have gotten a few visions but that is not they way I usually communicate with the Lord.
A third way the Lord may communicate with you is through your feelings. You may be trying to make a decision about something, and you ask the Lord which thing you should do. Then you notice that you feel strongly about one over the other. That could be the Lord guiding you. Also, sometimes the Lord will fill you with peace about a certain decision, whereas the other one you don’t have peace about. The Holy Spirit we have living inside of us is often the still small voice we hear when we are trying to make decisions. Take a minute and think back to a time when you “just had a feeling” about something. It is likely that it wasn’t just a feeling, it was the Holy Spirit leading you to where you needed to be.
Another great way that the Lord talks with us is through Scripture or other things that we read. Did you ever have something weighing on your mind, and then when you read your Bible, you had more clarity on it, or you felt better about it? We can find answers in scripture. The Bible is a living document. You can read the same passage today, two months from now, and two years from now, and each time you read it, you will get something different from it, depending on what is going on in your life at the time. God is so good; He can personal it for each one of us. The next time you have a question or you want to spend some time talking with the Lord, open up your Bible and ask the Lord what He wants to tell you. I know you will be amazed at what He shares with you when you are open to hearing Him!
The last way I will talk about today, although there are probably others, is that God can talk to us through other people. Have you ever been talking with someone, and something they say feels like an answer to something you have been talking to the Lord about? Isn’t that crazy when that happens? I have a friend, Anne, who knew the Lord was calling her to move, but she didn’t want to move. I mean, she wanted to move eventually, but she was pretty happy where she was at the moment, and this move didn’t seem to fit nicely into her plan. She told the Lord that if he really wanted her to move then He would need to make it very clear to her that it was Him orchestrating this move.
The next day, Anne’s friend told her that the Lord wanted her to share a scripture with her. Then, she was at a store, and a random person gave her the same verse. Finally, later that day or the next day, the UPS driver dropped off a package. He handed it to her and started to walk away. Then he turned back to her and said does this scripture verse mean anything to you? He gave her the same verse the other two had given her. She had never talked to the UPS driver about religion or God before. She knew that verse was from the Lord and that He really did want her to move.
You can ask the Lord questions and expect that He will answer you in any one of these ways. Let me just give you one more tip: if you are just sitting there trying to hear the Lord talk to you, it can be a lot of pressure, and it may seem very quiet like you can’t hear anything. What I do to get beyond this is I ask the Lord a question, and then I start writing whatever comes into my mind. I don’t question it, I just write all that comes into my mind. This way I am not just waiting around to hear something. Also, this shows that I have expectant faith. If I am ready to write down whatever the Lord wants to tell me. I promise you He is not going to leave you hanging. Ask the Lord a question and then be on the lookout for the answer in one of the ways I discussed above.
The Lord wants to have a beautiful friendship with us, and that is hard when we are the ones doing all the talking. We want to grow closer to the Lord but don’t believe that He will really talk with us. Trust me when I say He will. God does not talk with me because I am special. God talks with me because I regularly make time to talk with Him and also to sit and listen to what He has to tell me. I ask Him questions and expect that He will answer them, so He does. If you begin to sit and listen to the Lord, I know you will discover how loving He is. How gentle He is. He tells us what we need to hear in the most loving way. He will build you up in ways you never thought possible. Having the Lord of the universe tell you that you are His beloved son or daughter and that He loves you is like nothing else I have ever experienced. You need to put in the time, though. You won’t hear Him if you aren’t even trying. Do you have even just 5 minutes today while you are alone in the car, or in the bathroom even, or where you can get 5 minutes alone and ask the Lord what He wants to tell you today?
Dear Heavenly Father I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, I ask that you open their spiritual ears and allow them to hear your voice. Speak to the Lord, they are listening. Lord, help them find time to sit and listen to all you want to tell them. Help them be open to hearing you and to set the perfect time aside to spend with you. We love you Lord and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name, Amen!
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you and so do I! Have a blessed day!
Today’s Word from the Lord was received in April 2024 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “My generosity knows no bounds, my children. My generosity, you have not even begun to ask for or receive. The depth of it is so deep, you cannot begin to fathom. And it is there for you, available, waiting. All you need to do is ask. ”