*THE LAMP
Psalm 81:7-12
7 In your distress you called and I rescued you, I answered you out of a thundercloud; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. 8 Hear me, my people, and I will warn you— if you would only listen to me, Israel! 9 You shall have no foreign God among you; you shall not worship any god other than me. 10 I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it. 11 “But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me. 12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.
A common practice today's is that people spend hours in prayer and all you hear is a monologue – a one way communication. They speak the entire three hours and God listens. That is more of a lecture than prayer. It is you practically telling God what you want Him to do. When God said “come let us reason together”, it has been interpreted by some to mean we should tell God ways in which we disagree with Him on some issues. That is absurd!
We need to cultivate early in our Christian life a listening ear because God is still speaking to us through the Holy Spirit. In this passage today God is passionately expressing His concern over our inability to listen to Him. He wants to deliver us from danger but we will not listen. He wants to show us the way to go with many things but we are not ready to listen. We rather expect Him to pause and listen to us. Let us change this practice so we can experience His blessings all the time.
Prayer
Acknowledge God for His willingness to hear us and the promise to grant us our desires when we pray.
Ask for grace to listen to God speak to us, whether in our closets in private prayer or even when we are with people in the midst of different kinds of noise and voices.
Father I thank You in the name of Jesus for caring about me. Please help me to listen to You always in prayer so that I can be instructed by Your spirit.
Declarations
I declare that I have a listening ear. My spirit knows how to be sober before God and listen to Him speak. I declare that my whole being learns to remain silent before God in prayer. I declare that I am the sheep of God so I hear His voice and follow Him. Let every other voice be silent in the name of Jesus. I will not be unwise in prayer. I practice hearing the voice of God until I know His voice in the name of Jesus.
Listen to *The Voice of Inspiration from the Holy Spirit. The more of the Word you imbibe, the more of God’s nature you manifest.
Have a meditative morning listening to God as you pray.