Unlock His Voice

Thursday, April 19, 2012 Posted by Sara

Our team gathered around him in prayer. The director of one of the largest youth missions ministries in America sat in a chair awaiting our words. He was spending a few days in Cairo, one of the sites of the mission trips his ministry ran, and we wanted to bless and refresh him with scripture and prayer. All I could think of was a tree house.

I listened to the prayers of my teammates trying to set my mind on something more Godly or significant than a tree house. I’ll just read this wonderful psalm over him, that should be a great blessing. But no matter how I tried to change the subject in my mind, all I could think about was a tree house. I saw it in my mind, like a little daydream. It sat in stubbornness, obscuring my focus from praying a nice, neat, acceptable portion of scripture. At last it was my turn to pray. Sheepishly, I began.

“Uh, I have this picture in my mind. Well, I guess…um, well…I see a tree house. I see you playing in a tree house with God.” My prayer continued a bit more, but it was at this point that I began to hear the sniffles. The man was crying.

Afterwards, as he was preparing to get back on the road again, he took me aside and thanked me for my prayer. He shared that when he was a child, he spent a great deal of his time playing in a tree house. And that’s when I got teary eyed. My silly little picture wasn’t a fluke, God was speaking, and I was hearing.

Something shifted for me in my relationship with the Lord when I discovered I could have a real, live conversation with the All Powerful God. My journey to understanding how God had wired me to hear His voice began with a lot of time just reading His word and asking Him about it. I’d write down the thoughts that would come to mind and revisit them as I’d come across other scriptures to see if this “inner voice” remained true to God’s word. I’d bravely share pictures, scriptures, or impressions I had when I prayed for people who would give me feedback about if those things resonated with their hearts. Over time I began to truly know God’s voice, as John 10 talks about the sheep knowing the voice of their shepherd. I could distinguish between the typical Sara self talk and the thoughts, words, or pictures that would come to mind when I would turn my attention to the King. Peter was right when he said, "Where can I go, Lord? You have the words of eternal life." There is nothing like hearing His voice, it releases life within.

Today I pray that you would hear His voice. That you would be awakened again or for the first time to the unique way God speaks to you - through scriptures, songs, pictures, art, nature, dance, friends, audibly or in His still small voice. May our ears be anchored by the Word.

"Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live." Isaiah 55:2-3