When you pray, do you listen........?

[p.rehbein]

When you pray, do you listen?

Psalms 46:10) Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

Brother William Oldham, in his book Reformation Theology, had these thoughts about prayer:

Prayer is our most effective tool as a Christian, for it strengthens our relationship with the Lord.  Unfortunately, too many Christians shirk this area, or at best give it a quick run through before going out into the world.

It is through Bible Study, Prayer and spending quality time alone with God that we are able to open our heart to God, and God, in return, can open His heart to us.  Prayer is similar to one using the telephone, in that one might say it's our own private line to God.  If we've ever called someone on the phone and find that they won't say anything back to us, we tend to get annoyed with them.  Likewise if we get a call from someone who talks constantly and never lets us respond to what they are saying, then we also do a slow burn on our end.  The same is true of God, for when we pray and then not let God get a word in edgewise before we say "Amen", then we've just told God that we're really too busy to wait long enough to find out if He wants to talk with us too or not.  In fact all we're really doing with that quickie kind of prayer is, what some use to call in the military, just showing up for morning roll call, or, we're just letting God know we're still here, and then get on with our daily duties........


I had to think about this, but I realized that I am sometimes guilty of this.....got things to do, places to go, oh yeah, better read my Scripture for the day and have a wee short prayer........and it's off I go.......

Sadly, I have found myself doing this more than once or twice.........and while I struggle to "be still...........and know that He is God........" I get caught up in myself instead of being filled up with Him.
But I'm praying, and I'm working on it, and with His strength and guidance, I'll get there..........there being that state of "quality time" that I truly desire to have with Him.

[fenton]

   me too brother, me too

[Nevertheless]

God speaks in the silence of the heart. Listening is the beginning of prayer.

Dan Rather, CBS anchor, once asked Mother Teresa what she said during her prayers. She answered, "I listen." So Rather turned the question and asked, "Well then, what does God say?" To that Mother Teresa smiled with confidence and answered, "He listens."

[Debrah]

Most of my prayers seem more like voice mail....I do not hear from God right away, He gets back with me at a later date.

[Carey]

Most of my prayers seem more like voice mail....I do not hear from God right away, He gets back with me at a later date.

P.R.

Me too,  but I'm gonna work on that, thanks for sharing.

[Willie T]

And, a similar question could be posed... When you don't happen to be praying, do you listen?

[notreligus]

And, a similar question could be posed... When you don't happen to be praying, do you listen?

+1

[writermama]

This is something I'm trying to work on. At night when I pray, I try to spend 20 minutes just quiet. No thoughts, nothing. I don't always hear him, but I feel warm & fuzzy, like I'm being comforted.

[JenniferW]

This is how I've been going about it as well.  I need to do better at quieting down and listening.

Most of my prayers seem more like voice mail....I do not hear from God right away, He gets back with me at a later date.

[Debbie_55]

I think I give more quantity time than I do quality as I talked to God through out the whole day and some times He talks back and sometimes He's just quiet and lets me ponder.

[fenton]

 i try to listen, but i think i get in His way

[Gracey]

Listening is the hardest thing to do - but like others, I am trying to do it more.

I usually take about 40 minutes in the morning, as a 'quiet time' and I realised a while back, that I was very structured - I read my Bible, a couple of devotionals and then flicked through my 'people to pray for' list, but actually I think God just wants to hang out with us.  So, I have been trying to be less structured about it - I open my Bible and I say, 'Lord, what would you like to say today?' and He nearly always points something out to me....and then I go away and think/pray it over and sometimes, write it in my journal. 

Quieting your heart though, from all the distractions, is incredibly difficult.  The minute I want to go quiet, lots of things pop into my head and sometimes I wonder if they are MY thoughts or God's thoughts.   It's a tough one! 

[imHis]

Yes,I don't always hear a reply right away.It is in the darkness of the night when everything is very quiet.I will hear a small reply that goes clear to my heart.

[Moriah_Ruth]

I must say for me it is hard for me to hear God's voice, because my thoughts are so dominate, like they are screaming for my attention. However I can't say that I don't hear His voice, I do. When I tell my thoughts to shut up. My best times are early in the morning, because I have not allowed my thoughts to go in fast gear yet. This is when I do my devotionals and pray.

Moriah Ruth

[alwarren26]

I feel recently that I am hearing Him when I pray. It's a calming presence and I always hear "Child, I am here with you. Please do not lose faith. I will take care of it for you" have you guys ever had this?

[clark thompson]

Christians often if you ask them will admit that their prayer life could be better