THE ART OF LISTENING PRAYER
PART 2
Some Instruction on doing these exercises
Psalms 95:7 The Message- “Oh yes, he’s our God, and we’re the people he pastures, the flock he feeds. Drop everything and listen, listen as he speaks. “
My favorite way of experiencing God is feeling his presence. I absolute adorn when GOD chooses to lay his hand on me, to let me reveal in his arms. It is probably the best feeling on earth. Probably the best time this has happened was while I was an FYM in England. I was having a time of darkness and had become very frustrated with God’s silence. So I decided to take a time for myself and went to Starbucks in the mall. It was loud and not anything like you would expect for God to show up. But I was just having an intense time of prayer, I find it the easiest to pray into a journal (a.k.a right what you would say out loud, or in your head, into a journal. I like it ‘because not only do you get to save it for posterities’ sake but also I am more thoughtful and I find it more meaningful. But all of a sudden I was just praying and God’s presence came flooding over me, and it was totally like me and God were having a party.
So, there are so many ways to experience God.
· Through Scripture :
o “All Scripture is God-breathed (inspired) and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work,” 2 Timothy 3: 16-17
· Through Others:
o “For with the speech of lips, and with another tongue he will speak to this people.” Isaiah 28:11
· Through Events
o “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.” Gen. 50:20
· Through Impressions
o “The evidence of the Spirit’s presence is given to each person for the common good of everyone.” 1 Cor. 12:7
· Audibly
o “The LORD would speak to Moses personally, as a man speaks to his friend. Then Moses would come back to the camp, but his assistant, Joshua, son of Nun, stayed inside the tent.” Ex. 33:11
· Inwardly
o “The Spirit said: ‘Go to these people and say, “You will hear clearly but never understand. You will see clearly but never comprehend.” Acts 28:26
· Through Visions and Dreams
o “In visions, God brought me to Israel and set me down on a very high mountain. On the south side of the mountain were some buildings that looked like those in a city.” Ez. 40:2
Scripture Meditation: Spend a few minutes meditating on this scripture, figure out what God wants to say to you in it.
“11 The LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.”
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.” 1 King 19:11-12
Take some time and ask God these questions
At what times has God tried to speak to you in a still small voice and did you not hear him?
What are some ways God has spoken to you in the past?
Have you limited the ways that God wants to speak to you?
How can you better hear God’s voice?
After you’ve done this right a comment telling us what you got out of this study and that you have done it.
This Bible Study was written using excerpts from the book “The Art of Listening Prayer” by Seth Barnes.
I would encourage everyone to check out Rob Bell’s Nooma video on this passage called, Noise. I know people have some controversy with him, but I think his take on this part of scripture is quite good. He suggests that if you go back to the original Hebrew for the phrase “a gentle whisper”, it actually refers to God being in the sound of sheer silence.
I thought it was rather amusing and odd that in the verse just before this passage it says, “The Lord said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.'” I originally thought that why would God tell Elijah to wait on His passing by or His voice if He was already talking to Elijah. But in fact it makes a lot more sense that the still small voice is actually God in the silence.
This study was great because it caused me to really think about how God was speaking to me and that I should listen more than talking sometimes!