He hears...

hear... to listen to with attention...

---Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Ed.

Yesterday...
Today...
I raise up questions in prayer...

Each time... an answer...
and I know He hears...

His answers heard with my heart...
not my ears...

He hears me...
He hears my heart...
by faith I hear Him speak to me...

What a comfort to know He hears...
His immediate answers sustain me...
when my questions meet silence...
because... I... know... He... hears...

O you who hear prayer,

to you all flesh will come.

Psalm 65:2 ESV 

He is present...

He woke me with words today...
ministry needing to move forward...

He spoke to me through messages...
preachers teaching through the radio...

He pressed me to pray...
inviting another to join in intercession...

He seemed very present today...

Sometimes He's so quiet...
I wonder if He's near...
but not today...

Where was He present to you today...?

Seek the Lord while he may be found;

call upon him while he is near...

Isaiah 55:6 ESV

have i missed a word...?

Wondering about my hearing a bit lately...
not physical... but spiritual...

His words don't seem as loud...
as they have in the past...

It's not like He's silent...
I discern His presence...
in unexpected joy...
the prompt to pray...
the desire to give...

But the words... seem to be missing...
it's more like impressions...
it's more like it's part of me... (?)

So I wonder...
have I missed a word... from Him...?
is it more me... than Him...?
or is He becoming more... a part of me...?

Is this a sign of spiritual growth...?
when the current desires... before...
would have been an uncomfortable call...?
words pressed clear...?

I don't know...

I pray for less of me...
and more of Him...
is this what it feels like...?

This evening's devotional... Charles Spurgeon says of the Holy Ghost...

As the only truly purifying water He cleanses us from the power of sin and sanctifies us unto holiness, working in us to will and to do of the Lord's good pleasures.

---Morning and Evening

My will... becoming His...?

in a way that does not feel discernible...?

I don't know... maybe...

"... Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me,

that they may be one, even as we are one. ..." ---Jesus

John 17:11 ESV

seeking wisdom... trying not to doubt...

He is so gracious... so loving... so faithful... to those He's created... He promises wisdom to those who ask...

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God,

who gives generously to all without reproach,

and it will be given him.

James 1:5 ESV

There is no chiding for not knowing already...

no partiality... no prerequisites...

He graciously... generously... gives wisdom...

to those who ask... who know they are lacking...

But there is one stipulation...

But let him ask in faith, with no doubting,

for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea

that is driven and tossed by the wind.

For that person must not suppose that he will receive

anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man,

unstable in all his ways.

James 1:6-8 ESV

God will not give... when He knows we are simply asking for His opinion... He will not give... if we are seeking others for what sounds best to us...

When we ask... we must have a heart of faith...

trusting His wisdom as the best... the only... option...

I need His wisdom in several areas at this time...

I know I'm lacking...

My doubt... is with my own hearing...

if what I'm hearing is Him... or me...

If I knew for sure it was from Him... I would go with what I hear... boldly... but I don't trust me...

I'm reminded of what I say to others...

Hearing Him is by faith... and if you believe you have heard Him and act by faith on what you hear... He will bless... for Romans 8:28 kicks in...

And we know that for those who love God

all things work together for good,

for those who are called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28 ESV 

Without faith... it is impossible to please Him...

Therefore... I'm...

listening by faith...

seeking His wisdom...

trusting Him to make Himself clear...

Thank You... Lord... for Your generous outpouring of wisdom...

... the wisdom from above is first pure,

then peaceable, gentle, open to reason,

full of mercy and good fruits,

impartial and sincere.

James 3:17 ESV

a new place of solitude...

With the challenge of hearing Him... amidst all the changes of life...
I've found a new place of solitude...

My car...

Before... with hours a day home alone... the discipline of no TV... no radio... gave me lots of quiet... lots of time to listen...

And before... my car was where I tuned in voices... through the radio... KBJS...

Turning on the car... immediately followed by... turning on the radio...

I noticed this last week... how seldom I turned on the radio...

Instead... I found myself nestling down in the silence...

A new routine... emerging from the new job...

A new place of solitude... found...

Now... the times I do turn the radio on... I don't want words spoken...
I long for praise singing...

The quiet solitude in my car... has helped me reconnect... with Him...

At the end of a long day... last week... 10,000 Reasons filling the space around me... I found myself moved...

Praising Him...

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But not nearly enough...

A desire burst from my heart in prayer...

Lord... increase my capacity to praise Your name...

I long to praise You greater... better... more...

If You want to increase anything in me...

stretch out the tent of my heart... to make more room...

give greater ability... to praise Your holy name...

Finding myself very grateful... for a new place of solitude...

My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,

and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.

Psalm 145:21 ESV

Where is your favorite place of quiet...? where you can hear only Him...?

the challenge of... asking to hear...

The challenge of... asking to hear Him more clearly... is an exercise of faith...

In the wee dark hours of this morning... I'm reminded of a quote I read this week...

What God asks of men, said Graham, is faith. His invisibility is the truest test of that faith. To know who sees him, God makes himself unseen.

---Laura Hillenbrand, Unbroken, quoting Billy Graham

But... He not only makes Himself unseen... He turns His volume down... and the background noise up...

So perhaps... to know who hears Him... He makes Himself unheard...

Dare you believe He's speaking...? every moment... of every day...? with words of love...? guidance...? direction...? wisdom...?

If you want to hear... you have to listen... by faith...

Willingly... I embrace the challenge... of listening... hearing... His voice which now seems quieter... hidden somewhere behind the noise of life...

Because... I don't want to miss a Word... He has for me... I will stop... listen... wait... and learn to filter... discern... Him... from all the rest...

What about you...? When He seems quiet... silent...? Do you stop listening because you think He's stopped talking...? Or do you believe... He's asking you to exercise your faith...?

And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. ... And behold, there came a voice...

1Kings 19:11-13 ESV