a need to clarify

I’m a thinker.  A reflecter.  I’ve been going over some things that I said while teaching bible study last Thursday, and I need to clarify.  Not that everyone who went to bible study in the morning and evening will read this… but I think it will help me out as I process the work that God did last week.

I’ve been amazed at how this gift of teaching that God has given me keeps growing.  I say it in those terms because I know it’s not ME.  Truly, I am only a vessel that He uses and for the most part, I feel like a spectator watching Him do amazing things in my midst!   The last few times He’s called me to teach, I’ve sensed a new level of authority in the words that are coming out of my mouth.   Of course, I don’t have the authority to say these things, but the Spirit of God surely does.  The more I yield to Him, the more I see the Spirit speaking with this power and authority.  So, let me clarify.

On Thursday morning, the Lord made some pretty straight-forward statements through me.  One of the last things that He put on my heart to say was that there is a big difference between reading the bible and meeting with God.   I didn’t have time to go into detail about the difference when I was speaking, so now’s my chance.

It’s so easy to think of our devotional time as a “to-do” on the list.  We do our duty, read our chapter or two, and move on to the next item on our list.  We might even spend time praying, journaling, or answering bible study questions.  However… are we really meeting with God? Are we having a two-way dialogue?  Are we taking time to listen to what He would like to say?  Are we letting Him lead our interaction with Him?

Practical things that we can do to encourage dialogue and a true meeting with God are:

• Begin your time with God by allowing Him to start the dialogue.  Refrain from praying or talking, except to invite Him to speak to you. Consider any scripture or devotional that you read as His communication to you.  This is what He has chosen to say to you today.   Once He has “spoken” through what you’ve read, then go ahead and ask questions, pray, confess, or do whatever you feel prompted to do.  Respond to what He is saying to you.

• If you sense that God is trying to speak to you through a specific passage or verse, consider re-writing the verse(s) making the pronouns appropriately personal.  Add detail if the Holy Spirit prompts you to do so.  (Example:  Psalm 34:8  “Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.” The Holy Spirit might inspire you to re-write this to reflect what God is trying to communicate to your heart:  “My child, taste and see that I am good.  Trust me with your financial need and you will find that I will do what is best for you.  How blessed you will be if you trust Me and take refuge in Me.  Let me care for you, provide for you, and protect you.” After you have written down what He has said to you, then you might want to respond by writing back or praying your response out loud.

• If  suited to your personality or learning style, try visualizing yourself with the Lord. The first time you do it,  I recommend being quiet for a minute and asking the Lord to show you a picture in your mind of the place where He wants to meet you.  You may be surprised at what He will choose.  (For example, my special place is at the beach near a pier. Jesus and I are always alone on the sand.  We walk and talk together. Sometimes He walks me out to the end of the pier to be closer to God the Father – His presence appears as lightning and flashes in the clouds above the water.  The more that I visualize myself with Him in this way, the more detailed it becomes.)  Once you have this picture of your personal meeting place stored in your mind, you can visualize yourself there with Jesus anytime.  This will be most effective if you are a visual person.

• Sit silently before the Lord. Have pen and paper next to you to jot down whatever He may communicate to you.  Once you are quiet and focused, you may sense what seem like whispers in your mind. You might get a visual picture of something.  A word or phrase may flash in your mind.  Remain quiet and let the Lord show you what it means.  It might be an action He wants you to take.  He might suggest a scripture to look up.  He may want to speak some words of love or comfort to you.  He could begin uncovering truth that you are unaware of.  He may want to visit an experience from the past and reveal something to you about it.  If you have trouble being silent or concentrating, hum a worship song or speak a phrase over and over softly to keep your mind on Him.  (For example, on an occasion when I was highly anxious, the Spirit led me to softly chant something like, “You are the Lord my God.  You are One.  You are Holy.”  I must have repeated that twenty times or more until I settled down and focused on Him.  Then I was able to hear what He wanted to communicate quietly to my heart.)

• If you are the kind of person that connects easily with nature, sit outside or take a walk outdoors.  Look around you and wait to see if the Lord will draw your attention to something (maybe a rock, a tree, the skyline, an animal. etc.)  Watch the object and allow God to speak to your heart.  (For example, the Lord urged me to get out of my chair one morning to open the curtains.  I saw the most amazing sunrise and He spoke something simple to my heart like, “A new day is dawning. I am doing a new thing in you.”  It was the very week that I found out that I was pregnant.)  Note: if you get impatient waiting for God to communicate through your outdoor surroundings, try looking around and praising Him for what He has made.  Pause occasionally to see if He will share something with you.

• You may find that a certain posture will be most conducive to meeting with God and hearing from Him.  Personally, the Lord has shown me that the lower I am, the more likely I am to be real with Him and connect with Him.  I have heard from Him most clearly while on the floor.  It could be that kneeling, bowing, rocking, laying face down, or even flat on your back will increase your ability to concentrate and remain humble before Him.  This may not have any bearing at all on your time with Him, so let Him lead on this too.

• If you are especially moved by music, you may want to begin your time with Him by listening to a few worship songs or just singing them yourself.  Imagine that you are alone with the Lord and you are singing directly to Him.  Once you are focused and connected with Him, then be quiet and let Him communicate to you.

• If you have an artistic talent, consider sitting before Him with drawing paper, canvas, clay, piano, etc… and allow Him to lead you.  He may use your own hand to draw or paint a picture of what He wants to communicate to you.  He may use your own instrument to sing a song of love or encouragement to you.

• Get ALONE with God.  You are more likely to “hear” what God is trying to communicate to you if you are free from distraction and interruptions.  In addition, I have found that the more I connect with God, the more intense our meetings are.  I need to know that someone is not going to walk in on me while I am kneeling, fanny in the air, crying my eyes out, quickly scribbling in my journal what God is communicating to me.  I may not want anyone else to hear me singing or yelling at God. (Yes, that’s okay. He can take it.)  So, get up early or stay up late when everyone else is in bed.  Make plans, if needed, to get the house to yourself for an hour.

By no means is this another checklist for you.  My goodness… there are things on the list that would only make me crazy, and certainly not cause me connect with Jesus.  These are suggestions to help you make your devotional time a true meeting with God.  He may have tugged at your heart as you read a specific idea above.  One of the suggestions may have ignited an unlisted method that He wants you to try.  I encourage you to experiment until you KNOW that you have met with God face to face.  He longs to connect with you!

Wow! This post is much longer than I anticipated. I wanted to clarify some things that I taught about prayer at the evening bible study teaching… I will cover that in my next post.