Day 8 – What Stops Us From Hearing: Lack of Awareness For His Voice
As you begin to spend time with God, settle yourself somewhere quiet and comfortable. Take a few deep breaths. Spend a few moments gathering your thoughts, becoming aware of God’s presence with you and in you.
Journal for 5 minutes on yesterday’s reflection and practice. What did you think about and learn? What challenged you? Did God say anything to you throughout the day?
Then, begin today’s devotional.
Read: Matthew 6:33
"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
Isaiah 58:6-7
"Isn’t this the fast I choose:
To break the chains of wickedness,
to untie the ropes of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free,
and to tear off every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
to bring the poor and homeless into your house,
to clothe the naked when you see him,
and not to ignore your own flesh and blood?"
Countless students have asked me, "Brooke, how do I hear the voice of God in my life?" I have talked to student after student who sincerely ask God for direction and are desperate to clearly hear His response. One of the blockades to hearing what God has to say is that we allow too many voices to speak into our minds and hearts. For most of us, there is a panel of people and opinions that have access to our lives (some without us even realizing that we gave them permission). We must quiet the stimuli and lean in to hear Him speak. My prayer is that you would "seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness” (Matt. 6:33). Scripture promises that everything else will be added to you.
We have the opportunity to quiet the litany of voices in our hearts and minds, and maybe even remove some from the panel of opinions we are listening to. We are invited to slow down our pace, eliminate distractions, and focus on the One who is more than worthy of our attention and affection.
Leaning into this invitation takes determination and discipline, and the discipline we are going to focus on today is fasting. Fasting involves self-denial of normal necessities in order to intentionally attend to God in prayer. Bringing attachments and cravings to the surface and letting God break them opens a place for prayer in us. The physical awareness of our emptiness becomes our reminder to turn to Jesus who alone can satisfy. The spiritual discipline of fasting can involve abstaining from food, drink, shopping, desserts, and media (T.V., music, excessive cell phone use, video games) to intentionally become aware of our need to be with God and to listen to the voice of Jesus.
Here are some wrong reasons to fast:
Wanting the fast to accomplish something for you while you are not living a lifestyle God desires
For the sake of appearances (to make you look holy/set apart)
As a magical way to manipulate God into doing your will
To lose weight/control others
Fasting is an opportunity to become aware of our spiritual appetites and to recognize the insufficient nourishment we receive from anything we use to satisfy our appetite besides God. Fasting challenges our normal habits and opens us up to intentionally seeking God's will and hear His voice.
Hearing God more can often mean doing less.
Prayer:
Father, I pray that as we attune our hearts to Your Voice, we would hear You clearly above everything and everyone else. I pray that as we make sacrifices to fast and practice these spiritual disciplines, that it would be out of a great desire to know Your heart and seek first Your Kingdom. We love and adore You. We are aware that You deserve all of our attention and affection.
Journal:
Take a few moments to journal through the following question(s).
Take a personal survey of the most influential voices in your life. Some of them may be voices of people you know and interact with, and others may be voices you didn’t realize were guiding you, such as peer pressure, desire to be liked, or social media influences.
Now ask yourself these questions:
Are these the right voices to be speaking into my life?
Do these voices remind me of who God is, who I am, and encourage me towards loving, trusting, and following Jesus more?
Am I allowing any of these voices to be more powerful than God’s voice in my life?
Today’s Practice:
Read through the attached “Basics to Fasting” document, then choose something to fast from today. It could be a meal or two, technology (social media, video games, watching shows, etc.), shopping, caffeine, sugar, or something else. Every time you desire the thing you are fasting from, speak to the Lord and acknowledge that He is all you need to satisfy you. Ask Him to speak to you as you dedicate this fast to Him.
For the rest of the semester, we will be inviting people to fast on the first Monday of the month. Feel free to join.
By Brooke Wagner, Area Coordinator of Grey-Beatty