God Is Speaking; Are You Listening?

Yes, listening! Listening is essential if you want to know God and walk in His ways. I like to do what King David did. He would just sit before the Lord. I have found it helpful to sit before the Lord without any plan, agenda or preconceived ideas and let Him initiate whatever He wants to tell me. This is what it means to meditate upon the Lord.

Thankfully, I discovered the value of true Biblical Christian meditation, when I was just starting out in the ministry in 1974. The prevalent thinking at that time was that you had to get up early every morning to read the Bible and pray. There were certain specific disciplines recommended for this to be effective. Then of course, you had to be sure and record whatever insight you gained from your Bible study.

Since I was eager to know God and please Him I embraced this approach. After many mornings without really getting anything, I finally cried out to the Lord in frustration. "Lord, what's going on? Why can't I seem to hear You anymore?" I sensed the Holy Spirit say, "What happened to the good old days when you just enjoyed sitting before Me, meditating upon Me, reading your Bible, talking to Me, and listening to Me speak to you? Remember how you used to delight yourself in My presence, and enjoy My fellowship throughout the day? That's all I want." This was a real eye opener to me.

King David stated that meditation was a frequent occurrence for him, and that he enjoyed meditating on the Lord both day and night. Scripture tells us that David learned how to simply sit before the Lord in quiet expectancy. "Then went King David in, and sat before the Lord"(2 Samuel 7:18). "My soul, wait only upon God; for my expectation is from Him" (Psalm 62:5). Waiting upon God in quiet meditation very likely began when David was a young shepherd boy alone in the field tending the sheep. It probably contributed significantly to him having such a heart after God. The intimate fellowship David enjoyed with the Lord is evident from his many Psalms. Surely anything that gave David such a fulfilling relationship with the Lord is worthy of our serious consideration.

Meditating upon the Lord is a conscious, intentional focus upon Him, with an open attitude of total receptivity and availability to whatever He wants to say or do. I have personally found this form of meditation to be very meaningful. As a result my life and ministry have been greatly enhanced. Thank God that He delights in making Himself known to us in such a personal, practical way. Truly we are blessed with a loving Heavenly Father who delights in having intimate fellowship with us. Oh the joys of Kingdom Living!