How Come God Doesn’t Speak to Me the Way He Does to Her?

Do you ever hear stories of women who seem to hear God speak to them on a regular basis and wonder why you don’t experience the same?

Today I sat with my Bible open, journal out and pen in hand.  I prayed the prayer I regularly pray before I spend time with God, “Lord what do you want to say to me today?” I read the Psalms, wrote down my prayers (which I have found is a GREAT way to keep my heart and mind focused, rather than wandering off to the errands I need to run or work I need to do) and was just about to open my laptop to write a blog post.

But then I stopped.

“Just listen” God whispered to my heart.

How did He whisper?  Well, for starters, He used words I had read only moments before.  They came from the book of Jeremiah, which interestingly, the pages of my Bible fell open to before I read the Psalms. Here’s what I read:

“Have any of these prophets been in the Lord’s presence to hear what he is really saying?  Has even one of them cared enough to listen?” (Jer 23:18)  

Hmmm.  Interesting thought.  However, I had another agenda (one that didn’t involve the book of Jeremiah) so I dismissed it fairly quickly, and turned to other passages of scriptures, then wrote down my prayers–which of, course, is all good stuff.

But sometimes the good is the enemy of the best.

So, with my spiritual boxes checked off (Had a quiet time? Check. Spent time in prayer? Check. Confessed any known sin? Check.) I set off to write this post.  But God had a different idea.  He wanted to say something to me. Which meant I needed to listen.

So He spoke.

Using His word combined with His Holy Spirit, He said only two words: “Just listen.”

I put my pen down, closed my laptop and did.

What did I hear when I paused long enough to listen?  I tell you tomorrow, because it’s pretty cool and you’ll love it.  But for now, the message for you and for me is this: sometimes we don’t hear God speak because we don’t pause long enough to listen.

God uses His word combined with His Spirit to speak to us.  All of us.  Or at least, all of us who will listen.

When was the last time you listened to God?  I mean really listened? It’s a simple thing, but one we too often overlook, which could be why we wonder why we don’t hear God as clearly as others do.

“Has any one of them cared enough to really listen?” God asked.

Oh Lord,

Let me be one who cares enough, and lingers in your presence long enough, to listen. Amen