Many years ago, I read this about Mother Teresa. A reporter had asked her, “Mother Teresa, your prayers must be very special. What exactly do you say when you pray to God?” Her response came quickly, “Oh, I don’t talk much. I mostly listen.” When I first read that, I was puzzled. I wondered about that and pondered her answer seriously because in my prayers, I did all the talking.
How about you? Do you primarily talk to God and rarely listen?
Then let me challenge you to a different kind of praying. Sarah Young, the author of the devotional, Jesus Calling, is very good at listening, and back in 2013, I read her devotion every day and journaled what I thought God was saying to me for that day.
It was a delightful way to commune with my Father, my Savior, and my Counselor. I look back now at my journaling, and I appreciate those comments so much. Sometimes I actually marvel at what I wrote. The comments are often deep and show how much I trust God and love him.
Sometimes I wrote a lot of questions because I needed answers that still didn’t penetrate my heart and mind. Sometimes I would be trite, but I was always honest, and I would just sit and wait until I received a thought from God.
I challenge you today to do just that—sit and wait for God to talk to you. I promise you he will, maybe not the first or second or third time you try. It takes a willing heart to be patient for the Spirit of God to literally share himself with you. Just sit in his Presence and praise him and thank him, and he will share a thought with you, I promise. The more you wait, and the more you honestly listen, the more you will hear.
”May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.” Psalm 19:14 NLT
