Listening to God

Listening

/ The Pastor

Been up since 4 AM,
Listening to the silence of a sleeping house.
Listening for the still, quiet voice of You.
Listening with expectant ears.
Listening with a hopeful heart.
Listening
This world is noisy and my ears are tired.
Too many voices.
Too many sounds.
But now the silence, oh the silence.

[Tick, tock]
[Distant car engine outside]
[House creaking]

Even those small noises are loud.
Longing for silence, if just for a moment.
No distractions.
Just You.
I need Your voice.
I’m here,
Listening,
For You.

Psalm of Discernment

/ The Pastor

Oh Lord, Your voice seems so far from me,
Your voice seems so distant.
The sound of Your voice is so very quiet,
Their words are lost on me.
I strain my ears to hear You,
I lean in to catch Your voice.
Oh Lord, why can’t I hear?
Why is the air so silent?
But I know You are not far,
For You are closer to me than I am to myself.
I know Your voice is not weak,
For Your created with a powerful word.
I know that You won’t leave me hanging,
For Your will, will be done.
Oh Lord, the silence is deafening,
it is loud in my ears,
but to You I cling,
and therefore I find my peace.
I know You will speak to me,
In You I place my trust.
To You be the glory,
forever and ever.
To You be everlasting praise.
Oh Lord, I will wait for Your voice.

Crossroads

/ The Pastor
Image result for crossroads

At a crossroads – which way do I go?
Do I go left?
Do I go right?
I don’t know, for the unknown scares me.
The indecision is almost paralyzing.
The choices are overwhelming.
The pros and cons are confusing.
Nothing is making sense.
I can’t make this decision.
Help me!
Help me!
Is God testing me saying, “Trust Me“?
Is Satan tempting me saying, “Trust yourself“?
I don’t know.
Do I go left?
Do I go right?
Do I stay?
Maybe that’s it, but now I am even more confused.
Help me!
Help me!
I won’t be at peace until I know what to do.
Almighty God, help me.
I am Yours.

To Follow God

/ The Pastor

The congregation that I serve has been renting space for 10 years but today we looked at a potential building to buy. There are a lot of questions to be answered yet, but hopes are running very high with people. Selfishly, I/we want this building, but God is in control, and so we need to pray; listening and obeying. The following poem was birthed out of this praying…

To follow God is never easy
To follow God can make you queasy
But to keep your eyes on Him alone
Is to have your vision fully honed.

So trust and trust and trust even more
And God will present an open door
So don’t create your own self-made path
For you won’t enjoy the aftermath

Open My Eyes

/ The Pastor

Open my eyes, oh Lord, that I may see the beauty of Your Word.
Open my eyes, oh Lord, that I may understand.
Open my eyes, oh Lord, that Your living word may feed me.
Open my eyes.

This is a prayer that every believer ought to pray before engaging the Word. One ought never to engage the Word in a basic, simple, intellectual matter; just seeking information. One ought to approach and engage the Word of God with
reverence
expectation
hope
excitement
wonder
awe and
wide open eyes ready to be blown away by the beauty and majesty of God’s Word. Ready to be fed and nourished. Ready to be transformed and recreated. Ready to be renewed.

God’s Word is living and active. It is sharper than a two-edged sword. It cuts deep. It kills and it gives Life.

Open my eyes, oh Lord, that I may behold wondrous things.
Open my eyes oh Lord, that I may see Jesus.
Ooen my eyes, oh Lord, I want to see wondrous things in Your Word.
Open my eyes.

Sweet Somethings

/ The Pastor

God is whispering sweet somethings in your ear,
For He is not far but oh so very near.
He has wonderful things for you to behold,
That in this life you can be so very bold.

For your life here is not the point of it all,
But the glory of God that stands oh so tall.
So quiet your life and give heed to His voice,
That you may know Him and through Jesus rejoice.

Listening

/ The Pastor

[Tick tock, tick tock]
[Beep beep]
[Screech]
[Wind]
[Murmur, murmur]

Noises fill my airspace.
Invading my thoughts.
Distracting
No where to go where my space isn’t polluted with noise,
but I sit and listen,
trying to listen above the noise – through it – in despite of it.
Listening for the still, small voice of God.

[Tick tock, tick tock]

Listening for God but there’s noise in my head.
Thoughts running around; bumping into each other.
Disjointed
Distracting
Discouraging
No where to go where my space isn’t polluted with noise.
God help me.
Speak above the noise – through it – scattering it – destroying it.
May Your still, small voice, drown out the noise.

[Tick tock, tick tock]

I keep listening,
for God will not disappoint.
I keep listening,
for God’s voice is all I want.
I keep listening…

To See You

/ The Pastor

To see You face to face,
is the goal as I run this difficult race.
I dodge and I weave.
I stumble but to You I cleave.
So…
Help me, oh Lord, to see Your way.
Help me, oh Lord, to follow You each day.
For You are my life,
even in the midst of much strife.
For You are my way,
so please guide and mold this big lump of clay.
Oh Lord, I do want to see You.
Oh Lord, I do want to trust you.
For to see You face to face,
is indeed my goal; thank You for Your amazing grace.
In Jesus amazing name I pray,
Amen!

The Pastor -|—

Fasting…Kind of

/ The Pastor

I am fasting…

…from social media…

…kind of.

I’m going on 24 hours now but let me assure you that I am still staying inline with Matthew 6:17 as my head is anointed and my face is washed. I’m not whining about it or walking around like I’m suffering from withdrawal. I do feel, though, like I am cheating a little since this is being automatically posted to Facebook and Twitter, but I am justifying it by not actually opening the apps or logging in online.

But pastor, WordPress is a social media platform, isn’t it?

Well, yes, but…it’s not Facebook or Twitter and I’m not checking WordPress and perusing it from time to time. That’s why I said “kind of“.

So, if you are “staying inline” with Matthew 6:17, why then are you writing about it?

You’re asking a lot of questions (or I’m talking to myself too much), either way, here’s why I am posting this:

My life seems quieter now.

I read a devotion recently that talked about listening to the voice of God. The author said that many people have inside voices and outside voices. He then went on to say that God doesn’t speak to us with those voices but rather with a still, small, quiet whisper. Why would God do that if He wants to talk to us so we will listen. Well, when someone whispers to you what do you naturally do?

Exactly!

You draw closer to them so you can hear. See my point?

Facebook, Twitter and platforms like those are loud; all using their “outside voices” to get your attention. So excuse me, I’m going to go and listen.

The Pastor -|—

Silence!

/ The Pastor / 4 Comments

I have not been silent about the events of the past few days. I have not turned a blind eye or a deaf ear. True, I haven’t written anything here but I have not been silent.
I have not been silent on the street.
I have not been silent in my office.
I have not been silent in my home.
I have not been silent at the coffee shop.
No, I have not been boisterous and in people’s faces about my concerns and fears over this election. I have not been outspoken about anyone who was elected or not elected. I have not taken to the streets in protest. I have not been feisty on social media (at least I hope I haven’t been). I am just saying,

I have not been silent.

Instead, I have been crying out. I have been crying out to God. I have been pouring out my heart to Him. I have been outspoken in my concerns for this nation; for this world. I have been “up in God’s face”; making sure He has heard me.

I have not been silent.

And we can’t be silent at least we can’t be silent with God. And with that said, we need to be silent in this world for a time. I am not saying that we ignore the problems that we have as a nation, but we need to be silent in this world, now, and focus on crying out to God. For how can we expect to change the world if we are too busy talking and not listening to God. How can we change the world if we are taking to the streets and not on our knees, listening to our Father. How can we make a difference if we aren’t listening to one another. We need to be silent, now, so we can cry out to God. We need to be silent so we can listen. We need to be silent.

There is too much noise.
There is too much fear.
There is too much hate.

Silence and Listen. God wants to say something…

The Pastor -|—