The Blue and Purple

The Lord is talking today – do you hear him today? 

I’ve had a few bouts where I struggled to hear the Lord – every single believer has. But You have the power to do something, so do not let these bouts become permanent!

Here are a couple faithful things that you can do when you feel like God is a little too quiet:

– Call a Spade a Problem – 

YOU are not the problem, but the saying still holds true: the first step to solving your problem is admitting you have a problem (on your hands).  If you can reason, “Hey, I should be hearing God more” then you will now have the proper, righteous attitude to change the way things are. You should see your problem as such – a problem! Your enemy. Lack is your enemy.

“The state of things”, “the status quo”, “the way things are” are working against you. If you have resigned to not hearing the Lord, then you need to resign that resigning right now!

Perfect. Now, before you do anything next, you must (re)know a thing:

– Knowing > Praying – 

Before you begin to pray…you must know. 

When you go to pray, take a huge breath, let it out, and just observe the room around you before you even begin to pray. Don’t say word – just observe the room, and look for God. And once you have taken the time to sit there, knowing very well you can’t see God, then the knowing begins and belief starts to kicks in. 

This is when you should start to pray. 

Save yourself the rapid-fire, get-going prayers – just wait until you already know he’s right there in the room with you. He’s right here with me. Then your prayers will flow. 

But simply praying doesn’t mean you heard him. Or does it?

– Your Voice His Voice Big Voice Little Voice – 

When you pray by ‘knowing first’, you will find yourself in prayer “coming up with” new ideas you hadn’t thought of just 10 minutes prior. You may start think about other things that weren’t even on your radar for the day. And then you will realize, “Maybe I didn’t just come up with these thoughts.”

This is why it’s so important to journal why you pray.  It’s natural to forget 90% of everything you thought you heard 30 minutes after your prayer time. Write. Everything. Down. Even if it’s chicken scratch – or just one single word you felt touched you – write them all down, and watch them come to life.

“But I want to hear the Lord, not just pray! And what if the thoughts are just my thoughts”. Both of these are tough to separate, but there is a higher way. But before that…

– Hearing Not Praying – 

To try to hear the Lord without praying is the old adage: it’s hard to steer a parked car. If you’re not talking (even out loud) with the Lord, its a little difficult to flow in a conversation with the Lord. Impossible? No. See The high(er)way below. 

But one more note…

It is a valid concern to wonder if what you are hearing is just your own thoughts. Journaling helps with discernment because you can test out the words and see which ones are ‘valid’ and which ones are fluff. Not only can you “try-out” the words from your journal (e.g. call that old friend you hadn’t thought about in years), but you will be able to remember how you felt when you heard that specific word. Was it soft or loud? Did it feel like something specific when you heard it? And so forth. Journaling and Doing will dial in your discernment.

…but if you want to hear the Lord, and don’t want to be in any deep prayer for the day, there is a high(er)way…

– The High(er)way – 

The Lord is not worried about your problems; he’s figured them all out already. And if that is true, and it is, then you must come up to where he sits – way up. 

And the way up is Rejoicing. 

If you have no reason to rejoice, all the better! Simply start enjoying the very moment you’re in right now! Look up to heaven and laugh with the Lord. And thanking won’t hurt either!

This is a key. This is a fundamental key, and is part of a divine order of his perfect flow. Rejoice Always, Pray Continually, and Give Thanks in all Circumstances.  

It does not say Pray Continually first. It says Rejoice! Start by getting high with the Lord. Yes, get high with the Lord! Go waaaay up, and be so happy in the Lord. Then pray. Then give thanks.  

I wrote about this and called it the Starter Kit for this reason.

When you rejoice all the way up to his throne, you will remember all over again: you are free. Nothing else really matters. And when life is like this, hearing the Lord is perfect.

It’s not hard, it just requires a little effort. A little death.

Enjoy the moment with the Lord, and laugh.

As you become freer and freer in your heart and mind, the flow will come back. Hearing will come back.

– A Final Thought: The How’s – 

If you’re coming out of a time of not hearing the Lord, whether short or long, don’t focus too much on the “how’s”: 

A gentle whisper, open visions, dreams, impressions & certain feelings, etc.

How you hear the Lord when you get going again doesn’t matter; just don’t expect it to be the same. There are so many ways the Lord speaks, and he truly enjoys keeping us on our toes in this regard.

Even worse, He will actually speak to you different than you’re used to just to get you to change, and flow again.

This doesn’t mean you won’t ever hear from him that way again. But whether it’s one way or the other, forget your comfort “hearing preference” and trust he can get to you another way.

Don’t accept not hearing one moment longer. Get hearing again, and forever and ever!