Listening Prayer

Lord Speak To Me

Today, I asked the Lord to speak to me and He answered. I love the God moments when I take the time to listen for Him.

I sat down in my lounge chair with my husband by my side. The dogs settled down and lay beside us on the deck. We were all so happy to be outside.

The sky was a cloudless azure blue, the warmth of the sun on my body helped me to relax in my recliner. I looked out into the yard and said to my husband "I wonder when the hummingbirds will be back." No answer as he had drifted into his own dreamworld.

I closed my eyes and took my mind to a listening place. Today I envisioned sitting on a bench next to a small tucked away stream fed pond my husband and I discovered Christmas eve day on a walk in the woods with our dogs. That day we stopped and rested and prayed... it seemed so right for the peace and quiet of the setting and the beauty of the moment.

So today, I rested my mind within that moment and used the imagery to clear my thoughts and pose a question to God... and then I listened...

There was a short time of quieting my own thoughts and then Psalm 23 begins... it is as though I am being drawn close to His voice. I reflect on the words and then quiet again...

I drift a moment and upon waking I very clearly heard .....

....but they that wait on the Lord will renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles....

.... and I knew God was speaking . Excited, desiring more I went inside and looked up Isaiah 55 thinking the verse was in this chapter. I knew the verse but where was it. I did a search on my computer. Then I found it in Isaiah 40:31. The search led me to a very insightful commentary. God's answer in detail. Here's a synopsis :

The symbol of courageous strength is the eagle. In Isaiah 40:31 we see a metaphor of a bird used to describe how with God, we can soar through difficulty.

There are three different types of flight used by birds.

1. Flapping: Keeping their wings in constant motion to counteract gravity. Hummingbirds flap up to 70 times per second. The writing went on to say that we are like humming birds, we flap a lot but get nowhere. Wow, God really had my attention...wasn't my last thought about the hummingbird!

2. Gliding: Going up high and heading back to earth. Unfortunately when we do this , we often hit the ground.

3. Soaring: Now this is interesting... Only eagles and hawks, etc. do this. Taking advantage of the air currents and heat riser to fly with little of no effort. Some eagles have been clocked at 80 miles an hour with no effort on their part, they just soar. They ride the columns of air currents.

Isaiah 40:31 says ....they shall mount up with wings like eagles.

So how do we stop flapping and start soaring?

The passage began with the answer... They that wait on the Lord will renew their strength. The answer lies in the waiting.

To wait means to pause, to consider our own limitations and God's all sufficiency, and to remind us to seek His counsel and help. Waiting means submission to the word and letting God be the updraft over which we can mount up our wings.

This reading lead to many passages- Psalm 25:4-5,Psalm 33:20-21, Psalm 37:7, that spoke to me about letting God provide the perception, the perspective, the provision, and the power for the answer to the question I brought to Him today.

The article ended with these lines:

God is in the business of transforming us from hummingbirds into eagles.

Driving to our class tonight I wondered what our teacher's message would impart regarding our transformation... Want to take a guess?.... yes.. your right, waiting and trusting!

She concluded in prayer asking God to give each of the students a passage to claim and meditate upon... Wow, how cool, I'm already there... all because... I waited, I listened to hear from God and .... He waited, He listened and He spoke.