I remember the day

When my wife would say

How do you hear from God?

That seems so odd.

I said prayer is talking.

Meditation is to listen

Conversation starts forming

It’s a two way street.

Talk, then listen.

He will speak.

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In the beginning of my wife’s walk with God, I had already been talking and walking with God for decades. She had been in denominational churches that didn’t necessarily say anything about a conversational God. Most will pray. They don’t expect God to talk back, only listen.

I told her to pray, but to listen as well. It was a novel idea to her. Not that’s she’s dense or something. In fact, she a very intelligent person. My brother described her as quirky, but that’s another story for another day. I’d say she’s curious and apt to search a thing for it’s truth and relativity in her thinking.

The first time I told to her to listen, she came back a few days later and told me God did speak to her that she had “the key”. She was puzzled for weeks, maybe months then one day we were at the funeral of a friend of ours and through the minister she found “the key”. It was simply Jesus. She’s like “duh”.

She was still a bit puzzled at God speaking to a person. I just told her not to think in the “thees”, “thous” and such of the old English such as the King James Version of the Bible. Just talk to Him in everyday speech. God and I talk anytime He wants my attention or I have a moment to tell Him I’m thinking about Him or have a question. Have you ever been just doing whatever and all of a sudden some thought comes from out of left field, so to speak? Did you realize that was God talking or trying to get your attention? Well?

God has encouraged me through our conversations (another word for prayer). He had scolded me likewise in conversation. We’ve laughed together, cried together and I’ve even listened to Him as He told me what to say to a person I’m conversing with. It’s a bit like having an ear piece in your ear like a person in a cop show as he goes in for the sting and the cops are in a van out on the street are telling him what to say. You get the idea.

Well, Libby came home yesterday and she was telling me she was talking to God about a particular situation with our lives and surprisingly God said back to her this. “Why do you ask Me this? There’s nothing lacking in you and Jim’s lives with Me.” Well, something of that order as I heard it. He kind of scolded her for asking something of Him we don’t really need. I would admit that I have asked God for the same thing and it hasn’t changed. So I guess I could take it as towards me as well, since she was passing it along to me.

Then suddenly I realized something. From years ago till now, Libby has developed the ability to hear from God and then speak back to Him very matter-of-factly. She’s no longer a young babe in Christ. She can talk and hear from Him. That was a revelation to me. I am so pleased with this little light that I saw.

I had a first grader on my bus say something to me about God “up there”. He was pointing up. I asked him did God say something. He pointed up again and said God is up there. He never said anything about Him speaking. I looked at him and said God does indeed lives “up there”, but He also lives in here, pointing to my chest. He looked at me and said “really?” I said yes. And He talks to me directly, right here, again pointing to my chest. The little boy then said God lives in me, too. I had planted a seed inside of him. Let’s see how it grows.

No matter who you talk to, plant those seeds of thought in them. Somebody is sure to come by and water it. Watch then as God brings forth the increase.