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Prayer serves at least two main functions when we are working on discerning God's will in our lives. These functions are to focus us on God and to hear God's Spirit speaking to us.
We will consider both of these in this post.
Prayer can be described as a conversation with God. Interesting to describe it that way, perhaps, because many feel like prayer is more about humans speaking than it is about God answering. However, before we even address the topic of how God speaks in prayer, we should note a few things.
Prayer implies need and awareness of God's ability to meet that need. Praying to God is an acknowledgment that we cannot do it all on our own. When we ask anyone for help, we are stating that we need assistance. So it is with prayer. Asking God for direction in life is stating (as a sub-text) "Because God, I can't find out Your will on my own and I don't really want to live just by my will." So prayer shows we realize our need. Additionally, prayer focuses us on God. When we become so consumed with where God wants to lead us or what God wants us to do, we can lose the focus that at least in part the joy is found in the following of Christ. Prayer reminds us of our need for God and it centers us on knowing and enjoying Him. The Aaronic prayer found in Numbers 6 reads, "The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn His face toward you and give you peace" (Number 6:24-26). This blessing is not about God's will, but instead about the blessing of being with and experiencing God. Thus, prayer is a healthy exercise in all seasons, but especially when we are seeking out God's will in our lives - it keeps us looking to Him and not to our challenges or questions.
Secondly, God can speak to us in prayer. As noted in the earlier posts, we must always test all things against the Scriptures, so when we pray and we feel that God may be speaking to us, we should immediately compare what we are "hearing" with His Word. But how does God speak to us in prayer? In the vast majority of cases it is not in an audible voice. Instead He often communicates to us in prayer by bringing ideas, Scriptures, or other things to mind. Elijah spoke about this as the "still small voice" (1 Kings 19). When you are praying, be sensitive to those quiet whisperings in your soul - that may be God's Spirit speaking to you. Perhaps it's a word or phrase, perhaps it is a Scripture that God wants to use to communicate to you. Either way, God can communicate with us in prayer.
When we listen for the promptings of God the Holy Spirit in prayer, tested against the Scriptures, and then combined with direction and insight from people, and added to situations into which God has led us, we have a powerful formula for seeking and finding God's will.
Tomorrow we will close out this series of posts about discerning God's will.
-tC
(Again, please see Henry Blackaby's book Experiencing God for the original collection of the 4 ways God often communicates His will to us).
Prayer serves at least two main functions when we are working on discerning God's will in our lives. These functions are to focus us on God and to hear God's Spirit speaking to us.
We will consider both of these in this post.
Prayer can be described as a conversation with God. Interesting to describe it that way, perhaps, because many feel like prayer is more about humans speaking than it is about God answering. However, before we even address the topic of how God speaks in prayer, we should note a few things.
Prayer implies need and awareness of God's ability to meet that need. Praying to God is an acknowledgment that we cannot do it all on our own. When we ask anyone for help, we are stating that we need assistance. So it is with prayer. Asking God for direction in life is stating (as a sub-text) "Because God, I can't find out Your will on my own and I don't really want to live just by my will." So prayer shows we realize our need. Additionally, prayer focuses us on God. When we become so consumed with where God wants to lead us or what God wants us to do, we can lose the focus that at least in part the joy is found in the following of Christ. Prayer reminds us of our need for God and it centers us on knowing and enjoying Him. The Aaronic prayer found in Numbers 6 reads, "The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn His face toward you and give you peace" (Number 6:24-26). This blessing is not about God's will, but instead about the blessing of being with and experiencing God. Thus, prayer is a healthy exercise in all seasons, but especially when we are seeking out God's will in our lives - it keeps us looking to Him and not to our challenges or questions.
Secondly, God can speak to us in prayer. As noted in the earlier posts, we must always test all things against the Scriptures, so when we pray and we feel that God may be speaking to us, we should immediately compare what we are "hearing" with His Word. But how does God speak to us in prayer? In the vast majority of cases it is not in an audible voice. Instead He often communicates to us in prayer by bringing ideas, Scriptures, or other things to mind. Elijah spoke about this as the "still small voice" (1 Kings 19). When you are praying, be sensitive to those quiet whisperings in your soul - that may be God's Spirit speaking to you. Perhaps it's a word or phrase, perhaps it is a Scripture that God wants to use to communicate to you. Either way, God can communicate with us in prayer.
When we listen for the promptings of God the Holy Spirit in prayer, tested against the Scriptures, and then combined with direction and insight from people, and added to situations into which God has led us, we have a powerful formula for seeking and finding God's will.
Tomorrow we will close out this series of posts about discerning God's will.
-tC
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