As many people do, I’ve always wrestled with the idea of ‘hearing God.’ It’s a phrase that people use all the time and I have never fully understood it.
How do you know that it is God?
Where does that confirmation come from?
Searching for more and wanting to understand, I have been going through a study called ‘The Art of Listening Prayer.’ Each day the study has questions that it challenges you to ask God and seek a response in. When I sit and spend time with my heavenly Father, I have started the habit of writing with a black pen and a blue pen. The black pen is for my thoughts and questions, while the blue pen I use for the impressions I get from the Lord.
These impressions that I write down with a blue pen may be from the Holy Spirit or may just be subconscious thoughts. Regardless, when waiting for an answer I always write down everything that pops into my head. That gives me the ability to go back later and check it against scripture, seeing which words were actually from him and which were my own. This helps further the process of learning to fine tune my ear, to what is actually from the Lord.
At the end of the Day 14 study it posed the question, “Lord, what do you sing over me?”
In the moment, nothing came to mind. But I proceeded to write down the question.
The next afternoon I was laying on the floor of our ‘living room area,’ reading a book called ‘She is Free.’ As I was reading, the phrase “I see a city a new Jerusalem” popped into my head. It was so prominent that I couldn’t focus on reading, so I set down my book and began thinking about what it was from. The only thing that came to mind, is that it might be in a song on my Shane and Shane playlist.
However, I still had no idea which song it might be. I turned my Spotify Shane and Shane playlist on shuffle and randomly decided that I was going to listen to the first 5 songs. If none of them fit the lyrics running through my head I was going to just let it go.
What do you know… the fifth song came on and the chorus of the song ‘In a Little While’ began with the line “I see a city a new Jerusalem…” I proceeded to write the lyrics down in my journal.
I honestly didn’t recognize the correlation between the question that I had written down and the song coming to mind until a few days later. I was reading through my journal from the week and realized that on consecutive days I had both posed the question, “Lord what do you sing over me?” and unknowingly answered it.
The Lord may not have answered my question within five minutes or even within the hour that I spent with him that day, but he undeniably answered my question.
I’m still searching to find out what this song means for me, but I just wanted to encourage you to be patient with the Lord. He will answer you in his timing and it honestly may take you a few days to realize that he has even answered your questions. Be patient and persistent.
Yours in Christ, Cara
Prayer Requests:
– Health and Endurance throughout the final month in Cambodia
– Communication to cross language barriers at the Hospital
– I’m $1,764 away from being fully funded! Please pray for the Lord’s provision by my final fundraising deadline – January 15th, 2019
