God told me to stop hiding.
I have started practicing a discipline called listening prayer. I am 10ish days in the devotional and yet still often feel frustrated if I really am hearing from Jesus.
Listening prayer is the practice of asking Jesus questions and silently waiting for Him to answer. It is believing that Jesus wants to talk with me. It is believing that the Holy Spirit will make Himself known to me. It is also realizing that if I am constantly talking in the presence of God, I am never leaving space for Him to respond. And I so want His response!
I am still learning what His voice sounds like and I still saturate myself with His word. But I am beginning to allow space and time to listen. Maybe He directs me to a particular Scripture or maybe he brings to mind a song or word… I think the key is to silent my mind and listen.
So the first day, I try. I read and meditate on Scripture then I ask Him a question. The question was “what can I do to keep from hurting You in the future?” At first, I didn’t think Jesus answered me. But then I quietly heard “stop hiding.”
It didn’t make sense. And I kept doubting that that was what I ‘heard’.
Yet the more I keep thinking about it, the more I realized that I tend to hide my hurt, my pain, my emotions. I try to hide embarrassment, my feelings of inadequacies and my struggles. I didn’t realize I had done this in my relationship with Jesus. I also didn’t understand that this hurt Him because He wants me to come to Him with ALL of it.
The next morning, Jesus confirmed through His Word that I heard correctly. In Songs of Songs 2:10-11 it says “For now is the time, my beautiful one. The season has changed, the bondage of your barren winter has ended, and the season of hiding is over and gone.”
I read these verses and knew. Jesus wants me. He wants me to go away with Him and tell Him every detail. He also wants me to stop hiding my needs and hurts from other people.
I thank Jesus that He is gentle and kind. He doesn’t give more than I can handle. And He gives me amazing people to come along side and support me!
Love you all!
