By LeAnn Thieman

 

 

On this mountain the LORD of hosts
    will provide for all peoples
A feast of rich food and choice wines,
    juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines. ~ Isaiah 25:6

 

Are there days you wonder, Are you there God? 

Are there times you feel the Divine presence and guidance in your life and other times when you wonder how it got so far away? 

On those days, remember—it wasn’t God who moved.

Creating a spiritual balance in our lives is as crucial as the mental and physical, for we cannot sustain ourselves without it. That’s why we need to connect to God every single day. We can’t just wait for weekends. 

Even if it is just for fifteen minutes, take time for prayer.

  “Fifteen minutes?” you say. “I barely have time to eat, sleep and take care of my daily responsibilities! So where in the heck am I supposed to come up with another fifteen minutes for spiritual time?”

 This was a hard discipline for me. I knew it was important, but I just couldn’t seem to allocate the time. Instead, it seemed I just yammered on and on to God all day long, which I think is important, too, but I was ignoring the need for quiet. 

Determined to incorporate this vital tool for balance, I bought a little daily reading book, thinking that would be a great way to start. But being the task-oriented, productive woman that I am, I couldn’t sit down and read it, no, but I could read it every day while I dried my hair. So, each morning I flattened the booklet on my bathroom counter and read it out loud as the hairdryer buzzed and blew. Then, a few weeks into this routine it occurred to me, “You know, LeAnn, I think you’re supposed to sit down…shut up…and listen.”

 Listen. 

To that deep inner voice. The Holy Spirit whispering. 

With this revelation, I started setting my alarm fifteen minutes earlier. Goodness, you’d have thought I’d set it for 3:00 a.m., the way I moaned and groaned as I hauled my lazy self out of bed! To my surprise, however, I learned, that the days I didn’t start that way were the days that didn’t go so well; I was far less productive and happy. I soon learned that those fifteen minutes were a great investment.

One night on the evening news I saw Dan Rather interviewing Mother Teresa. He asked, “What do you say when you pray?”  

She said, “Nothing. I just listen.”  

Dan queried, “What does God say?” 

She answered, “Nothing. He just listens.” 

 In that listening-silence is the wisdom, the guidance, the direction we can only “hear” in the peace and quiet.

So listen. And pray.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, help me with the discipline to set aside time every day to be still and connect with you, that I may hear the whisper of your Divine guidance.

Call to Action

Prayerfully discern and commit to creating a scheduled time in your daily calendar to sit down, be still, pray, and listen.

 

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