“But there are so many distractions to hearing His voice!” You are right about that. In fact, sometimes I am too distracted to know all of what distracts me! But I can identify some of them. The ones I am most familiar with are…
- my own sense of responsibility to make sure something is happening
- the desires and expectations of others (spoken or just assumed)
- the way we did things the last time
- a general dullness of my spirit
So, to overcome these distractions, my responsibility is…
- to see that my first responsibility is to keep in step with Him
- to make His desires most prominent in my life
- to not let the past be my standard for the present
- to keep my spirit fresh in Him
But now, let me share with you some very good news. Even though, as a facilitator, I must seek to hear God’s voice in the process, the accomplishment of His desires during a time of prayer are not limited to my ability to hear Him at any given moment! Much of the time the role of the facilitator is to simply recognize that what just happened or is happening is exactly what He wants to happen. Sometimes it is to recognize things He doesn’t want to have happen. But much of the time, I catch up with what He is doing rather than know about it beforehand.
So, I have developed a conviction. I want to listen for and to the Holy Spirit on all occasions. On those occasions when He speaks and I hear Him clearly, I will act. On those occasions when He doesn’t seem to be speaking or I don’t seem to be hearing, I will watch and wait, and see if I can notice what He may be saying or doing. During those times I have found it is always safe to “turn our eyes upon Jesus,” worship Him, and fix them there for awhile.
*Blessed by Doing – Reread the last paragraph above and turn it into a prayer. Then, when you facilitate prayer in the future, restate this to the group in some way.
Taken from “United and Ignited”. Click here for more information.
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