Since I was a little girl, I have longed to hear from God. Often, my prayers sounded something like, “God, would you come down to me, sit with me or maybe even send an angel and tell me what to do so I can….”. Can you relate?
Yet, even then, even in the longing to hear from a God I knew was real yet seemed so distant, I somehow knew, He knows me better than I know myself.
O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in in, behind and before, and lay you hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain it…
Psalm 139
Throughout my lifetime, my attempts to hear from God has looked like everything from complete silence, to tears pouring out in desperate hope, to asking big questions, or prayers of confession ending in the simple prayer of King David: “search me and know me, find any way in me that is offensive to you, and lead me in your ever lasting way”. But mostly, my seeking has simply looked like opening the written Word trusting that I will hear something.
Today, as I look back and reflect on the multiple ways I’ve sought to hear from God, what I’ve learned is that He longs for us to hear Him and will go to great lengths to make himself known.
Then you will call upon me and come to me and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29: 11-13 context (Read passages in Psalm 5, Isaiah 30, Jerimiah 33, John 8, John 10, John 16, 1 Corinthians 3, Psalm 5 — and so many more)
It may come as a surprise, but I do not seek a Word to focus on for the year, I simply listen with an open heart and mind in the day to day where He is already speaking. When a word or words come to me, I seek to discern if it is from God because I know there is an evil presence in this world who “seeks whom he can devour” (John 10).
As I take time to think about these words or a word, I can know it is from God when I hear it multiple times and in multiple ways, when it speaks to me personally in the season I’m in and the things I am facing, and it always gets confirmed in the written Word and through the godly wisdom of others. If you are curious about learning how to discern God’s voice, this study by Pricilla Shier speaks beautifully about how God to hear from God and know it is from Him.
It’s 2024 and we are already over a week in to this new year. What word or words are you hearing consistently?
Looking back, in January 2021, I felt my heart began to shift into a new season. Although I didn’t perceive it at the time, God was inviting me into a time of dependence, testing, healing, and forming new trenches of truth from so many lies I had believed. It was a difficult season yet I knew he was with me as I felt the loss of what was, as my heart and mind were being exposed, and as I was being challenged to see myself and others in the mirror of His heart. During this time I spent a great deal of my days reading, praying, and processing with a few close friends and family as I was seeking to discern what was being spoken over me in the way of habits, thoughts, feelings, and beliefs.
Have you been there, or are you currently walking in a similar season where it seems you are being challenged to think, believe and live differently? I encourage you to press in. Stay curious, honest and open. Write down feelings, thoughts and questions and find a wise counselor or friend to walk along side you. Wait it out, because times of refreshing will come.
Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.
James 4: 16
In April of 2022 I woke with a vision. As an artist, I prayed for the ability to create what I saw but felt inadequate to complete it. I set it aside, tucked it away and let it be.
Just a month ago, I quickly grabbed a zippered notebook as I was about to leave for a new opportunity I was seeking to discern with God. When I opened it I noticed the unfinished artwork along with some words God was speaking over me through Allen Arnold at a creative conference. Tearfully, I sat in awe as this vision and these words would once again remind me to “let go and trust God”.
Just a week ago, I was able to complete it and I can say with tears in my eyes as I sit here to write, He has done it; both the completion of this vision and the act of stepping into a new thing. I am so grateful.
Just as art takes time to create, so does the forming of our heart; this beautiful miraculous place where God is doing new things in us. No matter what the seeking has looked like for you or for me, we can know He present with us. In Christ Jesus through His Spirit, God longs for us to hear from Him—moment by moment, day by day, drawing us close and shaping us for His glory. It is indeed the most challenging, beautiful, freeing place to be.
Keep seeking my friends. Don’t let anything keep you from pursuing the heart of your Father. He is faithful. He is good. He is the Lord God and He keeps His Word.
My word for this year is A L I G N. Cheers to a new year of new challenges and new discoveries as we hear from the One already speaking over us!
Prove me, O LORD, and try me; test my heart and my mind. For your steadfast love is before my eyes, and I walk in your faithfulness.
Psalm 26:2-3
Happy New Year!