Hearing and Receiving

I’ve been praying a lot lately.  I feel like it’s been a one-way conversation with God.  I’ve been talking.  I’ve been trying to listen, but I’ve not been able to hear anything.

On Sunday, the thought came into my brain.  I’ve been hearing, I’ve just not been receiving.

It’s sort of like this with compliments.  Somebody says something nice about us and we hear it.  What do we do so many times though?  We explain it away. 

Example:  “Wow, you look really great today!” 

“Oh thanks, I just picked up this shirt on the clearance rack.  It was cheap.” 

“That was a really great speech you gave.” 

“Thanks, but I was really nervous and messed up in quite a few places.  It wasn’t really what I wanted it to be.” 

Am I getting the picture across?  Instead of fully receiving the compliment, we brush it off and leave it behind.

What hit me Sunday during worship was that I’ve been doing the same thing with God’s answers.  I’ve been hearing them, but not receiving them.  I’ve been asking God to give us an answer.  I’ve been begging God to give us direction.  I’ve tried to be quiet to hear God.  What has been happening?  Nothing.

Or so I’ve been saying.

Really, deep down in my spirit, in the places I don’t like to share with others because it makes me vulnerable, I’ve felt the answer.  I just didn’t want to receive it.  I’ve heard the answers, but I realize I’ve been brushing them off and leaving them with God.  I haven’t accepted them.

So Sunday, at the altar, I told God that I received His answers.  There in front of the church, I was face down on my knees, with my hands out before me and received the answers God had for me.

It feels good to know a direction.  It feels good hear God again.  It feels good to actually take something away from our conversations.  I feel more satisfied, more whole again.

Thank you Lord Jesus for being patient with me.