As many of you know I walk a lot and spend that time in prayer. As I was doing so the other day, I started listening to the sounds around me that for the most part I was unaware of going on around me. I heard many birds singing and frogs croaking. I heard sound of things I wished were not there like flying deerfly.

This all reminded me of the fact that we need to stop and listen when God is trying to speak to us through His Word, the scriptures, and through impressions brought on by the Holy Spirit within our inner being. If you are like me, you practice telling God what you as an individual want to see happen even if what you say is unselfish and with the right motive. James 1:19 reminds us to be “quick to listen and slow to speak” and we need to say to the Lord the words of Samuel in 1 Samuel 3:10, “Speak for your servant is listening”.

May the Lord help us each day to practice better listening skills before a God who wants to speak into our lives.