Trust & Obey

I force my eyes open as I hear my alarm buzzing on my bed. It’s 7 a.m., I have a class in one hour, and I know what I have written for class is all wrong. So, I lay there, staring at the ceiling, wondering what to do. God, what do I need to share for my testimony? I ask this question over and over, but hear nothing. Eventually, I get up and get into the shower. Hopefully, that will clear up whatever is bothering me. 

As I let the steam fill the room and relax in the heat of the water, I hear the soft, nearly translucent voice of God: There was a song you didn’t like. Do you remember? I stand there, now ignoring what was once calming me to answer this odd question. I could not remember. I wrapped up my shower quickly so I could continue thinking about this gap in my memory, and then I heard: Google the name ‘Horatio’. I had nothing to lose at this point, so I did, and that’s when the name Horatio Spafford appeared along with his famous hymn It is Well. Suddenly, memories resurfaced of how I fought God for control in my life, and I could not sing “it is well” because it wasn’t well, until I totally surrendered my life to Christ fairly recently. That was what God wanted me to share with my classmates in 40 minutes. So, I got onto my computer and, in perfect time, had exactly what God wanted me to share with my class. That experience had such a profound impact on me that I found myself on a journey to discover how to communicate with God consistently. How do I have a relationship with God where He talks to me all the time? Well, I typed into Google “books on hearing from God,” and that’s where I discovered Hearing from God by Dallas Willard. Willard wrote Life Without Lack, which was my grandfather’s favorite read while he waited for God to take him home. I felt connected to him, and now I can’t wait to talk to him (and to Dallas Willard) about his books. While reading that, I also started digging into scripture and reading as much as I could. I am learning how to speak with God all the time. It all starts with grasping that God wants to know you, then you have to become open to God and what he has to say. Next, you have to be in constant prayer and enjoy prayer! Finally, we have to become better listeners, not just talkers. God wants to walk through life with us, and learning how to walk with Him will change our lives forever.

It is paramount to our walk that we realize God wants a relationship with us. God does not want to know the dolled-up Sunday morning you. He wants to know the “just woke up” you, the “making dinner” you, and the “excited about your vacation” you. He wants to know you and be with you all the time. If we don’t wrap our heads around that, then we can’t hear from God in the way He intended because we don’t understand where to start.

This concept can be spotted in the very beginning in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were created in the likeness of God, and they were in community. However, the snake crept in and tempted Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. Once she did, she gave some to Adam to eat, and then they realized they had made a terrible mistake. That’s when God steps in (literally!). Genesis 3:8 says: “And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the Garden.” (English Standard Translation). The key element that stands out is that God literally walked in the Garden. God made Himself into a being–like us–so that He could have a relationship with Adam and Eve. He wasn’t a transient being that spoke from nowhere, but a being they could take walks with and spend time with. If Eden was meant to be perfection–which it was–then that is exactly what God intended our relationship to be. 

Jesus also did a lot of walking with people, particularly His disciples. Ater His resurrection, Jesus took a walk with two men on the road to Emmaus. Jesus sees them on their journey and joins them to discuss what is on their hearts (they have no idea they are with Jesus). Not only does He listen to their disappointments about His own death, but He also corrects and teaches them with love. Luke 24:27 says, “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (ESV). Afterwards, they all eat together, and that’s when Jesus reveals Himself to be the risen savior! This is an example of Jesus doing life with those around him, like God in Genesis. They want to be involved and a part of the lives of those they love, which includes you and me! God wants a relationship with all of us, and we can see that as we look across scripture to see God’s desire. If Hebrews 13:8 says “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (ESV) that would mean God’s love for those in the Bible is the same for us today.

Once we have accepted that God wants to know us and we want to know Him, then we can begin by asking ourselves the difficult question: Am I willing to be open to whatever God says? When we desire to know God’s will for our lives, we cannot have an agenda or a specific goal in asking for God’s opinion. Dallas Willard, in his book Hearing from God, points out that our motives for hearing from God are often anything but pure:

I fear that many people seek to hear God solely as a device for obtaining their own safety, comfort, and sense of being righteous. For those who busy themselves to know the will of God, however, it is still true that ‘Those who seek to save their life will lose it.’ (Mt. 16:25). My extreme preoccupation for knowing God’s will for me may only indicate, contrary to what is often thought, that I am overconcerned with myself. (33)

In order to hear God’s voice, we need to let go of what we want and be open to what God has for us. God is not our palm reader or our fortune teller. He sees things on such a greater scale than we do, and we have to put our trust in that truth in order to be open to His words to us.

Many verses in scripture discuss God answering our prayers, but there is often a crucial stipulation to asking God to act. 1 John 5:14 states: “And this is the confidence we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.” “his will” is so critical to our prayer life and how we pray. Are we willing to be open to what God sees as best? Do we see God as someone trustworthy? Will we walk out whatever God asks?

Elizabeth Elliot shares in her devotional Keep a Quiet Heart about how when she knew she was called to missions because she had to totally surrender to God: “I put myself utterly and forever at His disposal, which means turning over all the rights to myself, my body, my self-image, my notions of how I am to serve my master” (72). We have to be ready to enter into God’s will to become someone He speaks to daily, not just in emergency situations.

The last piece of scripture comes from Psalms 66:18-19: “If I had cherished iniquity [sin] in my heart, / the Lord would not have listened. / But truly God has listened; / he has attended to the voice of my prayer” (ESV). The first verse is so convicting because how often am I cherishing sin in my heart? Comfort, complacency, and apathy can all creep into my heart so quickly that it causes me to disobey what God calls me to do because it’s uncomfortable and challenging. So now, my prayers are tainted by the desire to do my will over God’s, making me a void for God to talk to. Therefore, He doesn’t need to say anything. It’s like a parent trying to convince their teenage daughter not to date a boy she is already in love with. Why would they bother? Now they will be the enemy if they say nothing positive, but there is nothing positive to say that wouldn’t be a lie, so they simply say nothing at all. We don’t want to be God’s snarky teenager; we want to be open and obedient with what God has laid out for us. We evaluate and reevaluate ourselves if we have open hearts.

Now that we have traversed through the depths of our souls, we are ready to be in constant prayer. One of the key places I talk to God out loud is in my car. I used to blast fun music everywhere I went, now I do that on occasion, but mostly sit in silence or share with God what is on my heart. This is my way of being in constant prayer, and it will look different for everyone. However, we all have to make a habit of praying because God tells us to repeatedly in His Word. Many of the classic Bible verses we know are about prayer, like Philippians 4:6-7: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (New International Version). This is not only a verse about anxiety but also about life. “In every situation […] present your requests to God” means that we should always be going to God with our requests on a daily basis.

Romans 12:2 shares with us that we need to be “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer” (NIV). God wants to speak to us, but we need to speak with Him, too. We have to take initiative, like we would with any relationship that we want to maintain or start. We can’t expect God to do all the work and then be upset when we don’t receive anything. God is always faithful (Psalm 117), and we must be faithful too. God is patient with us, so we must be patient when life’s a disaster (2 Peter 3:9). We know who God is, so we can be joyful and filled with hope.
Here is the trick to constant prayer that I did not understand until very recently: when you are in prayer, you do not speak the whole time. Prayer is like a conversation; there is a time for you to speak and a time for you to be silent and listen. Dallas Willard poignantly calls the prayers where we don’t stop talking “prayer-speeches” (138, Hearing from God), and it’s a very convicting phrase. We must make an effort to allow listening time for God’s voice and allow Him to speak in that still small voice (1 Kings 19:11-12). If you do not listen, you will not be able to begin identifying His voice, and a large component of the identification process is reading scripture and hearing Him speak to you through that. Willard wisely points out: “[P]rayer is an honest exchange between people who are doing things together. God and I work together, and I need to invoke his power in that activity. Joint activity is key to understanding how conversation flows” (39). We were created to not just worship God in a one-way conversation but to flourish under His guidance and love for us. He wants to be in it with us like He was with Moses, Abraham, David, and Jesus, and so many others!

Moses had that dialogue with God daily, and he loved his relationship with God! He experienced the making of the Ten Commandments with God twice (Exodus 31:18, 34:28-29), he talked God out of blowing the Israelites off the face of the earth (Exodus 32:9-14), and he even saw God’s back (33:18-23)! These two were so close that after spending time with God, Moses would glow with the glory of God, and it freaked some of the people out. So, he wore a veil (Exodus 34:29-35). Moses spent a lot of quality time with God. Their relationship was so unique that when God allowed seventy elders to begin prophesying, Joshua panicked that it would offend Moses. Moses told him in Numbers 11:29: “‘Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!’” (NIV). What is so incredible is that God fulfilled that with the coming of the Holy Spirit so that we can have a relationship with Him like Moses! Paul declares in Romans 8:9: “You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.” The Spirit is what Jesus gave all of us with His ascension, so that we can walk through life with God’s Spirit not only with us, but inside of us. So, we can speak with the Spirit and, if we learn to slow down, he will speak to us.

Being in a constant speaking relationship with God is possible! It’s a journey that is aided by some good books and lots of scripture that God wants each of us to take. He wants to know us and let nothing separate us from His love (Romans 8:31-39), that’s why He sent His Son to die for us. To experience that love, we have to become open to His will in our lives and take our lives as Christians seriously. A part of our lives is being in constant prayer. We need to spend time praying, regardless of what we are doing, and take the time to have a relationship with God. Finally, we need to stop and listen to God. We cannot take up all the oxygen, but allow space for God’s still small voice to move.

God’s voice is calling out to you. It’s time to take up your cross and follow Him, no matter the cost. If you want something real, it’s going to cost you something real. You might get zealous and passionate, and the gospel will start to seep out of your pores. Everything will come back to your love for God, and you won’t be able to do anything apart from Him. This is a lifestyle shift. Are you ready to be different?