{"id":2109,"date":"2015-01-25T10:35:04","date_gmt":"2015-01-25T15:35:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sourceministries.net\/go\/?p=2109"},"modified":"2025-01-13T11:48:37","modified_gmt":"2025-01-13T16:48:37","slug":"god-is-speaking-are-you-listening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sourceministries.net\/go\/2015\/01\/god-is-speaking-are-you-listening\/","title":{"rendered":"GOD is speaking; are you listening?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a onclick=\"javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('\/outgoing\/www.sourceministries.net\/go\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Sitting-before-the-Lord-small.jpg');\"  href=\"http:\/\/www.sourceministries.net\/go\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Sitting-before-the-Lord-small.jpg\" rel=\"lightbox[2109]\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2110\" src=\"http:\/\/www.sourceministries.net\/go\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Sitting-before-the-Lord-small-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"Sitting before the Lord-small\" width=\"504\" height=\"378\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sourceministries.net\/go\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Sitting-before-the-Lord-small-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.sourceministries.net\/go\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Sitting-before-the-Lord-small.jpg 320w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 504px) 100vw, 504px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>MEDITATION: SITTING BEFORE THE LORD<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Yes, listening!<\/strong> Listening is essential if you want to know God and walk in His ways. I like to do what King David did. He would just sit before the Lord. I have found it helpful to sit before the Lord without any plan, agenda or preconceived ideas and let Him initiate whatever He wants to tell me. This is what it means to meditate upon the Lord.<\/p>\n<p>Thankfully, I discovered the value of true Biblical Christian meditation, when I was just starting out in the ministry in 1974. The prevalent thinking at that time was that you had to get up early every morning to read the Bible and pray. There were certain specific disciplines recommended for this to be effective. Then of course, you had to be sure and record whatever insight you gained from your Bible study.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Since I was eager to know God and please Him<\/strong> I embraced this approach. After many mornings without really getting anything, I finally cried out to the Lord in frustration. \u201cLord, what\u2019s going on? Why can\u2019t I seem to hear You anymore?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I sensed the Holy Spirit say, \u201cWhat happened to the good old days when you just enjoyed sitting before Me, meditating upon Me, reading your Bible, talking to Me, and listening to Me speak to you? Remember how you used to delight yourself in My presence, and enjoy My fellowship throughout the day? That\u2019s all I want.\u201d This was a real eye opener to me.<\/p>\n<p><strong>King David stated that meditation<\/strong> was a frequent occurrence for him, and that he enjoyed meditating on the Lord both day and night. Scripture tells us that David learned how to simply sit before the Lord in quiet expectancy. \u201cThen went King David in, and sat before the Lord\u201d (2 Samuel 7:18). \u201cMy soul, wait only upon God; for my expectation is from Him\u201d (Psalm 62:5).<\/p>\n<p>Waiting upon God in quiet meditation very likely began when David was a young shepherd boy alone in the field tending the sheep. It probably contributed significantly to him having such a heart after God. \u00a0The intimate fellowship David enjoyed with the Lord is evident from his many Psalms. Surely anything that gave David such a fulfilling relationship with the Lord is worthy of our serious consideration.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a onclick=\"javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('\/outgoing\/www.sourceministries.net\/go\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/2025-1-10-First-snow--scaled.jpg');\"  href=\"https:\/\/www.sourceministries.net\/go\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/2025-1-10-First-snow--scaled.jpg\" rel=\"lightbox[2109]\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-4758\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sourceministries.net\/go\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/2025-1-10-First-snow--279x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"279\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sourceministries.net\/go\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/2025-1-10-First-snow--279x300.jpg 279w, https:\/\/www.sourceministries.net\/go\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/2025-1-10-First-snow--952x1024.jpg 952w, https:\/\/www.sourceministries.net\/go\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/2025-1-10-First-snow--768x826.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.sourceministries.net\/go\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/2025-1-10-First-snow--1427x1536.jpg 1427w, https:\/\/www.sourceministries.net\/go\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/2025-1-10-First-snow--1903x2048.jpg 1903w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 279px) 100vw, 279px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Meditating upon the Lord<\/strong> is a conscious, intentional focus upon Him, with an open attitude of total receptivity and availability to whatever He wants to say or do. I have personally found this form of meditation to be very meaningful. As a result my life and ministry have been greatly enhanced.<\/p>\n<p>Thank God that He delights in making Himself known to us in such a personal, practical way. Truly we are blessed with a loving Heavenly Father who delights in having intimate fellowship with us. Oh the joys of Kingdom Living!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Excerpt from <em>Introducing The New You\u00a0<a onclick=\"javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('\/outgoing\/www.sourceministries.net\/go\/resources\/the-new-you\/');\"  href=\"http:\/\/www.sourceministries.net\/go\/resources\/the-new-you\/\"> http:\/\/www.sourceministries.net\/go\/resources\/the-new-you\/<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Copyright\u00a92015 Dr. Lewis Gregory<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a onclick=\"javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('\/outgoing\/www.sourceministries.net\/go\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Lewis-sunrise-June2017.png');\"  href=\"https:\/\/www.sourceministries.net\/go\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Lewis-sunrise-June2017.png\" rel=\"lightbox[2109]\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4703 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sourceministries.net\/go\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Lewis-sunrise-June2017-892x1024.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"341\" height=\"391\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sourceministries.net\/go\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Lewis-sunrise-June2017-892x1024.png 892w, https:\/\/www.sourceministries.net\/go\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Lewis-sunrise-June2017-261x300.png 261w, https:\/\/www.sourceministries.net\/go\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Lewis-sunrise-June2017-768x882.png 768w, https:\/\/www.sourceministries.net\/go\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Lewis-sunrise-June2017.png 903w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 341px) 100vw, 341px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>P.S.<\/strong>\u00a0 GOD&#8217;S LOVE LETTER &#8211; <a onclick=\"javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('\/outgoing\/www.sourceministries.net\/go\/2015\/06\/gods-love-letter\/');\"  href=\"https:\/\/www.sourceministries.net\/go\/2015\/06\/gods-love-letter\/\">https:\/\/www.sourceministries.net\/go\/2015\/06\/gods-love-letter\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MEDITATION: SITTING BEFORE THE LORD Yes, listening! Listening is essential if you want to know God and walk in His ways. I like to do what King David did. He would just sit before the Lord. I have found it helpful to sit before the Lord without any plan, agenda or preconceived ideas and let [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,42,41,51],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christian-living","category-leadership","category-spiritual-growth","category-written-articles"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sourceministries.net\/go\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sourceministries.net\/go\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sourceministries.net\/go\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sourceministries.net\/go\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sourceministries.net\/go\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2109"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.sourceministries.net\/go\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2109\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4759,"href":"https:\/\/www.sourceministries.net\/go\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2109\/revisions\/4759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sourceministries.net\/go\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sourceministries.net\/go\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sourceministries.net\/go\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}