Morning Devotionals

by Don Emmitte

 

April 25th, 2008

 

"The Sound of God's Voice (Part 7)"

All of these indicators of God's voice can be applied to the other ways we hear from Him: through the Scriptures, messengers, circumstances, and the supernatural. But few if any of these factors will aid our discernment if we don't nurture a tender heart. To discern God's inner impression in the bustle of each day, we need to hide away with Him periodically, filling up on His presence and emptying out our sin, stress, and cluttered-up souls. Sitting at His feet, even if only for moments at a time, we can learn to recognize His voice. Consequently it's easier to pinpoint the sound of His utterances amidst our routines, transitions, and emergencies. Most of all, time with God softens the heart, making it sensitive to His guidance. Veteran missionary Amy Carmichael advised:

Give much time to quietness. For the most part we have to get our help directly from our God. We are here to help, not to be helped, and we must each learn to walk with God alone and feed on His Word so as to be nourished. Don't only read and pray; listen. And don't evade the slightest whisper of guidance that comes. May God make you very sensitive, and very obedient.

To keep a tender heart and open ears, we can follow the missionary's advice, represented in this poetic prayer by John Wesley:

Open, Lord, my inward ear;

And bid my heart rejoice!

Bid my quiet spirit hear

Thy comfortable voice.

Never in the whirlwind found,

Or where the earthquakes rock the place;

Still and silent is the sound,

The whisper of Thy grace.

From the world of sin, and noise,

And hurry, I withdraw;

For the small and inward voice

I wait with humble awe.

Silent am I now, and still,

Dare not in Thy presence move;

To my waiting soul reveal

The secret of Thy love.

Lord, my time is in Thine hand,

My soul to Thee convert;

Thou canst make me understand,

though I am slow of heart;

Thine, in whom I live and move,

Thine the work, the praise is Thine,

Thou art wisdom, power, and love—

And all Thou art is mine.

With this prayer on our lips, we ready ourselves to hear God's voice.