shhh.... Can you hear that??

     For those of you who have ever lived or stayed in an older home, you will understand what I am talking about. Have you ever just sat with the tv off and maybe very little light on and listened? It is amazing at the noises you hear in an older house when you are listening for it. Your concentration on quietness allows you to hear things that you normally pay no attention to.
     What about sitting on the porch or deck late at night when the rest of the world has seemingly gone to bed. Nature speaks to you on a whole new level. You hear the creation of God so vividly. There is noone talking. Its just you out there listening to what the world has to say. You can hear things from miles away. You can hear a train off in the distance and you don't even live near the railroad tracks. You just sit attentive to the sounds around you.
     It is amazing what you can hear when you're not talking. I heard it said one time that the reason God put our ears on the outside of our head was so that we could listen to Him and not ourselves. That is a little funny but it is so true on so many levels.
     I want you to pause for a just a second and think about your prayer time...... What does your prayer time sound like?..... What are some of the words you use?...... What is the usual purpose of the prayer?.... Okay now I have you sorta thinking about your prayer, let me ask you a deeper question. Is your prayer conversational?...... hmmmm Yes, is it conversational? Are you the one doing all the talking or do you actually take the time to wait and listen for God to talk?.....
     How many times are our prayers filled with situations or people that we are talking to God about? We take the time, though at times briefly, to talk to Him about our needs and wants, but spend very little time waiting to hear what He has to say about it all. By nature, we are poor listeners. Think about the conversations we have with our friends. We say something and then our friend speaks back, but we don't listen to them half the time. While they are talking, we are truly listening. We are thinking about our response. We can't really focus on what they are saying due to the fact that we are occupying our mind with thoughts of rebuttal.
     Our conversations with God aren't even that elaborate. We don't even give Him the time to talk. We say what we gotta say or ask and then we are gone. How much would our lives change if we actually took the time to listen to God. I mean nothing else on your mind meditation. God, you speak for your servants listens..........

I am John Sowders and I am Second..!!!!!