Listening and JOY

A couple of weeks ago I experienced a time of more intense listening. The idea of listening as a spiritual discipline came to mind. I found it very hard to hold back, I so enjoy talking and I certainly have to pray against pride. Listening is fun, though, when it is intentional. I spend time with one of our precious girls at Hope and we had a time of reading the Bible and praying together. Our reading time was mainly reading and letting her comment - I told her I only wanted to listen. She is very wise for her age and I totally loved some of her comments. When we prayed we enjoyed just some silence. We were sitting at Jacob's Dream on ACU campus and we could hear the sound of the water and the birds. It was wonderful and a great memory we now share. The same week I read the next chapter in Sacred Parenting entitled Seizing Heaven - How Raising Children Teaches us to Listen to God. Not an accident that something on listening came my way. I love the way God puts experiences together for us.

Verses shared in this chapter include:

Listen and understand. (Matthew 15:10)

He who has ears to hear, let him hear. (Mark 4:9)

Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, ‘Listen to me, everyone and understand this.’(Mark 7:14)

Consider carefully how you listen. (Luke 8:18)

Listen carefully to what I am about to tell you, (Luke 9:44)

My sheep listen to my voice. (John 10:27)

Gary L. Thomas says, "Listening to God provides the true test of our humility. Humble people listen; prideful people never seem to have the time to wait on God."

The next chapter is on JOY. It taught a lesson that I also learned from Calm My Anxious Heart. Think about the two most often requests you have for your children -- Protect them and Change them .... is that true in your prayer life? Well, Gary Thomas suggest a third request. Prayers of thankfulness. They have a way of putting life in perspective. Praying for only protection and change has the emphasis on fear and their weakness. As we put into practice thanking God for His work in their lives, thanking Him for the progress they are making, thanking Him for who our children are (their strengths) then the mind set is very different.

This whole chapter is about JOY and how God wants us to not be so serious. I love the sense of humor Daniel has added to our family. I'm way to serious and need too read the verses about JOY more often!!