Hearing . . . then Asking

In my own journey in learning about prayer, I am coming to see prayer as conversation and not nearly so much merely telling God what I think or what I want. It isn’t that he is not interested with what is on our hearts nor unwilling for us to tell him our hearts. The Scriptures repeatedly invite us to pour out our hearts to God in prayer.

However there is a pattern in prayer that I have noted that has begun to influence my own life in prayer. The pattern? Hearing first, then asking. That is, listening to God, understanding him, hearing what he wants and what he is up to and then talking with him about that, participating in what he is doing through prayer.

Abraham, the “friend of God,” had been on journey with God. The Lord called him to himself out of Ur, drawing Abraham to leave a life of paganism and enter into a journey with the one true God. The Lord spoke to Abraham (initially named Abram) and told Abraham of his plans to bless Abraham, make of him a great nation, give him and his descendants a land. In Genesis 12 through 14, we are told a good deal about what God said to Abraham. We may assume that Abraham spoke with God about these things, but we are not given any details about what, if anything, Abraham said. Until we come to Genesis 15–there we are given the first words we know that Abraham prayed.

After these things the word  of  the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying,  “Do not fear, Abram,  I am a shield to you; your reward shall be very great.” Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Since you have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir.” (Genesis 15:1-3)

Abraham is asking God something, but his praying is a response to what God has been telling him. It’s an asking based in hearing from God. God has promised offspring, descendants, a great nation, a heritage, a land. But Abraham and his wife are childless. So Abraham asks the Lord what he would like to do about it.

This is prayer that grows out of conversation with God. Prayer that is the response to things God has been communicating. Prayer as participation with God. Prayer a bit different from the way I first began to pray . . . but prayer more like what I long for in my journey with God.

It Came From Over There

I think I understand what it means when a follower of Jesus, one who is seeking to experience life with God, says something like:

“The Lord said to me . . . but, not in an audible voice or anything . . . but I heard . . .”

Upon reflection, such a statement is pretty nonsensical. For something truly to be “not audible” would mean that it could not be heard at all. Think about a dog whistle. To humans, a dog whistle is inaudible–we can’t hear the noise of the whistle although dogs can. To say that the Lord spoke “inaudibly” would mean, somehow, that he spoke in a way that you couldn’t hear–and if you couldn’t hear him speak (in any way), than you could not say that “the Lord said to me.”

What I think most people who say such things really mean is something more like:

“The Lord said to me . . . but I’m not saying I necessarily heard a voice with my physical ears or that if someone else had been there they would have heard . . . in fact, I am not really sure how I heard what I think I heard . . . it’s just that . . .”

Well, you get the picture! We are so unaccustomed to having a speaking relationship with the living God that we just get “weird” when we try to talk about “hearing” the Lord–even though it happens throughout the Scriptures with those who are in relationship with God.

Just reflect, for a moment, on the book of Acts where we get a narrative account of life in the early days of the church. For nearly every named person in the book of Acts there is a record of some kind of “hearing” from the Lord–there are accounts of communication between followers of Jesus and the living God.

Stephen sees visions. Peter hears voices and sees pictures. Paul is told things. Philip is given specific directions. Ananias has a two-way conversation with Jesus. The leaders in the church in Antioch are given instructions by the Spirit of God. All these moments are communication from God to people, in tangible, clear, “audible” ways–they “got” something from God.

And thinking about that caused me to reflect on the whole idea of “where” the voice we hear is. Let me illustrate.

In the book of Numbers we are given some descriptions of Moses’ encounters with God in the Tabernacle. There we find:

When Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with [the Lord], he heard the voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim, so [God] spoke to him. (Numbers 7:89; see also Exodus 25:22)

What this mean is that the eternal and omnipresent God chose to communicate with Moses by “voicing” words from a particular point in space–between the angels whose wings arched over the “mercy seat” that formed the upper surface of the ark of the covenant. God was (and is) not constrained or confined to that particular point in space, but in order to communicate to Moses he “spoke” from that point in space.

Can you imagine the first time that happen for Moses? He might have said something like:

“The Lord spoke to me from . . . well, from right over there . . . that empty space . . . or at least it sounded like it came from there . . . although there is nothing really there . . . except I did hear something . . . I think.”

God was speaking. Moses heard his voice. And it matters little whether Moses could determine just how he “heard” the voice of the Lord or how the Lord’s voice was made audible to him. The thing that mattered most was that the Lord was communicating, Moses was listening, and he “got” something.

So, do we have to be able to explain where the voice comes from, how we see what we see when the Lord shows us something, or with what “spiritual faculty” we heard what we heard the Lord say? I think not.

What seems to matter more is that the Lord we meet in the pages of the Scriptures does still communicate–at times and when we need him to. He “speaks” to us.

Inclined to Hear

Last week, in conversation with some new friends, the topic of “hearing from God” came up again. If you’ve been reading this blog, you know that is a topic I’ve addressed from time to time. Well, the discussions last week have nudged me (again) to keep thinking about how it is that we can lean into a more conversational relationship with the living God.

In our discussion, we turned to Acts 9 and Ananias’ exchange with Jesus. That exchange comes right on the heels of Jesus’ getting Saul’s (who later will be named Paul) attention (Acts 9:1-9). Jesus knocks Paul off his horse, blinds him, and speaks to him. And, when we hear that, we can easily conclude: Well that kind of thing never happens to me! And, likely, that is the case.

But then there’s Ananias; his exchange with Jesus immediately follows (Acts 9:10-19). I’ve thought out loud about that exchange once before in this blog (“What If the Lord Told Someone You Were Coming?”) but some additional thoughts have been stirring in my mind and heart.

Jesus shows up and speaks to Ananias (9:10). And, Ananias doesn’t go running and screaming from the room. He doesn’t have to be told “Don’t be afraid!” (Like what happens when an angel shows up unexpectedly.) Ananias simply replies, “Here I am!”

I’m not absolutely sure, but this sounds like this isn’t the first time Ananias and Jesus (the resurrected and ascended Jesus) have had a conversation.

Then Jesus tells Ananias what he wants him to do and how he wants Ananias to go find this guy named Saul (9:11-12). Apparently Ananias hasn’t checked his brains at the door and, knowing what he does about Saul and his track record, Ananias raises an issue or two with Jesus (9:13-14).

I’m not absolutely sure, but this sounds like Ananias is completely comfortable having a thoughtful conversational exchange with Jesus.

Then Jesus clarifies that Ananias needs to go, it is what Jesus wants him to do, and Saul has already been told that he is coming (9:15-16). So, Ananias goes and when he finds this guy named Saul explains that he is only doing what Jesus asked him to do.

I am not sure, but this sounds like Ananias is perfectly comfortable even telling others that what he is doing he is doing because he has been talking with Jesus.

Ananias has conversations with Jesus. Ananias feels free to engage Jesus in a discussion. Ananias is open to telling others that Jesus has been talking with him.

Seems like Ananias is inclined to hear, willing to listen, open to hearing, and comfortable with the idea that risen and ascended Jesus is not mute and has not taken a vow of silence. Luke is not telling us this must happen; he is just telling us what did happen. 

That is very provocative . . . and very much different from the way most contemporary followers of Jesus I know seem to think about prayer.