You Can Hear God Better When You Aren't Shouting

How can you hear God when the world is reeling out of control, and confusion is everywhere? Sometimes when life happens, it is really difficult to pray. When my mind is going a million miles an hour with worry, or when I am really angry about something, I have a difficult time hearing the Lord. The best I can do at those times is just say, "Help me, Jesus, I don't know what to do in this situation! "

But then I have to be quiet. It helps me to retreat to a place where I can sit quietly. Because I can hear God better when I'm not shouting. That's what worry is. Your mind is shouting at itself. Be afraid! What if this? What if that? Anger is the same. Unfair! No one cares! When you are at peace your mind is humming along listening to music or birds singing. It quietly sorts through the day's issues and picks and chooses easily. But when worry, fear and anger arrive it is like the radio station shifts to only static.

Prayer can cut through all that noise

But it requires silence. When I find myself growing anxious for no reason, it is often because I am surrounded by noise. Sometimes it's the noise of the radio or television. But the chaos of clutter and confusion is a kind of noise too. Finding a space where I can hear God is the best way to get back on track..

I find sitting outside and looking at the mountains and listening to the birds helps me immensely. The world seems to expand when I am outside. The vast sky, The warmth of the sun. The grandness of nature is bigger than me and my tiny problems. Even just a few minutes watching quail scurry by, or hummingbirds floating among flowers takes me away from the chaos.

You can hear God better when you aren't shouting.

I believe that no matter what is facing you today, God will help you. We are promised that He will never leave us or forsake us. However, in order to hear Him, to be able to feel His presence, we must come apart from the noise of the world and let Him tend to us. Even Jesus knew He had to get away from the crowds at times to be with the Father. That is where He drew His strength from.

If we will do this, even for a few minutes, our spirit will be renewed and we will be much better at handling the situations that confront us. We will be able to hear God as He gently nudges us with that still small voice and tells us to be at peace, He has overcome the world.