Like love, meaningful prayer is initiated by God. Romans 8:26 admits that we don't know what to pray for as we ought. I certainly do not object to praying for what you want. But faith in God at least leads to the realization that what God wants for me is better, more fulfilling, and more satisfying than what I want.
So how do we listen in prayer? There is of course an attitude of listening in prayer that humbly comes to God expecting him to impress something on you. And I have occasionally experienced that in my life. But as we grow really serious about listening to God we will come to the place that we want to meditate. Now biblical meditation is not anything like Eastern meditation or what was called in the 1960s Transcendental Meditation. In Eastern meditation you repeat over and over again a mantra, a word that is nonsense to you because it comes from a language you probably do not speak. And you completely empty your mind of anything. In Christian meditation we fill our mind with truth. We focus on what God is saying. That has great depth of meaning. This can be about as relaxing as a wrestling match. But its fruit is nourishing and satisfying.
The most important spiritual meditation is on the word of God. If you want God to speak to you, read his word. If you want God to speak to you, study and meditate on God's word. I've often told people that you can meditate on facets of the character of God. For instance you might spend a whole day meditating on all the ways that God shows His infinite love to you. However, I think the best way to do this is to memorize a verse or even an entire passage that reveals a part of God's character. And God will speak to you whatever scripture you memorize and spend extended time thinking about.
The final way of listening to God that I want to show you here is to pray in a group. Listen to other people praying and see if you're not impressed that God is speaking to you in their prayers.
http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/
http://writingprayerfully.blogspot.com/
http://thinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/
Comments
Thank you, Malva.
Hi David, thank you for this.
I agree with you, there is nothing like God's Word.
Beth Moore's Scripture Memorizing is something I always look forward to very much. It is lifechanging.
Recently thousands of women went to DC to pray ('Rise Up' event, organized by Awaken the Dawn). I followed it on the internet. I listened to the women praying for hours for their lost children - it is something that I'll never forget! It was heart-rending. They prayed for their kids caught up in dangerous life styles (drugs, prostitution, prison etc). I think this was one of the most profound times of my whole life - listening to these women crying out to God to save their children. I can just try to imagine what God was thinking while listening to them - the echo of the yearning in the Father's heart for lost souls.
I am very sure that He is going to bring the lost sheep home to Him and to the mothers.
Blessings to you and yours!