"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us-whatever we ask-we know that we have what we asked of him." 1 John 5:14
I cannot think of anything that frustrates me more than when I am in the middle of telling Dana something and I realize he isn't listening. (either because he is in the middle of something or I failed to call for his attention before plunging into my thoughts with him). I often start a sentence and after a few words, I stop to see if he is hearing me, if not, I wait until he looks at me and then I start over (letting him know with my glare that I am saying this for the second time). Now, I know that I miss a lot of what he says also. We live in a world where there is so much that calls our attention away and it's hard to focus sometimes on what is right in front of us.
Fortunately when we talk with God, we don't have to work to get his attention. We know before we even say the first word, He is listening. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we knew our spouse was always listening? In a perfect world, wouldn't it be great if we were both so tuned into the here and now and the concerns of one another that we hung on every word that each of us spoke at any given time? But it's not a perfect world and we are not perfect, we miss words here and there, but thankfully we serve a God who hears.
How well do you listen to your spouse? Listening is more than politely waiting for your turn to talk. To really listen, you need to focus on what the other is saying, and you need to listen with your heart. What are the feelings behind the words you're hearing? The ultimate goal of listening is to understand the other.
In the scripture above, not only does God listen to us, but he also understands. And when we ask for help according to His will, He answers. An even deeper level of listening is when, together, you talk to and listen to God. Praying together has blessed our lives and also our marriage, but it hasn't always been easy. We've had a hard time being consistent with it.
During this Covid-19 we agreed along with our Sunday School Class to pray at 6 o'clock each evening for one another and the state of our world. Dana usually gets home from work at six so soon after he walks through the door we go directly to our great room and bow on our knees and begin our prayer. It has been a sweet time. A time for us to join together and focus on one thing together for those moments. I know that through this my prayer life has grown and as a couple it has brought us together even stronger.
At times we pray silently together and listen for God to speak to our hearts. Shared silence is a great way to listen to God. Praying silently together is a perfect way to begin a journey of having a shared prayer time and then see what God will bring about through your time together.
"The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me--a prayer to the God of my life." (Ps. 42:8)
I love you & He loves you more!
Lord, Bless our time together as we bow in prayer seeking Your face. Thank You for always hearing our words and blessing us with Your presence. May our hearts be turned to You and each other as we work together to live a life pleasing unto You. In Jesus' name. Amen.