In one of my high school history classes, we had a kid named Frank. My teacher's favorite statement when discussing a subject was "Let's be frank for a moment." Frank would look up for a minute and then the joke was over. Frank never listened to anything that was being talked about and just talked to one of his friends in the class. I remember seeing Frank go up to our teacher one day because he didn't know how to write a recently assigned paper. Mr. Balsman said, "Do you know why the others all know what they're supposed to write and you don't? Because they were listening." Frank wanted to know something he could have learned if he had been listening at the appropriate time.
God wants us to listen to Him. If there is anyone who is not wasting His breath when He speaks, it's the Lord. He certainly speaks to us during our prayer time through the prompting and conviction of the Holy Spirit. However, I have gained a great deal by listening to Him through the words of the Bible. I have been reading and been convicted, encouraged, and inspired by the words that God has written down. The verse indicates that we should be listening to God, and if we are not, why should we be praying? How hypocritical is it for you to talk to God and expect Him to listen, but you don't pay attention to His words that are available during the entire day?There is no excuse for not reading the Bible daily, because you have all day to do it. Are you listening to the words of God or just asking Him to listen to yours? I heard a pastor once say, "If your quiet time has been shortened, and you don't know if you should read the Bible or pray, read the Bible. It's more important for you to hear from God than for God to hear from you." I think this points completely to the idea of selflessness. When we read the Bible we show we are concerned with doing the will of God in our lives. When we pray without reading the Bible, we indicate we are more concerned with Him doing our will for that day.
1 comments:
After you left, I was reading a book and came across this scripture in Proverbs and thought, 'wow! this is what Heath was talking about this morning. I'm going to have to share this w/ him." Then, I come here and read your devo and see it was the same exact passage:) Cool!
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