Welcome back!  I pray that the first essential step brought you lots of encouragement and assurance, that we do not need to “put on a face” or an “act” with God.  He loves you just as you are and where you are at in your journey.  The important thing is being honest and transparent with Him about who you are and what you are dealing with in life.   This is the beginning of making that choice to trust Him with all that you are and all that you have, right?  Now, that you have decided to “drop the act” and come as you are, the second essential step is to be open.  According to Merriam-Webster, open is defined as the following:  vulnerable, not restricted, accessible.   

Here are a few scriptures from the Bible that talk about the importance of receiving spiritual wisdom and being attentive to hearing it:

-”My son, pay attention to my words and be willing to learn;  Open your ears to my sayings.” Proverbs 4:20 (Amplified Version)

-”My son, be attentive to my wisdom [godly wisdom learned by costly experience], Incline your ear to my understanding.” Proverbs 5:1 (Amplified Version)

-”For whoever has [spiritual wisdom because he is receptive to God’s word], to him more will be given, and he will be richly and abundantly supplied;  but whoever does not have [spiritual wisdom because he has devalued God’s word], even what he has will be taken away from him.” Matthew 13:12 (Amplified Version)

-”When anyone hears the word of the kingdom [regarding salvation] and does not understand and grasp it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart.  This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road.” Matthew 13:19 (Amplified Version)

*Click here for more information on the contextual background of each of these scriptures*

You want to begin to prioritize your time for what I like to call “quiet time” or time set aside to communicate with God (prayer), listening and speaking.  Find any room where you can get quiet. Try to pick a time during the day that works best for you.  If you are a parent with a very active child or children, I know how challenging that can be.  Believe me I know! If you’re able to wake up a few minutes earlier, while you’re in the bathroom, driving in your car, or even late at night, do it.  I tend to sit or walk around during my quiet time if I am at home.  There is no perfect way to do “quiet time,” as long as you make it a priority without distractions ie television, laptops, phones, other family members.  This is your personal prayer time with God.  Remember, prayer is communicating with God.

Now, if this is the first time that any of you have done this, it might be challenging, but just start with 5 min or 2 min, and increase the time little by little each day.  Do not get discouraged and give up.   The key is making this “quiet time” a priority.  This is a consistent habit that you want to develop on a daily basis.  This practice will not only help you to develop discipline in the ability to slow down and breathe, but more importantly this allows an opportunity for God to speak to you.  These are the very early stages of training your ear to hear from Him.  Here are a few scriptures from the Bible that talk about waiting and being consistent in prayer:

– For God alone my soul waits in silence and quietly submits to Him, For my hope is from Him
  Psalms 62:5 (Amplified Version)

– Evening and morning and at noon I will complain and murmur, And He will hear my voice.
Psalm 55:17 (Amplified Version)

– Rejoice always and delight in your faith; be unceasing and persistent in prayer; in every situation [no matter what the circumstances] be thankful and continually give thanks to God; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus
I Thessalonians 5:16-18 (Amplified Version)

– Early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left [the house], and went out to a secluded place, and was praying there. Mark 1:35 (Amplified Version)

-Listen to my words, O Lord, Consider my groaning and sighing.  Heed the sound of my cry for help, my King and my God, For to You I pray.  In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice; In the morning I will prepare [a prayer and a sacrifice] for You and watch and wait [for You to speak to my heart].  Psalm 5:1-3

Some of you might be thinking, “How does God speak? How do I know that it is His voice? What if I think it is Him but it is my own voice or even someone else’s voice?  You will learn when it is Him speaking to you.   God will communicate with you…..be patient.  He communicates to us in a variety of 
ways, and here are some of many: always by His Word (the Holy Bible), through people, dreams, visions, through your circumstances, a still quiet voice, and even an audible voice.  This is the perfect time to journal what you are feeling, thinking, and hearing.  

Sometimes He’ll speak then and there, and other times you might not hear anything right away, and that is okay!  Do not get discouraged.   I have had this happen to me a lot!  I’ll be sitting quietly and/or talking to Him, and I wouldn’t hear anything!  However, later on throughout the weeks or even throughout the day, God answered my concern and prayer!  Just keep in mind, no matter what 
we think or feel during that time, God is always working, and He will answer you.

I have linked an article here about God’s character, in which author and teacher Joyce Meyer goes into detail about who He is.  This is a great read as you are learning and growing in faith.  Getting to know Him is essential to your journey of faith!

 Thank you so much for taking the time to read this post! I pray that it brought encouragement, clarity, and hopeful expectation.  Please share and/or leave a comment!  I would love to hear back from you.

Blessings,

Kia