In their hearts, humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps. Proverbs 16:9
Occasionally, I remind my children that communication is a two-way street. If I leave a voicemail on my son’s phone and it goes unreturned, or if a text is sent without a response, then communication has yet to occur. Why? because communication is a two-way highway. Unfortunately, we make this mistake in our prayer life.
Prayer is not really prayer unless it is a two-way street. So many times, we lose our motivation for prayer because we don’t allow enough time to listen for God’s response. The Greek language offers a couple of different perspectives on the word ‘time.’ Chronos time is chronological and sequential. Do you leave enough time in your prayer routine for God to respond to your thoughts? Are you intentional when it comes to listening, and not just talking to God? The other way God responds requires the understanding of Kairos time. Kairos describes an event in time, a moment of significance where events or decisions or circumstances, whether positive or negative, can cause you to pause. God uses those moments to teach us and communicate with us if we are willing to reflect.
Mark Batterson writes, “God wants us to get where God wants us to go more than we want to get where God wants us to go. Our job is to hear His voice. His job is to establish our steps. And if we do our job, God will do His!
I love that! What a powerful statement of the abiding presence our Lord offers us for our daily walk. We must ask God to make our ears so big that we will hear prayers answered. As you work through your day, I encourage you to make listening through your day your number one job of the day.
Pastor Jon