Are you too Busy?

Me: Good morning Lord. Thank you for waking me this morning and for this new and beautiful day you have made. I love you Lord.

Lord: Good morning son. Thank you for joining us this morning and for your company on our walk. We love you too.

Children, I want to go back this morning to journaling: the writing down of the words I give you.

Journaling is for your benefit, and to act as a record and reminder to you of the conversations we have. It is not a substitute for prayer or spending time with me; rather it is a record of that time. In order to journal meaningfully you must first enter into my presence and spend time with me. Being still before me is the time when we can become close and not just hear, but feel each other. It is during this time of stillness, when the mind is handed over to me, that I can switch on the intuitive side of your brain and tune you into Heaven. It is very important that you do not get frightened by this, and switch off too soon. Listen to the thoughts I put into your head and see the things I show you. Listen to the still small voice, which whispers in your ear, then let all that experience settle and soak in and become a part of who you are. Then, and only then, will you be really ready to journal, for then you will be beginning to hear me.

Please don't give me the tail end of the day, when you are too tired to give me your attention. I have given you night time to sleep, and mornings to walk with me. If you find it difficult to wake up in the mornings, try going to bed earlier and asking me to wake you up. Remember the words I gave you last week: "If you are too busy for me, you are too busy." If you are too busy then it is time to look long and hard at what you are doing. Sometime you are not too busy, but because you haven't started with me, the day becomes ragged and inefficient! I can help you to organise your day and help you to be more efficient and effective, if you will only start the day with me. I love you, and I don't want you to feel you are wasting the time I have given you, and I certainly don't want you to regret your life.

I am the Lord who loves you. I am the Lord your provider. Try me!

Hearing Me: Teaching

Me: Good morning Lord. Thank you for waking me this morning and for giving me this new day. Please help me to stay in the centre of your will today. I love you Lord.

Lord: Good morning Martin. Thank you for joining us this morning and for walking with us. We love you too.

What a cry I hear from my people all over the world! It's a cry from the heart that reaches to the heavens. It is a cry I am ready to answer. The cry comes in many different forms and arises from many situations, but essentially the cry is pleading for the same thing: "How can I hear the voice of God in this situation? How can I shut out the noise of the ungodly and listen to the still small voice?"

In order to hear my voice and to discern what I am saying, I want you to create space for me in your day. How can I talk to you if you keep wandering off doing something else? Apply one simple rule to your day. Give one hour to me uninterrupted. One hour, I hear you cry in desperation, how can I find one hour in my busy day? Let me tell you this, and there is no compromise or other option here, if you are too busy in your day to give me one hour in twenty four, then you are too busy, and need to shed some of the things you are doing, or alternatively get organised! No one, I repeat, no one, in any occupation, should be too busy to have at least one hour to be still before me. So, look at your life, look at your schedule and look at your priorities.

Make time to be still before me. This time of stillness can be an early morning walk, preferably before the busy world wakes up. Talk to me as you walk, and allow your mind to dwell on the things and the people you talk to me about. If it isn't possible or practical for you to walk, then sit in a quiet place. If you have a tendency to fall asleep then sit in a light place. Spend time letting all your concerns and worries flow out to me, pray your prayers and then allow the stillness wash over you. You see, more often than not, people pray to me, but then when they have run out of words they think it's all over, and get up and busy themselves again. I am in the silence after you have spent your prayers. I am in the stillness when words have run out. Stay in that place, wallow in that peace and let the silence soak in. This is the time when your mind and your brain switch over to spiritual mode. This is the time when all the interfaces I built into you engage, and Heaven becomes visible, and you are able to hear divine thoughts. It is essential that you do not run away from this time of stillness.

At first the stillness is quite hard to cope with, because your life is so full of busy-ness and noise. It requires practice, lots of practice! The best time to start learning to live in my presence and hear my voice, is as a child, so as you learn this, teach your children. Starting the day in this way will set you up for the whole day and make every part of the day more fruitful.

Staying in an attitude of prayer, aware of me, let the time of stillness move into a time of listening to the thoughts I drop into your mind. Those thoughts may be related to your prayers, or they may be totally unrelated. Do not be afraid to ask me questions, but be prepared to listen for the answers! I don't always use lots of words to answer your questions. Indeed more often than not, I instil a feeling, a conviction, an assurance that some course of action or some idea is right. People often explain it as, "I just knew it was the right thing to do."

As in most close friendships, I often want to tell you that I love you, and as you grow in your friendship with me, I hope that you too will want to express your love for me. Time spent loving each other is time well spent.

Remember I am God Almighty. What I have to say to my creation is valuable. I do not waste my words! What I say to you, whether personal or prophetical, it is worth recording in some way.

Job 19:24 ...that they were inscribed with an iron tool on lead, or engraved in rock forever!

Isaiah 30:8 Go now, write it on a tablet for them, inscribe it on a scroll, that for the days to come it may be an everlasting witness.

Jeremiah 36:2 "Take a scroll and write on it all the words I have spoken to you concerning Israel, Judah and all the other nations from the time I began speaking to you in the reign of Josiah till now." New International Version ©1984

This writing can be in the form of a diary or a journal, and is best if it records context as well as my words. That is, what you ask, or what caused me to say the words. This is so that as you look back after time, you will remember why we had that conversation.

Do not be afraid of recording everything. As you get used to talking to me and listening it will become easier to discern what is me speaking and what is you. It is always helpful to have someone to share your journal with, who can be a sort of safety valve to guide you back if you do stray. But you will find that that will not happen very often, unless you walk away from me.

Martin, your pattern of walking and praying, then Bible reading of both Old and New Testaments, followed by stillness and journaling, works well for you, because you have time with me, you get in tune with me around my word, then you listen to what I am saying and record it. It works for you because I have chosen to wake you up and lead you into this pattern. Each person has to develop their own pattern to fit their own situation. There are, however, things vital to hearing my voice.

1. Prayerful stillness.
2. Open spiritual ears and eyes.
3. An open Bible.
4. Some method of recording what I say.

All this requires time every day when you won't be distracted or interrupted, when we can just be together to love each other.

"...if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land". 2 Chronicles 7:14

Hearing My Voice

Lord: I want to continue today on the theme of hearing my voice. It is helpful if those who want to hear me speaking to them, discard any pre-conceived ideas of what my voice sounds like. Except in rare instances, I do not speak in a human voice which you hear with your physical ears. I only resort to that when the hearer has nor made enough space to be quiet before me, or when their preconceived idea of what I sound like has caused them to reject my voice when I speak. It is an interesting deception because most people don't expect to hear me speak audibly, but that is what they are listening for!

When I created man I built into him the ability to receive communications directly from me. Man is a thinking being who is able to think abstract thoughts and to understand images  and icons. This is not something that has developed or 'evolved'; it is built into him by me. When you buy a new phone, you take it for granted that it will be able to connect to the network and do all the things the designer intended it to do. Many of the functions, like knowing where it is, what time it is and the date, happen without the user being conscious of it, but when you want to know the time it is there for you. So it is with man. I have built in these abilities which are always there for you to use. Sadly man has listened to the Evil One's lies too long, and has forgotten how to use many of the built-in functions of the human mind.

For example, man rarely questions, and almost never talks about, the constant discussion that goes on in his mind, weighing up the choices of doing what is right, or what is wrong. This debate is not part of the 'programming' nor is it instinct. This is Me speaking to you, helping you to make the right decision. When you begin to reason things out in your mind, it is Me that drops thoughts into the equation. It is Me that flags up warnings when the logic is faulty. So, discard any notions of an audible voice for the moment and work on recognising the inner voice, through which I make things known to you. Learn to hear me above the noise of the world, as counter arguments rush in to try and lead you astray.

As you begin to be aware of that still small voice inside your mind think about Me and try and recognise the love in my voice. Whenever I speak to any of my children, even when I speak a word of warning or rebuke, my voice is full of love for you. The Evil One would have you believe I am a God of wrath, always seeking to catch you out and exclude you from blessing, but this is a blatant lie. I love all my children and desire that all should be saved and enter into a full and perfect relationship with me. I am a wrathful God when it comes to sin and evil and I always seek to rid the earth of evil. But the sinner I love.

In the quiet of the space you have made to be with me, tell me of your love! Tell me about all the things that are dear to you and those which weigh on your heart. Then, in the silence, let me show you what I think of these things. I will drop thoughts into your mind. For example, you may say to me that you are concerned about someone's health, and then the thought comes into your mind that I am also concerned about that person's health. Knowing that I care also will lead you to pray more effectively, and you will be more open to Me to suggest that you pray with them for healing. Or it may be that you feel hurt by something someone has said to you. Bring it to me and let me love you and heal your hurt so that you can love and forgive the one who has hurt you. I am always ready to say 'I love you.' Are you always ready to love back?

Learn to hear my voice in the little ways. Practice listening and talking to me every day. Like playing the piano, this needs constant practice. As you become proficient in the little things, you will find that I am speaking to you more and more.

I mentioned journaling yesterday. Journaling is as important when it is one short sentence as when I give you pages of conversation. It becomes easier with practice. I will help you to write it down or type it, because recording it helps it to become part of you, and you can always refer back to an entry and be reminded.

Watch, Wait and Listen

Me:    Good morning Lord. Thank you for waking me this morning and for this new and beautiful day. I love you Lord.

Lord:    Good morning son. Welcome to the club this morning and thank you for your love and devotion. I love you too and I always will love you.

Down the ages, and in every age, the Church Established has tended to formalise and encase the Christian life in rules and regulations, even to the point of only allowing certain 'suitably qualified people' to pray in public. This is not to be the case amongst you. It was never my intention and it has prevented the church from growing and becoming the bride I long for. Prayer is grounded where the people are, in the people. Everyone, yes everyone, has both the right and the ability to pray prayers that I can hear and answer. I want my people to pray. I don't mind if they are not literary works of art as long as they come from the heart and are born out of love for me. When a couple get to know one another, conversation grows and they begin to share thing hitherto unshared with anyone. As the conversation grows trust increases and the relationship deepens. So it is with us. I want to talk to you and I want you to talk to me.

Yesterday I spoke about you asking. Today I want to talk to you about you listening and me answering and sharing with you. The first and only reason why prophetic words are scarce in any age, is that my people are too busy to listen to me. Many church elders, preachers and pastors are so busy 'doing things for me' that they neglect seeking me and finding out what I want them to be doing. Just because something 'needs to be done' it doesn't mean you have to do it. For every work and ministry in the world I have prepared people to fulfil that work. Often these are the most unlikely people. So no one should rush into anything without seeking me first.

In the early days of the Old Testament, when I laid down the ground rules for Temple Worship I allocated tasks and ministries to the various families. This may seem very rigid to you now, but it was to establish the principle of every member ministry as distributed by me. See also the first letter St Paul sent to the Corinthian Church, Chapter 12. 11. "All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines."

The important part of the verse being, "Just as he determines."But how do you know what my will is if, as soon as you have asked, you walk away, feeling good because you have asked? It's like asking your wife what colour she would like the kitchen wall, and then without waiting for the answer going off to the shops to buy the colour you want!

Watch, wait and listen
Because your lives are so full of 'doing', it is hard to watch, wait and listen. All three require you to stop, lay down what you are doing and apparently do nothing. In truth all three are activities that require full attention. A soldier on the watch tower has to watch for any enemy movement, throughout his entire watch. He cannot sleep on the job, for it is at the moment of sleep that the enemy will arise to attack. Watching requires many faculties: using your eyes to see any shifting shadows or glints of light, using your ears to hear any sounds that shouldn't be there. It requires you to be still, so that your own body doesn't act as a distraction for you or a target for the enemy. It also requires a sense that most humans have lost through neglect: being so in tune with both your body and the environment that your instinct will tell you when something is not quite right.

Spiritual watching is much the same, except that the eyes and ears you use are your inner or spiritual eyes and ears, and your stillness comes from being at peace with God. It is when the bodily senses of sight and sound are de-tuned and the inner senses in tune, that you can begin to hear the sounds and enjoy the sights that are there all the time but are blotted by the physical senses. It takes practice and in a way needs to be taught, and it goes against the human idea of being cerebral or intellectual. It also takes time. At first it may take a long time to 'tune in', but with practice it can become like switching on a light switch.

So, what will you hear? Well, I often don't use words that need to go through the interpretation process of the brain. My word can come to you as pictures, ideas, inspiration, or something whispered in your ear. Everything I say to you is relevant and important, so your journaling of what I say and the conversations we have is good. It helps you to go over what I have said and be clear about it, and it also opens up my word for others to hear. Much of what I say to you is personal because I love you, but when I give you something that is to share you will know instinctively in your heart. For example this word is for you to blog and share.

The more you watch wait and listen the easier it is for me to speak with you and you to hear. That is why I have taken to waking you so early. At this beautiful hour in the morning we can be alone together without distractions and can love each other and converse freely. I used to share this hour with my Son, and now we share it with you. I long for others to share this time with us so that they may hear my voice and catch a glimpse of the things I have in mind. Let my Spirit quicken your mind and open up to you a whole new universe of delight, as I reveal my plan to you, for you and for my world that I love.