“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:23-24 NIV)
I have two practices at the beginning and end of the day that help me listen to God’s “gentle whisper” (1 Kings 19:12)…
My evening practice is a time for self-reflection or what some call “the daily examen.” For my nighttime ritual, I simply review my day and ask the Holy Spirit to help me accurately assess my relationship with God, myself, and others. I typically ask myself three questions:
- Is there anything I need to celebrate?
- Is there anything I need to confess?
- Is there anything I need to change?
Sometimes this means getting up and making a note to do something in the morning or even sending a text. It’s the ongoing work of keeping my heart clean and removing anything that hinders my inner world. The gentle whisper of God recalibrates my soul.
So, whether it’s early in the morning or late evening, God’s whisper is transformative. And it’s the space between, in the everyday-ness of life, that the whisper gets lived out. I cannot tell you the number of times that something God has spoken into my heart becomes a word for someone sitting in my office seeking [pastoral] counsel at 2 pm. Afterward, there is a sense of God’s confirmation that I am hearing from God not just for myself but for the well-being of others.
-- Jorge Acevedo in “Everybody Needs Some Cave Time: Meeting God in Dark Places”
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