Lord, Speak Afresh!

Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life. Psalm 143:8

I shared with my GFF’s that I felt God was leading me to do relationship with him differently, but I didn’t know how to bridge the gap from where I’d been so long to where he wanted me to be now. I’d been in a position of clinging. Clinging to God for dear life. Needing his strength and wisdom literally for every breath I took. Out of desperation I’d learned to function with Him in survival mode and he, in his mercy, swooped me up and carried me until lately when he’s said to me, “Praise me.” I thought I had been praising. God said, “PraiseI” What? But how?

I sat to write the blog for 3 days in a row. Nothing came to my mind or my heart. I sat in prayer and pleaded the Holy Spirit to guide me in prayer so that my prayers would be righteous and effective before the Lord. Nothing came and I actually fell asleep at a time when I was desperate for a word from God. Nothing!  I asked for answers on how to act in a certain situation. Again nothing. Why Lord, why are you not answering me? Where are you? I need to know what to do. Fear and doubt (my greatest weaknesses) threatened to consume me. I begged God to give me direction. I searched every devotional I had available and even started a new one. Nothing spoke to me. “God speak to me!” I begged...Nothing.

I shared this with my accountability partner who said, “Wait, I read something on this awhile ago. Let me find it.” She began to search her journal. I wondered how she’d find it in the many pages. She then said without my asking, “I’ll find it. I wrote a note next to it to share this with you.” She proceeded to say, “When God isn’t speaking a fresh word to you go back to the last thing he spoke to you.” Instantly, I was reminded of God’s voice saying,  “Praise me!” 

Our devotional time continued on and the scripture that stuck with me throughout the day was, “I always do the things that please my Father.” John 8:29  It talked about consecrating, or declaring ourselves holy and sacred, for God’s purposes. More than anything, I want to honor God with my life. So I asked him to teach me to praise because I knew it was what he wanted. Ideas flooded my mind. (I’ll share those another time!) I surrendered to what my Father wanted from me. And spent the day praising him.

This morning I felt God say to me, “You’ve needed me so desperately, and you’ve learned to come to me honestly and openly. You’ve learned to take my word and apply it. You’ve learned to take my healing touch and let it meet you at your deepest need. But I won’t leave you as a ‘taker’. I want more from you. I want to teach you real love. I have given all these things to you because I love you. I will continue to give to you because I love you. But real love isn’t mature until you learn to give more than you take. It’s the secret to contentment, peace, joy, and REAL LOVE. So, my dear daughter. Give me your praise!”

He spoke! I heard him!! And until I was willing to hear what he said, God wasn’t moving forward. He was saying, “No” to my pleas because what He had to offer was so much better than what I was asking for! I now must ask for wisdom in discerning the difference between gratitude and praise.

“In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ “ Acts 20:35

Now, what about you? When was the last time God spoke afresh to your heart? If you’re not hearing from him, ask him to remind you of the last thing he said. Choose to obey him and wait expectantly for him to love on you like crazy!