Day 17: Listen and Follow

Come Before Him in Worship: Start today with an acknowledgment of this truth: Our Father wants to be heard. He speaks because there is a message for His children. Ask Him today to give you ears to hear. Pray this simple prayer as we begin: “Father, I want to know You. I want to follow you. Let every other voice fade away in the presence of yours. I trust You to speak as I posture to listen.”

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” John 10:27

Devotion: Jesus addressed these words to the Jews in the Temple when they asked Him to tell them plainly if He was the Christ. He told them that they did not believe, because they were not part of His flock. But those of us who do believe hear His voice, and know (and are known by) Him, and we follow Him. As we seek to abide, to pray according to God’s will, and to follow, we must earnestly listen for the voice of our Shepherd.

Let’s just stop and be in awe for a moment over the fact that the God of the universe cares enough to come and meet with us personally, to comfort us with His love, and to fill us again for the day ahead! This is the heart of our Father towards us! In order for Him to be able to do this, we must stop our busyness and let Him have the time He needs to speak. We must learn to be still, to quiet the noise of our own efforts and thoughts, and wait for God to reveal Himself. In Psalm 62:5, David says, “For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from Him.”

As we learned on Day 2 of this journey, we are dependent upon God for everything in the Christian life. When we come to the scriptures in the morning, we come not just for education or to check something off our “to-do” list, but for what He would say to us in and through them. As we pray, surrender, confess, and seek His direction, we are waiting for Him to prompt us, to show us what we have not yet given Him, any sin that stands between us, any way He wants us to move. We are waiting for Him to do His work of transformation in us. Isaiah 30:15 tells us that “In quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” Throughout our day, as we cultivate a quiet heart that trusts that Jesus is abiding, holding and guiding us, we will be better able to hear His voice and discern His activity in our lives!

Respond in Prayer: Jesus, your words are a treasure to me. The wisdom of this world is of dull beauty compared to the truth on Your lips. I confess and embrace the inability to walk in Your ways without knowing Your words. Would you grant me, this day, a deeper hunger for Your voice? Would you grace me with a detachment from the lesser things? When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I. When my mind is inundated with every single thing that seems unfinished, lead me to the voice of my Keeper. It is You who start, You who sustain, and You who settle it.