Listening to God's Voice

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and eat with you, and you will eat with me.” ~Revelation 3:20 My Father-in-law, Monroe, is a WWII Navy Veteran and also a retired Evangelical United Brethren Minister. He is 102 years old now! He built a large home on several hundred acres of mountain land in the late 1960's. It was used as a retreat center and also a weekend family home. The rooms are so large they contain both boys and girls bunk rooms with many beds in each room. He invited youth groups to come for the weekends, hike the 7 miles of mowed trails, swim in the pond, or sit by the waterfall. Until recently all the water was supplied by a large spring high on the mountain and had enough water pressure to carry water from the basement up to the 2nd floor above. Many times just the youth leaders and helpers were present with the groups, but on occasion, he would visit to have a devotional time. As a teenager, I was afraid of God. I didn't know what He might say to me if I listened for his voice, so I mostly relied on scripture reading and prayer. On one of the retreat weekends, Monroe had our evening devotional time. He asked us to all close our eyes, ask God for a scripture, then open our eyes and turn to it. He said, “Don't second guess yourselves, keep the first one the Lord gives you.” After we had all placed our finger, in our Bibles, on the scripture the Lord had spoke to us, we started reading one after another until we had all read one. It was amazing because the Lord had placed a complete message using these scriptures all placed in a row! We were also amazed at how He used each of our minds to teach all of us this lesson! I often remind Monroe about the youth weekend over 52 years ago. After finding the Lord could talk to me in even finding a scripture I needed to read, I also became brave enough to listen for His voice in prayer and in the process building a lasting relationship with Him! The Lord is the first one I talk to in the morning and the last one I talk to before going to sleep at night. I encourage anyone who may be reading this on LiveHim that may have been afraid as I was back then. Ask for a scripture in prayer and read it. You will be amazed at all the Lord wants to share in your life!