March 6, 2020 Hearing God’s Voice in Prayer

Isaiah 62:10  Go through, go through the gates, Clear the way for the people; Build up, build up the highway, Remove the stones, lift up a standard over the peoples.
 
As we are going up the mountain, prayer must ever be on our lips - in our conversations with God about ourselves, those close to us, those we meet during the day, and those we do not know.  Prayer is Isaiah 62:10.  Prayer is removing the stone (obstacles) that keep us all from getting closer to God.  These prayers are often times best in one on one conversations with God in the secret place and all throughout our day. 
 
I asked the Lord this morning, “Am I praying for real?  Am I praying all kinds of prayers all throughout the day?”   I must confess this is a discipline I am lacking in. I pray what I know to pray, but I often do not take the time to sit alone and hear what is on God’s heart all throughout my day.
 
Proverbs 8:34  Blessed is the man who listens to Me, Watching daily at My gates, Waiting at My doorposts.
 
Let’s be honest with ourselves, most of the time we spend in prayer with God, it is about us.  We tell God about all the people, things, and circumstances we want Him to fix or change or arrange in our surroundings.  I’m not saying we are not to share our hearts and hurts with God, because we are.  But we must stop being so driven to get our issues and concerns front and center with God, and instead prioritize our time to be quiet to hear His voice and the cries of His Heart!
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If we are with a friend whose heart is heavy and they are crying; and instead of asking them what was wrong, would we go on and on and on about everything that is going on in our lives?  Of course we wouldn’t, but that is what we tend to do with God.  We know His heart is very grieved over the hearts and actions of man, and yet we go on and on about the things that concern us.  As we are maturing in our faith on our journey up the mountain, we must also mature in our prayers and let God’s requests take top priority over ours, all throughout our days!