Every month on the magazines stands you can find articles on getting rid of the clutter in your home and organizing yourself so you can find what you need when you need it. Practical tips, like having a space in which to put what you bring home or using some time every day to sort through things, abound. Even as we read these articles, we know what they say will really only make a difference if we actually follow through and apply the techniques suggested.
The same is true of trying to “declutter” our inner lives so we can hear God’s voice speaking to us. Thousands of voices speak to us each day — advertising on billboards and the internet, news and information on radio and television, messages from friends or family, work or retailers by email and mysterious algorithms. So much to sort through!
In our sorting process, it is important to remember the two great commandments that Jesus gave us to provide focus and direction to our lives: to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength; and to love our neighbour as we do ourselves.
How do we continually hear God’s specific guidance on how to love God and our neighbour in the midst of a noisy world? If we look to the example of Jesus, we see He wove the practice of prayer into His ministry and He took what He heard in that time into His conversations with others. Luke 9:18 says, “One day, when Jesus was praying alone in the presence of his disciples, he asked them …” (NEB).
Alone and yet with others — we can learn from that. Here are few tips on how to begin.
Silence. Turn off the radio, television, computer, and mute your phone. Let yourself hear the silence and let your mind quiet. Once you are still …
Prepare yourself to listen to God by saying a simple prayer asking for guidance. Open yourself to God’s voice as you read a portion of Scripture, perhaps from a daily reading guide or lectionary or by simply choosing one of the gospels or epistles to read in small segments each day. Then …
Inquire of God and yourself. Ask yourself what you hear in the passage that stands out. Notice if you think about a particular issue or person or concern. Perhaps you might read the passage again, listening carefully to what you hear or think. Then…
Reflect upon what stood out for you in the passage you read and why. Think about what that is saying to you. Or reflect upon why you keep thinking about a particular person or concern. Perhaps you are being drawn to pray for an individual, call or visit someone, or get involved in something. Perhaps God is giving you a word to treasure in your heart and guide your actions. Then …
Interact with others. God speaks to us individually and with others. Share a thought or insight with a soul friend, someone you trust. Or take a question that came to you to a spiritual advisor or small group of Christians with whom you might meet. The Quaker community has a tradition of listening circles in which a person takes a question, issue or concern to a small group of fellow believers who listen to the person, occasionally ask a question or two to help the person go deeper, and offer the one speaking support as they seek to discern the Spirit.
However you choose to interact with other Christians, it is important to remember that God gives us other people to help us discern God’s voice and our path forward. And finally … .
Take action. The action may be simple, like writing in a journal what came to you in prayer or conversation with others. It may be calling the person about whom you were thinking. It might mean learning more about the issue that kept coming to you in your reflection.
And, then, repeat the steps the next day or week. Discerning God’s voice amidst the world’s voices is a continual process. We need to practice dealing with the world’s ‘clutter’ over and over again so that we have less difficulty hearing God’s word to us and our community, and are better equipped to act together in faith that God is calling us forward.
And did you notice that the first letters of the step I outlined spell Spirit? A mnemonic device to help us remember what it’s really all about!
Rev. Canon Cheryl Toth is a retired priest in the Diocese of Qu’Appelle and Warden to Diocesan Lay Readers. This is an updated and revised version of a column written in 2013. Our context changes but the way of hearing God’s voice remains the same.
