Ask!

Image by loswl via Flickr

After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.
1 Kings 19:11-12

I was reminded today by another blogger how amazing it is when God breaks into our lives and speaks. Of course he is always speaking, and I don't think I am being dishonest if I say I hear His voice everyday. A scripture may impress itself, a sense of His Presence may invade, someone may say something that hits the nail on the head. There are also times when I get an impression and I think it's God and it turns out it wasn't. But there are also other times when His voice is more dramatic, clear and undisputable.

A few weeks ago I was out walking and praying and I felt the Lord gently impress upon me that I could ask for something. It struck me that I had become so used to hearing from God in these gentle ways that I had almost taken them for granted. They had become just part of life. Maybe that is good, and part of living with the Spirit. But here was God giving me permission to ask for something so I did. 'Lord, I want a word from You that I can't mistake. Something that will cause me to be amazed'.

A few days later I received a telephone message from a friend who lives abroad. We maybe speak on the phone once or twice a year. In the message he asked me to ring back as he couldn't say on the answerphone what he called me about. Intrigued, I rang back and he explained that the Lord had given him a dream. In the dream he described a difficult situation that I had been through about a week before. It had caused me some distress and had affected me somewhat. So many of the details of the dream were exactly right, and as we talked the Lord confirmed that this had been a spiritual attack. A scripture emerged from our conversation that encouraged me and I was left thinking, 'Wow!'

So there it is. I am left yet again in awe at how God speaks and also encouraged that I should ask for Him for the things I desire because He is 'slow to chide and swift to bless'.