I Interrupt this Monologue....

Have you ever been in the middle of a soul-felt prayer and suddenly have God show up?  This morning I was praying and journaling a lengthy prayer of thanksgiving and praise, giving God honor and glory for an extremely long list of unmerited blessings, followed by a prayer that He might take my life, my talents, treasure, and time, that He would multiply them and use them for His kingdom's sake.  It was a rich prayer time, when poof!  God intervened with a very clear image.

Without warning, I had a clear mental picture of friend's daughter in Guatemala back in the early 90's.  Molly Robinson was an adorable little preschooler, happily sitting in the middle of the floor singing Ephesians 6:1 along with Steve Green:  "Children, obey your parents in the Lord..." while drowning out the voice of her mom, who was asking her to do something like clean up her toys or wash up for supper.  Clearly Molly heard her mother's voice, because in between during the pauses in the chorus, she would shout back, "No!"

                          

Ouch!  Do I do this, Lord?  Quietly abiding in God's presence, do I sing His praises while overtly disobeying or ignoring His clear commands?  Today I am asking Him again to reveal the hidden sins in my heart.  Even if it hurts, I want Him to show me where I am acting like a rebellious toddler refusing to serve.

Continuing with my prayer, I wrote, "May I never take your love for granted!  Show me how to love You better...."  and immediately the answer came to me as Jesus very gently spoke to my heart, "Feed my sheep."  

I started to protest, wondering if providing audio Bibles to entire people groups didn't count as feeding the flock, but then God reminded me of two very specific things He had spoken to my heart in the past week:

1. Write the book.  Tell the stories.  Show people that I am alive and still moving on the hearts of men.
2. Volunteer.  Use my time each week to actively work with internationals in the community, teaching ESL or literacy or something.

So there you have it.  I am documenting them here so hopefully my friends will hold me accountable and ask if I am obediently following the clear word I heard from the Lord.

If you don't have these types of two-way conversations with God, I encourage you to try it!  He really does hear the cry of our heart, and He does respond.  He loves to talk with you, not just listen to your list of prayer needs.  Often He wants us to be the answer to someone else's prayer.  

We simply need to listen and then do what we hear Him say to do.