God can get through to us what God wants to get through, at any time. You can of course seem to close off from God, or turn away in disbelief, anger or despair. Yet if God wants to get your attention, God will. That being said, it is important to understand how God communicates with us during prayer, usually in subtle and unexpected ways.
There are seven essential entryways in us through which God may stealthily make God’s presence and will known during prayer. The better you understand these, the more readily your apparent prayer monologue can be grasped as a prayer dialogue, as a “with” rather than “at” God. It is vital to patiently wait upon, and listen for the Lord around these entryways.
God’s entryways in prayer include:
1. Thoughts. You may find yourself thinking in a new, anointed way, indicating God at work. Most every morning during my prayer time, God gives me insights and directions for my writing.
2. Imagination. You may discover yourself imagining something that God authors. This is like a daydream you did not seem to start, which reveals something God wants you to realize.
3. Will. You may discover new desires, a greater will or passion for God and service. It may prove necessary to ask God to affect your will directly, so it is in accord with God’s will.
4. Feelings. Your feelings may change, dark ones dissipate, while bright ones dawn. God can gently ease your burdens and cleanse your heart.
5. Memory. You may find yourself remembering past moments when God was there for you. If God was there for you yesterday, God will assuredly be with you today. Trust God.
6. Intuition. The sixth sense. This is the underappreciated means of discernment, and how you can tell the “who” of persons. Through intuition, you can sense directly the presence and Person of God, in ways which can neither be proven nor denied. Discernment is also how you can distinguish what is of God, of yourself or of the evil one.
7. Speech to the heart. The ancient monks describe listening to God with the “ear of your heart.” God can and does, albeit infrequently and always unexpectedly, address you, typically with very few words. God does so through what the rabbis termed the “voiceless echo.” These words are always what you need to hear, and are always for your good and eternal well-being.
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