“Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire, it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.” When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.”‘ (Exodus 3:1-4, NIV).

Moses looked, listened, and reacted to God’s call, he began a journey that brought the Israelites back to God. May I share four simple steps I discovered in this passage that might help you see, hear, and react to God? 

Step 1: (v1) – Get Away – Moses got away from people by going to the far side of the wilderness. 
Where can you go for quiet and solitude?
Maybe a walk around the neighbourhood, a stroll in the woods, or a trip to the spa or your garage. Any place you can find quiet and closed off or away from others.

Step 2: (v1) Get Alone – Moses went to where God was by going to His Mountain. 
Where do you feel close to God? 
Maybe it’s a sacred place like a church, or perhaps just being surrounded by God’s creation brings you closer to Him.

Step 3: (v3) Pay Attention – When Moses saw what God was doing with the burning bush, he looked closer and noticed it. 
What has God been doing around you that you need to pay closer attention to? 
Perhaps it’s the sky’s colour as the sun sets or hearing a baby laugh or maybe it’s getting caught up in the sheer extravagance of God’s creation. 

Step 4: (v4) Be Ready to Listen – When Moses heard God calling out his name, he acknowledged that he was ready to listen. 
Are you ready to listen to what God has to say? 
This could be the most challenging part because it requires us to listen, not just hear. It can be challenging for those who have forgotten how to slow down and relax. Also, God may tell you something you don’t want to hear. For example, He instructed Moses to go to Pharaoh to bring the Israelites out of Egypt. 

Moses asked God questions, saying he wasn’t the man for the job and didn’t want to do it. Maybe that is how you react when you sense God speaking to you and are afraid. Moses eventually came around because God met every question with an answer that Moses couldn’t poke holes in. God has the answers to your questions, and He reminds us that He is with us when we are doing His will. 

I pray today begins your journey of looking, listening and reacting to what God wants to do. 

The message found in Mark 9 speaks to the need to believe and trust in God. A desperate father approaches Jesus to have his son healed of impure spirits. The father had already gone to the disciples, but they were unsuccessful. So, he confronted Jesus and asked “if you can” heal him.

Jesus replied, “Everything is possible for the one who believes.” Right away, the boy’s father cried out, “I do believe! Help me overcome my unbelief!” Mark 9: 23-24.

The father may have thought the disciples were incompetent. Despite their bravado, they seemed unable to help. Sometimes other people, despite good intentions, can’t relieve our needs. The father may have thought the problem was hopeless. The boy’s disease was fitful, mysterious, and violent. We sometimes forget that the Lord delights in working impossibilities. The father may have thought Jesus was powerless. The man half hinted at this when he said, “If you can do anything….” Fear and worry whisper demonically in our ears, “God doesn’t care. The Saviour is powerless.” But the father discovered his unbelief. Sometimes we have just enough faith to realize our belief’s weakness. That isn’t great faith, but it’s enough to start with. If we have enough faith to recognize our weaknesses, we have a place to start.

Faith is based on the belief that we have a Creator. We understand that our Creator is like a good parent who loves us unconditionally and wants to protect, guide, and help His children. And like a good parent, He would never harm us and only wants what is best for us. When our faith is strong, we trust God’s love for us, regardless of our circumstances.

Faith requires us to understand and accept God’s expectations for us, brought to us by Jesus. God wants us to love others through genuine and sincere kindness and compassion. This means that we will be humble. We will not be critical or judgmental of others. We will not be hurtful or take advantage of others. Likewise, we will not treat others with indifference. We will help those who need help. And when we are wronged, we will forgive. If we love God, we will do these things daily, not just to those close to us, like family and friends – but to everyone. 

Faith reminds us that God wants us to join Him in heaven, but our hearts must reflect God’s love which we convey with our thoughts, how we speak to others, how we treat others, and how we live our lives. Faith will compel us to invite God into our lives and maintain a relationship with Him through prayer. We should pray every day and throughout the day. It is impossible to pray too much. We can pray for protection, forgiveness, guidance, understanding, and peace. We can express our love, our gratitude, our needs, our worries, and our fears. 

We should pray boldly and be generous with our prayers for others. Trust, believe, and believe that God will hear your prayers and respond. 

Last week I had an enjoyable conversation with an elderly lady (she was eighty-seven years young). My initial impression was that she had peace and joy in her life, but as we talked, I could see a sadness in her eyes that betrayed some inner turmoil. We started with small talk, which included the weather, food and gas prices. After a while, she opened up and mentioned that she had been struggling because thoughts of her past kept popping up. Her husband of fifty-seven years left her over ten years ago, one of her children died early in their marriage, and five years ago, a grandchild died. She had mourned all those tragedies but mentioned that recently thoughts of those events had popped into her mind, and the grief was overwhelming. 

My new friend had been attending church since childhood and stated she trusted scripture and God’s promises. I listened as she spilled out her sorrow. She was not seeking advice from me but just wanted someone to listen to her. She talked about her prayers and said that when she spoke with God, she asked Him, “Give me one more hour of your comfort and presence so I can endure these thoughts.” She sought solace in God and shared Psalm 16:11 (NLT), “You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.” 

Focusing on past events may leave little room in your heart and mind for new experiences, including those that may bring you joy—focusing on the “what ifs” may lead you to repeatedly engage in the same negative inner conversations and scenarios. She wisely shared that thinking about what happened wouldn’t change the past, but she just wanted to gracefully endure the moments when our past disturbs us. 

Sometimes when you’ve hurt long enough, you may get used to the emotional pain. It may feel safe and familiar. You may have internalized it as part of your identity. Anger at past events can become comfortable, but anger is never soothing for your soul. 
Getting away from the things you’ve felt and thought about for a long time is not as easy as saying, “They don’t bother me”; the past is tough to forget. Scripture shares healing, joy and peace of mind may be on the other side of letting go, even if it is just for one hour. 

My friend reminded me that in our time of need, our Father is waiting patiently for us to go to Him for comfort, and He wants to hear all. 

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus”. Philippians 4:6-7 (NLT)

I’m at my Denomination district church camp, and I have the privilege (joking) of working in the accommodation section this week. Our booking system is fully automated except for receipts for payments, done ‘hand-draulicly’. I generally prepare many reports, documents etc. and have used computers, tablets and even my phones to do my “written” work. As I prepared my first handwritten receipt,

I struggled a little. I had forgotten how to draw the letter G.  I have been writing/printing since I was five and remember the drills we did in school, writing our letters repeatedly until they looked readable. But over the past few years, I’ve been typing, and this simple four-line receipt reminded me how easy it is to get out of practice. 

Do you see my writing dilemma similar to an activity taught in scripture, such as ‘Prayer practice’. Prayer is both crucial and essential in our walk with Christ. We need prayer to sustain us in this world that is moving further away from God. But some may have become rusty at prayer. When they first believed, and someone told them of prayer’s importance, they practiced it. They may have read prayers written by others, listened to others in their community pray and tried to pray. They were probably a little confused about what they should say and how they should say it. Maybe they became self-conscious about how their prayers did not sound like others, so they slowly shut down and avoided prayer.

Jesus wanted to set the record straight on how people should pray. He knew the people had watched their leaders pray, leaders who had put on public display of prayer. They drew attention to themselves. Jesus saw this and called these leaders out for what they were: hypocrites. Instead of hypocrisy, Jesus offered His followers a safeguard guaranteed to keep their prayers genuine: “When you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:6). Notice Jesus says, “when you pray,” not “if you pray,” suggesting that prayer is ongoing.
 
I paused as I filled out the receipt, realizing I was out of practice. I decided to write this article before I committed to typing it. When I was done, I noticed my chicken scratch could compete with any doctor, but I felt good. I was reminded that to be proficient or at least comfortable with an activity, you should practice. Some may not like the suggestion that prayer requires practice, but I can assure you that when you practice speaking to God, your prayers will become easier. You will stop trying to imitate others, forget about trying to sound holy and open your heart to having a loving conversation with God. 

God wants an open relationship with us which includes prayer. Don’t wonder when was the last time you prayed; start now. Go into your inner room and talk with God. He knows about your prayers and maybe how you have struggled. But He is loving and patient and will wait on you as you become comfortable talking with Him.  

Dr. A.C Dixon (bible expositor, once wrote, “When we rely on organization, we get what organization can do; when we rely on education, we get what education can do; when we rely on eloquence, we get what eloquence can do; and so on. I am not disposed to undervalue any of these things in their proper place – BUT when we rely on prayer, we get what God can do.”