Abba spoke from the cloud saying, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy. Listen to him.” (Matt.17:5).
“My sheep listen to my voice; I (Jesus) know them, and they follow me.” (Jn.10:27).
“I (Jesus) will send you the Advocate and Helper—the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me.” (Jn.15:26).
“You have heard it said… But I (Jesus) say to you…” (Matt.5:21).
Lord Jesus, most of my life I’ve assumed the phrase, “I’m hearing voices,” to indicate mental/emotional instability. It certainly can be, but much more so it’s an indication of being 6 feet above ground—that is, still alive and fully human. For we all hear voices. The key to a healthy life is to identify the voices vying for our attention, and give heed to the right ones. Help us, Jesus.
For some of us, 88% of the time we’re just having a self-absorbed monologue with ourselves—and that ends up being pretty destructive. Others continue to be narrated by the voice of parents, coaches, teachers—living or dead, both good and super bad. Some of us tune our hearts to the every-changing voices of trends and styles—what’s “lit,” “dope,” “gas,” or ”fire.”
Loving Jesus, may your voice be the nearest, clearest, dearest to us. We want to learn, marinate in, and be transformed by everything our Father and the Holy Spirit want to show us about you. Fine tune our hearts to hear you speaking directly to us through the Scriptures, creation, your Spirit, and dear Gospel-friends. Jesus, may your voice transcend every carpetbagger, condemner, liar and lie, seducer and destroyer the devil and world throw at us. We don’t have to be afraid. We just need to live as yours. So Very Amen.