Draw near to listen...

Hi friends,

When we come to God in prayer, is our first instinct to talk or to listen? I know for me, it is to talk. I have requests to bring, cares to voice, and hopefully thanks to give. But it rarely occurs to me to begin with listening. That's why I am so challenged by Ecclesiastes 5, which begins by telling us to draw near to God to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools. Rather than babbling on, we are to come into God's presence to humbly listen.

The writer goes on to instruct us (in case we haven't got it yet!):

Do not be quick with your mouth,

    do not be hasty in your heart

    to utter anything before God.

God is in heaven

    and you are on earth,

    so let your words be few.

That is quite the challenge, particularly if we have been told (and shown) that prayer is about an abundance of words to God.

So what does it mean to draw near to God to listen, to let out words be few? Perhaps it means developing the practice of silence before God, of stilling ourselves in his presence and just 'being' with him. This practice of silence is one that has long been practiced as a spiritual discipline across the history of Christianity, but in today's world it seems a particular challenge. There is so much noise competing for our attention that it feels like we have to continue the noise when it comes to God. But what if we resisted the pull of the culture around us and instead came in silence to listen to Almighty God? What space might that create to hear his particular word to us for that moment or season?

I used the new Spread Your Wings stamp and die bundle on this page, as I loved the image of a butterfly quietly coming near to the flower to draw on its goodness. I also used Watch Your Mouth for some of the words, as well as Marker Alpha and With Love Alpha to complete the text. I added the arrow from Send Me, and used the Mosaic stencil in the background with some Nuvo mousse, over the top of a watercoloured background using Inktense pencils.

Let's be people who draw near to God to listen before speaking.

Be blessed...

x Amy x