This week we looked at the life of Mary and her relationship with Jesus to better understand who Jesus is and what a life of faithful obedience looks like. Mary knew Jesus, and here’s what we learn from her:
How then do we live?
I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;I will sing praises to you among the nations. For your steadfast love is great to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.
knowing god
We need to know God’s Word to believe God’s Word. We need to know Jesus to know his character. We need to know the voice of the Spirit to recognize the voice of the Spirit. We know God through Scripture, God’s Word to us. We know God through our experiences aligning with what we know of God and the experiences of others that align with God’s Word. We recognize the voice of God through these things as well as the peace we receive from the Holy Spirit.
Mary knew God and surrendered in humble confidence, trusting God would do what he said.
surrender
In the unknowns of life, we often grasp for what is known. We look to find anything we can have power over, control the outcome of, or keep us steady. Yet Jesus’s invitation in the unknowns is to trust him and surrender to him. It is a posture of releasing rather than grabbing, a posture of receiving rather than making things happen.This is the posture that Mary took, and she took it as she believed the words of the angel. She took it because she knew the heart of God. She took it because she knew God was faithful and true.
listening
Mary was able to listen and surrender because she knew the voice of God and trusted it. To know God’s voice, we have to hear it often! This repetition of listening embeds our minds with truth.
One spiritual practice that includes surrender and listening is listening to Scripture. As we listen, we choose surrender. We are not in charge of the pace of the speaker, the words spoken, or the leading of the Holy Spirit. As we listen, we learn the sound of God’s voice. The steps below are to help you begin this practice of listening to Scripture.
practice listening
- Download a Scripture listening app. You can use bible.com or the Dwell app.
- Set aside 10 minutes of completely undistracted time. (If you would like, you can do this practice with larger portions of Scriptures, setting aside 30 minutes of undistracted time and listening to three-four chapters at a time.)
- Sit in a posture that is still and focused on listening.
- Have a notepad or journal ready to jot down a quick note or mark a spot that piqued your interest or was curious to you. When listening, resist the temptation to analyze what you hear.
- A great place to start: Beginning with Chapter 1, listen to one chapter of one of the Gospels.
- After listening, go back over the things that stood out, that piqued your interest. Take these things to God in prayer, asking God to deepen and repeat whatever he wants to as you continue to listen in life and in the Scripture in the days that follow.
- Daily continue this pattern of listening through the entire book of the Bible
Remember, the outcome of this time is up to the Holy Spirit. You do not have to prove or show anything from this time. Let this practice of listening and surrender build up a humble posture in you, and one where you will learn the voice of the Spirit not only when you listen to the Scripture, but throughout the day.
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Jesus Equips the Ordinary
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"Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." (Romans 10:17)
What an amazing way to grow our faith. Let His Word wash over you.
On a personal note, Jesus helped me overcome anxiety by doing just this……listening to God’s Word.
What a mighty God we serve ?
Comforting week. Know God, listen, and surrender to Him. The order is important. We cannot listen and submit to someone we do not know. Accept God’s gift of salvation today!
I live new and encouraging ways to listen and hear God’s word. My prayer is I can be more like Mary and surrender all to Him
I love how when we choose to surrender we are not in charge of the words, peace of the words spoken, or leading the Holy Spirit!
Surrender and listen so that you can hear God’s voice!
I’ve learned so much about Mary and how she chose to totally submit to God! She was bold about, confident in and totally submissive to God’s will for her to birth the Messiah! I’m inspired to listen and meditate on the word more daily!
I am excited to start the journey of listening and meditating on the Holy Spirit so I can confidently live righteously and in truth.
I think this is a great idea to sit quietly and listen and not expect so much except what God makes known to us. I think i try to make too much happen or have everything be momentous all the time and it’s in the quiet that God will be with me.
hmmmmm
Thank you so much for the new way to hear the Word and the voice of God. I love the time I spend with God. I find myself hungry for His Word and instruction. God is my Healer, my Protector , my Provider , my Counselor, my Everything.
I literally panic at the thought of sitting and doing just one thing for 10 minutes. Having ADHD makes it very difficult to do this seemingly simple practice that many can do so easily. I will pray that God will help me with this practice.
Nothing gives me more peace than listening and learning more and more about the life of our savior. I am definitely going to try and make this my new habit.