◆
“Morning by morning he awakens;
he awakens my ear
to hear as those who are taught.”
— Isaiah 50:4b
◆
I love the mornings, particularly this one. The sun just escaped from the treetops and the birds are celebrating its freedom with their morning song. The beauty and harmony of Nature remind me that God doesn’t need me to be god. He needs me to rest and receive from His Godness.
As I pray for you this week, three words keep forming in my Spirit: Rest. Receive. Respond.
It’s easy for me to forget that the first movement of Prayer is resting in God’s sufficiency, His authority, His holiness, His presence, His goodness. When we rest, we see . . . we hear . . . we know. Rest delivers us from the blindness that comes with busyness and leads us into a clearer understanding of our purpose.
One of the ways God clarifies and energizes our purpose is by giving us eyes to see those around us. Isaiah 50:4 (the verse above) actually begins with these words,
The Lord God has given me
the tongue of those who are taught,
that I may know how to sustain with a word
him who is weary. (Isaiah 50:4a)
According to this verse, we are taught by God so we can transfer hope to those who are weary. We rest so we can receive from God and then respond with a purpose that reaches into the lives of those around us.
I don’t know about you but I’m often tempted to respond to a problem or person in my own sufficiency. I’m learning, however, to take a moment—it doesn’t have to be long, it just needs to be long enough—to rest and receive before I open my mouth or move my feet.
The truth is we can only serve those we can see, and prayer connects us with others in ways nothing else can. Scripture promises that our prayers are energized and guided by God’s Spirit, the One who searches and knows the Reality of all things, including the recesses of hearts. When Paul proclaimed that we have the mind of Christ, he was giving words to the God consciousness that is available to us all (1 Cor 2:16). But this power, this knowing, is accessible only to those who know, trust, and listen to its Source.
Response
This week, I want to challenge you to make space, through rest, for your ear to be awakened. Only then will you have words for those who are weary. (And as you refresh others, you will be refreshed).
We cannot give what we do not have, so I promise you, if you rest in His sufficiency, God will teach you His healing sound.
Closing Thoughts
Rest is not inaction. Rather, it positions us to trade frantic inaction for meaningful action. The Father has much for you to do this week, but His ways are not ours. Trust Him. In defiant obedience, reject the self-sufficiency of our age and offer Him your attention as a sacrifice of worship.
Praying with you,
Addison
P.S. I want to welcome those of you who’ve recently joined us on this adventure of rediscovering prayer as a way of life. If you don’t have Words with God: Trading Boring, Empty Prayer for Real Connection yet, just click here to grab your book.
