There is a story told about Franklin Roosevelt, who often endured long receiving lines at the White House. He complained that no one really paid any attention to what he said. One day, during a reception, he decided to try an experiment. To each person who passed down the line and shook his hand, he murmured, “I murdered my grandmother this morning.” The guests responded with phrases like, “Marvelous! Keep up the good work. We are proud of you. God bless you, sir.” It was not until the end of the line, while greeting the ambassador from Bolivia, that his words were actually heard, and without hesitation, the ambassador leaned over and whispered, “I’m sure she had it coming.”
Every day God speaks to us, but in our busy lives it is easy to fall into the trap to ignore His voice or misunderstand what he is saying. That is why discernment is so important in our lives— in big things in life as well as in little things. There are many things that can confuse us from hearing God’s voice in the world. Daily stress, preoccupations, wanting to do our own wills, and our own failures might make us doubt what God is saying to us. Prayer is about relationship, and if we want to hear Jesus’ voice, the first thing we need is to be a person of prayer, a person with a listening heart. That is why Jesus took his disciples up the mountain to pray to be quiet and to be with him. That means that before we do anything, we pray about it! We need to pray for everything— both the major and minor decisions in life. Here are a couple of things to reflect on in prayer while we are discerning His will:
· Does fear paralyze us to move on something that we know God is asking us to do?
· Do we talk to God about our deep fears?
· Can we hear his peace?
· Are we trying to force something in our lives or other people’s lives to rush a fix where God might be saying to us “wait” or “No, don’t do that”?
Another way to hear the voice of God is to spend time with His word every day. The word of God will give us peace. We don’t need to spend hours doing this; maybe start with 10 minutes a day. If you don’t know where to start, pick one Gospel and slowly read through it one passage at a time. By doing this, we can see how He acts in the world by what He has done in the world. We can also hear the voice of God through the Chief Shepherd and the Church; in other words, listening to what the Pope is saying. Pray on what the Church and the Pope say, even if it seems confusing at times. The Holy Spirit works through the Church, so let us ask the spirit to guide us to the truth.
Again, prayer is all about relationship with God, so we have to know it is possible to hear Him. Imagine what it might be like for us to hear Jesus’ voice all the time…to be able to hear as God wants us to hear and act on it. If we pray, read the Word of God, and listen to the Church with open hearts, He will lead us and guide us more into the faith. He knows us and is calling our name. We don’t only have a good Shepherd, but the perfect Shepherd. The more we practice listening to his voice daily, the more we can allow God to work through us daily.