The Voice of God
January 26, 2024 at 3:30 p.m.
Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time
The readings for this Sunday talk a lot about hearing the voice of God. I don’t know about all of you reading this, but I’m not very good at it. My brain is filled with constant distractions. Every time I try to pray, I find myself wandering far off into some distant land in my brain that has nothing to do with what I was talking about until I eventually just throw up a soft conclusion “yada, yada, I love you God, goodnight” and give up. I think the reason for this is because when I try to do all the talking, then one of three things will happen:
1. I run out of things to say.
2. Those things I say remind me of other stressors in my life then it’s all downhill from there.
3. Some lethal combination of the two. It’s really tough to find peace.
We hear in the scriptures of the power of the voice of God. The responsorial psalm is one of my favorites. “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts. Come, let us bow down in worship; let us kneel before the LORD who made us. For he is our God, and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.” How beautiful is that?!? This phrase is meant to bring peace, inviting you to open your heart to what God has in store, but at the same time, it is also kind of convicting. How often in my life am I hearing God loud and clear but choosing to do my own thing and pretending I don’t hear Him. This psalm is saying to stop closing yourself off and pretending you’re not getting the message.
Then we hear the story from the Gospel of Mark of Jesus casting out the demon in the synagogue in Capernaum. “A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” Even the demon bows at the command of God! The reason I struggle so hard to find peace and the reason I struggle so much in my prayer is because I never take the time to just be quiet and allow the Lord to speak to me. I spend all my time yapping at Him and inundating Him with requests and getting upset when I don’t feel my prayer life going anywhere or experience change, then just going back to my day-to-day life like I wasn’t just talking to the King of the Universe.
Here is a prayer technique we use on Confirmation retreats. It’s called the TAPP method. It can also be incorporated into your prayer time.
TAPP – Thanksgiving, Atonement, Praise, and finally Petition.
THANKSGIVING – We begin our prayer thanking God in the purest way possible, recognizing all the ways He has saved us and all of the gifts He has given us.
ATONEMENT – Then follow that with calling to mind our shortcomings and laying them down before Him asking forgiveness.
PRAISE – Next, we praise God simply because He is God and He is worthy of our praise above all other things.
PETITIONS – Finally, we offer up our intentions, asking God for the things we need.
It is important to take our time with each step, fully entering in and taking the time to connect with Him. This method kind of feels foundational, but I think in my case, I could use a trip back to building my foundation. I need to start doing this and then spending more time in silence to really learn to hear the voice of God without distractions. If you find yourself in a similar position as me, maybe you can try this with me this week in your own prayer.
May God bless you all!
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Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time
The readings for this Sunday talk a lot about hearing the voice of God. I don’t know about all of you reading this, but I’m not very good at it. My brain is filled with constant distractions. Every time I try to pray, I find myself wandering far off into some distant land in my brain that has nothing to do with what I was talking about until I eventually just throw up a soft conclusion “yada, yada, I love you God, goodnight” and give up. I think the reason for this is because when I try to do all the talking, then one of three things will happen:
1. I run out of things to say.
2. Those things I say remind me of other stressors in my life then it’s all downhill from there.
3. Some lethal combination of the two. It’s really tough to find peace.
We hear in the scriptures of the power of the voice of God. The responsorial psalm is one of my favorites. “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts. Come, let us bow down in worship; let us kneel before the LORD who made us. For he is our God, and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.” How beautiful is that?!? This phrase is meant to bring peace, inviting you to open your heart to what God has in store, but at the same time, it is also kind of convicting. How often in my life am I hearing God loud and clear but choosing to do my own thing and pretending I don’t hear Him. This psalm is saying to stop closing yourself off and pretending you’re not getting the message.
Then we hear the story from the Gospel of Mark of Jesus casting out the demon in the synagogue in Capernaum. “A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” Even the demon bows at the command of God! The reason I struggle so hard to find peace and the reason I struggle so much in my prayer is because I never take the time to just be quiet and allow the Lord to speak to me. I spend all my time yapping at Him and inundating Him with requests and getting upset when I don’t feel my prayer life going anywhere or experience change, then just going back to my day-to-day life like I wasn’t just talking to the King of the Universe.
Here is a prayer technique we use on Confirmation retreats. It’s called the TAPP method. It can also be incorporated into your prayer time.
TAPP – Thanksgiving, Atonement, Praise, and finally Petition.
THANKSGIVING – We begin our prayer thanking God in the purest way possible, recognizing all the ways He has saved us and all of the gifts He has given us.
ATONEMENT – Then follow that with calling to mind our shortcomings and laying them down before Him asking forgiveness.
PRAISE – Next, we praise God simply because He is God and He is worthy of our praise above all other things.
PETITIONS – Finally, we offer up our intentions, asking God for the things we need.
It is important to take our time with each step, fully entering in and taking the time to connect with Him. This method kind of feels foundational, but I think in my case, I could use a trip back to building my foundation. I need to start doing this and then spending more time in silence to really learn to hear the voice of God without distractions. If you find yourself in a similar position as me, maybe you can try this with me this week in your own prayer.
May God bless you all!