Prayer Request

”Oh, that I would pursue You with all I have and live in the realm of all that I have and who I am in Christ. May I experience You in Your fullness.”

This is my prayer, my heart’s cry. I want to experience Jesus in a practical way so that others may see and know that there is a God in Israel. If this were answered, it would look like an increased awareness of Father’s presence that is demonstrated by prioritizing and accomplishing the things that need to be done. Practically, I would spend more time with my family and there would be an increased closeness and connection. It has to do with true intimacy. I want to see Father work in my life and the lives of others in such a way that it is undeniably Him.

1Sa 17:46-47 This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the LORD's, and he will give you into our hands.

I believe the condition of our nation is the consequence for the Church not being fully the Lord’s. There is no fear of the Lord in “Israel”. David had a big thing to do and he relied on God. He had something to prove to the world and to Israel. My I have such boldness in the face of my enemies. May you have such boldness.

I would like to propose that you, Reader, pray for me in this matter. And I in turn will pray for your specific request. Then we can post what the Lord does. Give a specific, measurable request. How will you (and more importantly others) know if it is answered? I will pray to this end. What is the one thing God can do in your life that would be unmistakably Him? Any takers?

The Three F's

Last night I had a student ask me, “What was the one coping skill that helped me the most.” In all the years conducting a coping skills group, I’ve never had anyone ask me that question. It was a great question on a couple of levels. First, the question itself: if you want to know how to do something, ask someone who appears to know what they are doing. Second, it shows the humility of the one asking. Most kids this age want to find out how to do something on their own – to ask for help is a sign of weakness and un-independence. (I know it’s not a word but just play along.)

It took me off guard for a minute and so I told her we would finish with a peer who was talking at the time and I would finish the group out with my answer. And I pretended she wasn't just trying to distract from the issue so as to take the pressure off herself.

I gave her three of the things that has helped me cope with every difficulty I face. I also told her and the group that they would have to internalize their own answer to that question. There would be similarities and there would be differences. The key is to make something their own instead of just practicing what others do or say. This is why they are often unsuccessful in the challenges of life. We can know something intellectually but without internalizing it is just useless, dead orthodoxy. I see this all the time. (In case you’re wondering, I’m not a big word person when I’m with them.)

The three things that have helped me cope with my life-challenges:

1. Friends – I’ve got friends that have been there for me at my moment of challenge (without being asked) time after time. I include my wife in this number.

2. Father – not my biological father, though he has always been supportive, but a spiritual father, a mentor. I had prayed that God would give me someone who could show me how to get it done – to show me how to live fully. We’ve been meeting about weekly for 13 years now.

3. Faith – My relationship with Father has been the most sustaining thing in my life. It is He who has directed my life and worked out my issues in a supportive way.

I believe that there are other things that can help one cope and have helped me cope, but these are the foundational issues that support my life. (I slipped back into preaching mode with the 3 F’s. If there were an organ playing I might have started hoopin’.)

We all need support – those people and skills to help manage when the pressures of life start to temp us to revert back to unhealthy ways of releasing the pressure.

Peace.

Prodigal Grace

My wife brought a tape home of one of the seminars she attended last month. Mark Hamby gives an illustration to demonstrate how we can value our kids. The story is so good at demonstrating valuing verses devaluing that I have listened to it five times. I have typed out the story for your benefit. May we all get this! May we demonstrate valuing with everyone we interact.

Hamby's illustration:

When you devalue something or someone, what you do is you aren’t willing to pay the price and they are unwilling to be motivated to become even greater people of worth. And that is what happens to our children. We devalue them and they lack the motivation become men and women of worth.

There was a mom who wrote this, she said:

Recently the Lord gave me a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate the power and awesomeness to demonstrate grace with one of my sons. I would rather have you understand this in the sense that I had the wonderful opportunity to value him like I had never had before. This son phoned me at the bookstore one day and said, “Guess what Mom, I found $20 in the pocket of one of my shorts.” I immediately discerned that what he was telling me was probably not true. I congratulated him on finding the lost money, and we speculated that it was probably some forgotten birthday money. End of phone call. When I hung up the phone with him I tried to remind myself to check a drawer to see if the $20 was still there. It is a drawer that the older boys know about that Jim and I stash extra money for emergencies. That night I forgot to check but a few days later I remembered and saw that it was missing. Jim had not taken any money from the drawer and money had never been missing before. I knew I had to talk to my son. My son was from my blood for sure but he didn’t have the desperate driving need for money that I thought I had as a child or did he?

I remember the guilt and shame and the loss of trust with my parents as I stole time and again and was caught and disciplined for it. I remembered how it felt, how I lost their trust so I didn’t care after a while. Oh no, I don’t want my son feeling that way or taking that path. I brought him in a quiet room away from his brothers and we sat down together. I told him I wanted to tell him a story. I proceeded to tell him about when I was a little girl and had taken a $10 bill from my mother’s wallet. My mother found the money missing very shortly afterwards and was distraught. It was the only money we had to buy groceries that week. I felt so terrible. I really wanted to return the money but how? I decided to make up a story to cover my sin. I went outside where the sprinkler was watering the lawn, and I pretended the money was under the sprinkler. I went in the house triumphant that I had found the lost money. Eager to hand it over to my distraught mother and make things right again. Much to my dismay I was met with an angry parent who vowed that I was lying, that I stole the money, and I could never be trusted. I sank deeper in my sin believing I might as well be as what she claimed as I was. [That’s called devaluing.]

It didn’t matter anymore I wanted this encounter with my son to be very, very different. So I told him this story while I held him in my arms, rubbing his back. Then I let him know that I was missing $20 and if it was possible the money he had found in his pocket might be mine. Immediately he said, “No Mom, I found that in my pocket!” I was so pleased that God was in control. It was at this point that I got an awesome opportunity to heal a great wrong in my life, simply by treating my son, in his sin, the way I had only dreamed of being treated. I said to him, “I believe you.” I hugged him and sent him on his way.

Later that night I mentioned to him that we needed to put the $20 up on his chart. We keep a running account of our younger children’s money on the refrigerator; then we keep the cash for them so they don’t lose it. They do this by choice and he had already given me the $20 the day he had called me and said he had found it in his pocket. They usually keep smaller amounts in their wallets but the bigger amounts they give back to us and write it on their account. I had joyfully written the $20 entry on his account. [Can you imagine doing this, “I joyfully written.”] I felt such peace, such joy, conviction of sin was up to the Holy Spirit, alone. [Wow, isn’t that amazing that she had this insight, giving God His job back?]

I had done the only job required of me, his mom. I had lavished prodigal grace on my son. I call it prodigal grace because prodigal means reckless, lavish, wasteful. [That’s an amazing definition of prodigal, isn’t it? Reckless, Lavish, Wasteful] The father in the parable of the prodigal son was actually the one who was reckless; he was lavish; he was wasteful. He wasted the fatted calf on his son. He lavished the underserved gift of a robe and a ring. He recklessly ran down the road to meet him – his elderly father. He poured out unconditional love, yes, that is what I lacked as a child. That is what I wanted my son yet in his unrepentant sin to experience.

A few hours later I was preparing to read aloud a book to the boys. My heartbroken son came into the room and burst into tears at my side. [It is amazing when our children understand how much we value them even in their unrepentant state. It is amazing of what that does in their heart rather than our forceful “you must do this.” It’s amazing what a child will do when a mom or dad will come along side and help them to pick up their toys. Rather than say, “You go back and do what I told you to do.”]

I hugged him. I asked him if he would like to tell me something. “Yes,” he stammered, “I…I did take the money out of your drawer, Mom.” What joy in my heart to see the Holy Spirit bring about the work of repentance totally unhindered by me. [I love that statement, “Totally unhindered by me.”] Oh my dear son, I love you, I am so proud of you for telling the truth. That took so much courage. I believed you when you told me that you didn’t take the money because I really trust you. I’m so glad I can trust you to tell me the truth. [She didn’t say, I trusted you and you betrayed my trust. She did say, I believed you, now I’m glad you told me the truth and I’ll believe you even more.] I know that was a hard thing to do. I do want you to know something; all that I have is yours. [That’s beautiful. That’s what God told us before He left this earth: all that is mine is yours, I’ll never leave you or forsake you.] If you ever feel like you need money, you come and tell me. I don’t want you to ever feel like you have to steal. I want you to keep that money, I don’t want it back. I’m just so glad that you let the Holy Spirit work in your heart. Yes, I wanted him to keep the money [this is what you call lavish, wasteful, reckless. This is what you call grace.] and no one else in our household knows what happened. I covered over his sin for a very good purpose so that he will never forget what that kind of love feels like. I don’t believe I’ll ever deal with this issue with him again. For that very reason it was worth to be a prodigal mom. God’s love is so radical toward us, so incredibly unbelievable. We were ungodly, yet, we were sinners, we were enemies. “One will hardly die for a righteous man but though perhaps for a good man someone will even dare to die but God demonstrates His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

That was an amazing story! How many times have I been the recipient as well as the perpetrator of devaluing? The immediate question is won’t people take advantage of you if you operate like this? God operates this way. How does He manage? I guess we will manage the same way. Some will devalue us for being a sucker. Even in the face of being devalued, Father operates out of His character for His sake. Romans 2:4 says that the kindness of God leads us to repentance. And Psalm 117:2, Father’s lovingkindness prevails over us, and His faithfulness is everlasting. His ways win out in the end. May we learn His ways.

Dog Retreat

I am back from my annual Dog Retreat. This is year 21. 21 years ago (actually in March) a buddy suggested we get together and go fishing. He said his father was part of a hunting club that had a “cabin” near a watershed. So began our yearly and at times bi-yearly meetings. The purpose was to get away together and have some fun fishing and fellowshipping. We wanted this to be a spiritual retreat – a time to connect with each other and Father. Little did we know that we would still be getting together 21 years in the future. I don’t recall anyone at that time thinking we could do this yearly. It did evolve into to that. It became especially important to us as we started going our separate ways after graduation.

I enjoy the goofing off we have done over the years. I suppose that we have caught literally hundreds of fish and shot a similar amount of skeet. We have hiked the woods around that area and I even got lost once. This was before the advent of the two mile radio and the GPS. (Both of which I have now.) We have four-wheeled the terrain. We have eaten until we’re stuffed. We’ve fought each other in games of Risk or Dominoes. However, the thing I have appreciated most about these times is the connection established with each other and the Lord. We have talked about unsubstantial as well as major issues in our lives until the wee hours of the morning. There have been several times that each of us had need for special support and prayer. Some of my favorite memories consist of kneeling around each other with hands lain on praying for God’s special intervention.

The thing I need most from our times together is connection with my brothers and with Father. I expect us to relax and dial down. I expect us to get together and have a good time, but most of all I expect us to be open and real with each other, to have time to speak out of our hearts to each other – to connect. I feel at times that there is not the depth of the spiritual connection I would like. There is spiritual connection but what I’m talking about is that it seems that we are not all on the same page. This year we missed the opportunity to pray with one of our brothers regarding his need for direction related to some future decisions he was seeking the Lord about. (I didn’t even think about this until I was writing. See what I mean?) My desire is that at the forefront of all we do is the spiritual focus. I want Jesus to be at the Retreat. Now I know He is but I would like to see us converse with Him as He is sitting in the room with us – to be conscious of His presence. I want a time of worship and spiritual focus. I want to know what is Father saying to each of my brothers and what is their heart felt need. I want to support and be a part of their success. I want to hold up the weary arms as Joshua did for Moses. And I need this from them. This is the only agenda I want. I think to accomplish this we need more time together – three days is not enough. I think we need an evening of share, prayer, and worship time. I think if we did this, I would be 100% satisfied with the time.

Overall, the key ingredient has been time together, a spiritual wrestling, if you will. It is true that iron does sharpen iron. I have experienced this. One of my brothers said that he would be really frustrated if he didn’t have the Dogs. I concur whole-heartedly. However, since I do have the Dogs, my frustration is the lack of the quantity of time together. I want more.

Boxes

I have been casually reading “Sensitivity of the Spirit” by R.T. Kendall. Today a sentence jumped out at me that caused me to stop and think a minute.

Through the years, I have learned that God is often found where we have no intention of looking.

He had just told the story of how his wife was healed of an ailment through someone he thought was kind of weird. He didn’t expect God to move in that way through that person. He goes on to say:

God has a way of bringing all our options down to one – the last option we wanted! It is part of God’s sense of humor!

It made me think of the ways I was excluding God in my life. As much as I fight it, I still have the tendency to put God in a box – a framework that I try to understand Him. Father is much more vast than that. If I want to experience His fullness, then I need to let Him be who He is and not who I want or need Him to be. I need to allow myself to be comfortable outside of my box.

Recently, I’ve been visiting the homeland. I’m not comfortable there. It smells of dead orthodoxy. I’ve long past feeling resentment like a young teen for the first time realizing his parents are not perfect. I appreciate the orthodoxy that I cut my teeth on – it has made me who I am and has given me a love for the Word. It was my incubator of faith. The point being, God is constantly re-relating me to Himself, myself, and my past as I grow in Him. The key is being sensitive to His Spirit; that is, being open to Him.

Quiet Place

I have a group I do on a psychiatric unit for children. My group ranges in age of 8 to 12. It’s in the evening and we process the day’s stressors and how the kids have been coping with them, then I lead them in some relaxation exercises with some dial down time. I do the same thing every day in hopes to help them practice self-control. Some kids have never had anyone require them to quiet themselves and therefore are ignorant in the process. I teach them to develop a quiet place in their mind for them to utilize their imagination for productivity. I know, I teach them to go to their “happy place.” I call it the quiet place.

I went to my quiet place Friday morning, in reality and not in my imagination. I hadn’t thought of it this way but yesterday as I had to stay completely motionless for about 45 minutes while a tom strutted off my left shoulder by 10 paces. I was out of position. I shoot left handed and could not get into position. While sitting there with my heart racing I contemplated what to do. In my earlier days I would have been impatient and have tried to get in position and take the shot. As I’ve matured as a turkey hunter I realize that would have been futile. (Voice of experience speaking.)

So I dialed myself down and enjoyed the scenery. It is amazing the plethora of colors and variations of green when the sun starts to come up and shine through the trees. The slight wind blowing through the trees is like God is breathing. The temperature was cool but refreshing. I was warmly dressed so I didn’t mind. If you’ve never been deep in the woods and taken in the fragrance of nature, you’re missing out. It is a distinct, rugged smell, like fresh dirt after you till the garden – a mixture of decaying leaves and budding trees and flowers. It is actually a clean, natural smell not contaminated by humanity. I image the Garden smelling like this. You could almost feel the vibration of the earth as it spins through space like a giant motor propelling the motion. It’s like God’s heartbeat.

I thought I would wait for tom to make his move on the decoy or go the other direction and get in position, give a cluck on my mouth call and then fire – a more seasoned response to the situation. Although, any movement and tom would strut silently away without me even knowing that he was gone. This was incredible, though, my most exciting hunt by far. Tom was so close that I could hear him scratch, spit, and drum as he breathed. I knew he was there even when he wasn’t gobbling.

While sitting there, I thought of my kids who would be sitting on the floor in group that night. I did this to calm my heart rate, for if you have never had a tom strutting 15 feet away it is hard to understand the adrenalin rush you would be experiencing. So I thought about being at my quiet place – perfect quiet, peace, and safety (I was holding a twelve gauge shot gun). This is the place, in the woods, miles from a road or civilization (logging roads and 4-wheelor trails don’t count), and completely void of human produced sounds – my heart beating and heavy breathing discounted. Norman Vincent Peele in his book “The Power of Positive Thinking” encourages a person to go out and lie on the ground, hear and feel the movement/heartbeat of the earth. This is an incredible experience when you bring yourself to a still as much as is humanly possible. For me, this is a complete unwinding. I’m incessant with wrapping my chain around the clothes line pole and this is Father’s way of unhooking me and unwinding the chain. I don’t come by this naturally. I tend to be pretty intense and focused. I know this isn’t healthy so I need my quiet place.

That morning was unseasonably cool as I hurried to my spot. What a spot. I’ve killed three turkeys there in the last two years - my honey hole. I got set up just before the toms started gobbling on their roosts. I made a few locator calls and a tom down the ridge behind me was answering, probably 400 – 500 yards away. My locator call is a hen in the roost before fly down used shortly after the first gobble. I had called two times over a span of five minutes or so and I heard a gobble to my left over a little ridge about 150 – 200 yards away and didn’t call again. I had called a few more times over the next 10 minutes before the tom to my left was now on top of the ridge less than 100 yards away coming toward me. I could see him so I didn’t move. This was my mistake. When he was at the bottom of the ridge, behind some trees I should have repositioned. The trees were small in diameter so I didn’t think I could do it at the time. So I just sat and hoped he would pass in front of me on the way to the decoy. This didn’t happen.

Tom kept strutting in about a 20 foot square, approximately 10-30 feet away over my left shoulder. He wouldn’t move in and was behind me. I’m not confident in my mouth call and he was close enough that he would have recognized the sound wasn’t coming from the decoy. So I waited.

I was breathing hard and my heart was pounding. I would move my head to watch him when he was behind a tree. The trees were too small so I couldn’t reposition myself. After a while I thought I was going to get a stiff neck so I moved my head back to facing position and waited and waited. He strutted for over thirty minutes.

This is when I started thinking of being in my quiet place and there was no where in the world I’d had rather been in that moment. Well, first I was thinking I should have carried that bulky blind over the mile I hiked in. I was able to allow myself to enjoy the moment and appreciate the surroundings which helped me calm myself. I waited some more and prayed. Not for him to come in. Well, yes I did pray for that. But more importantly I focused my thought before the Lord and relaxed myself in His presence.

A deer came up from the tom’s direction and got wind of my scent and stopped and starred for a few minutes and then cautiously moved along. I saw out of the corner of my left eye that tom had moved away a bit and was behind a larger tree. I moved quickly into position. There was a fork in the tree, one large main fork about 2 ½’ in diameter and the small fork, going off to the right was less than a foot in diameter. As his head came in view between the forks I clucked on my mouth call and he stopped. I fired. He flopped a few feet away and lay still. I waited a minute and got up and started walking toward him. A hen about 60 yards away took to flight. I figured he heard and saw her coming so he started moving toward her. As I came up, tom started to move and I fired again. Forty-four paces. Not bad. I usually feel comfortable at around 35 paces.

I picked up the bird and took him back to my spot and sat there and reflected on the experience for a while. I was in my quiet place.

Addendum to Hearing God

Father provided me with an addendum that I hadn’t thought of when writing Hearing God. This morning in prayer and study, I was reviewing the message that Pastor brought the other night on God’s Delegation from Mt. 10:40.

Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.

Mt. 10:41-42 goes on to say:

The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person's reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.

Don’t want to go into the whole thing. If you’re interested click on Present Truth on the side and order the tape. Let it suffice to say that “the Kingdom of God is built on a benevolent dictatorship of delegated authority and not a democracy.”

As I was studying the passage and thinking it occurred to me that God also speaks through His delegated authorities. I had written in the margin of the outline “the way we treat the delegation is the way we treat the Delegator.” Romans 13 has a thing or two to say about this. This was not the direction that Pastor was going completely but it applies.

For my purposes, yesterday I got information from Utilization Review that I needed to pass on to other therapists. Quite ticky actually but needed to be passed on and I heard the gripes of those I gave the information to. I engaged in some of the gripes for, after all, this was a non-therapist trying to tell us how to chart. This morning I realized that I was wrong in my attitude and bx. This is an authority to me – the delegation – and I need to exhibit the proper attitude. This doesn’t mean I can’t address issues but always am to have the right attitude. Kelly is only protecting us from the auditors who for the most part are non-therapists. So I can heed and be blessed or in pride refuse and be cursed. The choice is mine.

This is a difficult voice of God. I want to think I’m the final authority and don’t need other voices and therefore miss what He is trying to say.

Salute to Mr. Woods

I’m not a golfer. Hate the sport actually. Although that is presumptuous to say because I’ve never played, maybe I’d love it and become addicted. Tiger’s dad died yesterday. You know who Tiger is by his first name even if you’ve never followed golf (kind of like Michael). Earl Woods loved his son. He poured himself into his son’s development. Not as a golfer so much as a person. That maybe why I like Tiger, like Mike, and not Kobe. They are people of character, of substance. Both had fathers that put it into them.

An article I read said:

Woods was proud of saying he never left his son with a babysitter, but his goal was to eventually let Tiger run his own life.

"I had pulled back, one item at a time," Woods once told the AP. "Instead of going to several tournaments, it was a couple of tournaments, then one tournament. All of a sudden, he was running everything. I stood there and watched it happen. Because that was my job — to prepare him to leave."

God give all fathers such wisdom. We want to hold on to things. Keep them as they always were. We don’t re-relate to our children as they pass through the various developmental stages and we stifle them – hold them back. They resent it and we are frustrated. We have to start with the end in mind. Help them grow and then push them out of the nest.

How Deep the Father's Love For Us

How deep the Father's love for us, how vast beyond all measure
That he should give his only son, to make a wretch his treasure
How great the pain of searing loss, the Father turned his face away
As wounds which mar the chosen one, bring many sons to glory

Behold the man upon a cross, my sin upon his shoulders
Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice call out among the scoffers
It was my sin that held him there until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life; I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything: no gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ; his death and resurrection
Why should I gain from his reward? I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart: his wounds have paid my ransom

Written by Stuart Townsend

What powerful words. We sang this at in the service tonight.

Are You Listening?

It’s funny how my Father communicates with me. I can’t count the times that when He is trying to say something I see it everywhere. Recently, I’ve been reading a book by R. T. Kendall called, The Sensitivity of the Spirit. At this cross road I’ve also had a conversation with Jack in “The 70th Week” about revelation/insight, am discussing with the Spfd Youth Leaders Network about what direction God wants for us in next year’s abstinence rally, and last Sunday my pastor spoke on “Voice of God.” What do you think He’s trying to say? “Listen up!”

So how can we hear God? He is the original “great communicator.” In the beginning He spoke. He sent angels to speak for him. He sent prophets to speak on His behalf. He directed the Holy Spirit to breathe through men in writing the Scriptures. He sent the Word, Jesus. He sent the Holy Spirit to reside in us and teach us all things. He has provided nature as a demonstration of His word (Rom 1:20). He speaks through circumstances. I get the idea that Father has something to say. The question remains, are we listening?

I believe Father is very much aware and active in our specific circumstances. I know I have seen Him orchestrate situations in my life to bring about understanding/revelation. I believe He has an opinion about what’s going on with me and if I would quiet myself and listen would reveal it to me.

I used to pray, “Show me Your will.” And then scruntch my face and grunt and sweat and doubt when all the while He was speaking. Anymore, I believe that I have to work at not hearing Him. Remember it was the wicked generation (those living at that time) that wanted a sign. Father must tire of always being questioned.

John 10 is a beautiful illustration of how Jesus works with us.

Joh 10:1 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber.
Joh 10:2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
Joh 10:3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
Joh 10:4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
Joh 10:5 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."

Joh 10:14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,

I hear His voice, and He calls me by name and leads me out.

He goes before me, and I follow Him, for I know His voice.

I will not follow a stranger… for I do not know the voice of strangers.

Heb 3:7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, "Today, if you hear his voice,
Heb 3:8 do not harden your hearts. . .

Rev 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

Rev 3:22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Am I willing to hear? The conversation with Jack has provoked this thought in me. In pride, I can rest on my laurels and be a lazy thinker, retreating to the status quo, or I can be open to what Father is trying to say. Kendall says, “I have learned that it is very hard to hear from God when we are not truly open to what He may say.” It matters not the outcome except that I am listening. Jesus made Himself of no reputation. His only agenda was pleasing the Father and doing His will. When I make this my agenda, I believe that I hear the Father more clearly.