When I Need to Hear from God

The Story Behind Soul Weathered: Learning to Walk with God Through the Fires of Life

I've been thinking a lot lately about my prayer life and what I really want people to understand when they pick up my book, Soul Weathered: Devotions Forged in the Fire of Real Life.

I've done quite a few interviews since the book was released. And sometimes, after those conversations, I wonder whether I've adequately communicated what this book is really about.

Because Soul Weathered isn't simply a collection of devotional thoughts or lessons I've learned about the Christian life.

It's a collection of moments when my life intersected with God.

Every devotion was drawn from more than three decades of personal journals. Some entries are reflections. Some are cries to God. Others are my responses to what I believe He was saying to me.

And sometimes they're simply moments when God interrupted my life with His presence.

They're honest, sometimes raw glimpses into a man's ongoing relationship with God.

That man happens to be me.

And I want you to know that the relationship reflected in those pages is available to you, too.

When Life Becomes More Than I Can Handle

Even this morning, as I'm writing, there are things weighing heavily on my heart.

There are responsibilities involving ministry and work. There are concerns about my children, my wife, and people I'm walking alongside, discipling, counseling, and ministering to.

And then there are my own personal struggles.

Some of these situations are serious. Some are complicated. Some involve people I deeply love.

And sometimes they come at me so quickly that I begin to feel overwhelmed.

My natural response is to start thinking:

I've got to fix this.

I've got to do something.

I've got to figure this out.

I've got to find an answer.

But the truth is, I don't always have the wisdom, understanding, strength, or even the ability to know what to do.

And that's when I recognize something I've learned over many years of walking with God.

I desperately need to hear from Him.

I need His presence.

I need His comfort.

I need the counsel and guidance of the Holy Spirit.

And I don't mean that as some nice spiritual sentiment.

I mean I genuinely cannot live the life God has called me to live without Him.

I Want More Than Answers

When I'm facing something I don't understand, one of the first places I turn is God's Word.

What has He already said?

What has He taught us about living?

How does Scripture address conflict, fear, sin, worry, suffering, relationships, and the difficult decisions we face?

Most of the answers I'm searching for begin there.

God has already revealed so much of His heart, His character, and His wisdom through Scripture.

But there's something else I've discovered.

I don't simply want to know what God has said. I want to know Him.

I want to talk with Him.

I want to experience His presence.

I want to hear His voice.

Sometimes my questions are very personal.

Father, how do I respond to this person?

What are You doing in this situation?

How should I pray?

What do You want me to understand?

And then I need to stop long enough to listen.

Pray Life Into the Situation

Just yesterday, I called someone who had received news that he might be facing a serious cancer diagnosis.

I wanted to pray with him.

But before I called, I found myself asking God how I should pray.

Certainly, I could pray for healing, wisdom for the doctors, and peace for his family.

Those are all good things to pray.

But I wanted to seek God's heart about this particular situation.

I didn't want to simply offer a familiar prayer without considering what God might be inviting me to pray.

And as I was praying and thinking, I sensed something very simple.

Pray life into the situation.

Life.

Into the doctor's appointments.

Into the treatments.

Into the conversations.

Into the family.

Into every part of what might lie ahead.

I didn't know exactly what that meant or what the outcome would be.

But I knew what I believed God was prompting me to pray.

Jesus said:

"I am the way, the truth, and the life." — John 14:6

And as I prayed, I began asking for the life of Christ to be present in every part of this man's circumstances.

His peace.

His wisdom.

His healing.

His strength.

His presence.

I was praying Jesus into the situation.

I don't know everything God will do through those prayers.

But I believe He met me in that moment and gave me something to pray that I hadn't considered before.

That's what I mean when I talk about interacting with God.

Sometimes I know what to pray because of Scripture, experience, and wisdom.

Other times, I need to stop and ask.

Lord, how do I pray about this?

Sometimes All I Can Say Is Jesus

In Soul Weathered, I often write about the wilderness places of life.

Those seasons when circumstances become dark.

When we're overwhelmed.

When we suffer loss.

When fear, anxiety, or uncertainty seem to consume us.

I've been in those places.

I've experienced moments when I was so overwhelmed that I hardly knew how to pray.

Sometimes all I could do was call out His name.

Jesus.

That's all I had.

And sometimes that's enough to begin turning my heart toward Him.

Romans 8:26 reminds us:

"We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans."

What a remarkable promise.

Even when I don't know how to pray, God's Spirit is present.

He hasn't left me to figure everything out on my own.

Now, I don't want anyone to think I've mastered this.

I haven't.

There are plenty of times when I get caught up trying to handle things myself.

I react before I pray.

I worry before I listen.

I attempt to fix something before asking God what He's doing.

But I'm learning.

And I keep coming back.

Walking With God Doesn't Mean We Stop Growing

I don't believe God wants us to remain helpless or spiritually immature.

He grows us.

He teaches us.

He develops wisdom and character within us.

He entrusts us with responsibility.

Think about Adam in the garden.

God gave Adam the responsibility of naming the animals.

He didn't dictate every name. He entrusted Adam with meaningful work.

I love that picture.

God walking with man, giving him responsibility, and inviting him to participate in what He was doing.

And I believe God continues to work in our lives that way.

He matures us.

He teaches us to make decisions.

He develops our ability to recognize truth and exercise wisdom.

But none of that means we eventually outgrow our need for Him.

In fact, the longer I walk with God, the more I recognize how desperately I need His presence.

Not simply because I need Him to tell me what to do.

But because I want to live my life with Him.

The Story Behind Every Page of Soul Weathered

This is what I hope people understand when they read Soul Weathered.

They're not reading the thoughts of a man who has figured out the Christian life.

They're reading moments from my journey with God.

Moments when I've questioned Him.

Moments when I've cried out to Him.

Moments when I've been afraid, confused, angry, or uncertain.

Moments when I've recognized something about His heart that I hadn't understood before.

And moments when He interrupted my life with something I wasn't even looking for.

These are intersections of my life with God.

And over the years, I've written them down.

Sometimes I understood what God was showing me immediately.

Other times, I returned to those journal entries months or even years later and began to recognize something I hadn't understood at the time.

That's one of the beautiful things about journaling.

It gives us an opportunity to remember.

To reflect.

To recognize God's faithfulness.

And to see how He has been working in our lives, even when we didn't understand what He was doing.

Learning to Recognize His Voice

Jesus said:

"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me." — John 10:27

I believe one of the most important things we can develop in our relationship with God is the practice of listening.

Talk with Him about what's happening in your life.

Ask Him questions.

Bring Him your fears.

Bring Him your frustrations.

Bring Him the situations you don't know how to handle.

Open His Word.

And take time to listen.

When you believe God is showing you something, write it down.

Reflect on it.

Pray about it.

And when appropriate, share it with someone else.

Talk about it with your wife.

Talk about it with your children.

Talk about it with the men you're walking alongside.

But always remember that what we believe we're hearing must be tested against Scripture.

Not every thought that enters our minds comes from God.

Our flesh has its own desires, fears, and reactions.

And I've discovered that my first instinct is often quite different from what the Holy Spirit is inviting me to do.

We need discernment.

We need wisdom.

We need God's Word.

And we need the humility to recognize that we can misunderstand what we believe God is saying.

But don't let the fear of getting something wrong keep you from seeking Him.

Don't Miss the Invitation

I don't know what you're facing today.

Maybe it's something in your marriage.

Maybe you're worried about one of your children.

Maybe you're facing an illness.

Maybe you're dealing with a broken relationship.

Maybe you're struggling with something that no one else even knows about.

Or perhaps you're simply overwhelmed by the responsibilities and demands of everyday life.

Whatever it is, I want to encourage you to bring it before God.

Not simply because you need an answer.

Not simply because you need a solution.

But because you need Him.

I've discovered that sometimes the greatest thing God gives me in prayer isn't the answer I was looking for.

It's Himself.

His presence.

His comfort.

His wisdom.

His peace.

And sometimes a clarity I didn't have before.

That's what fills the pages of Soul Weathered.

Not the writings of a man who has mastered walking with God.

But the journal entries of a man who continues to discover that God is present, that He speaks through His Word and by His Spirit, and that He desires to be involved in every part of the life He's given us.

And that's the invitation I hope you'll discover as you read the book.

You can walk with Him, too.

You can learn to recognize His voice.

You can experience His presence in the ordinary moments and the wilderness seasons of life.

So call on Him.

Open His Word.

Take time to listen.

Write down what you're discovering.

And keep walking with Him.

Because sometimes what we need most isn't simply an answer from God.

What we need most is God Himself.

Soul Weathered: Devotions Forged in the Fire of Real Life is a 52-week devotional drawn from more than three decades of personal journals and experiences walking with God. Each devotion invites readers to reflect on their own journey and discover God's presence in the fires and wilderness seasons of life.

Learn more about Soul Weathered: www.soulweathered.com