Day 1: Hearing God Above the Noise
Bible passage: Job 33:14; John 10:22–30
Is Anyone Listening?
Today is Friday 1st of January 2021. Happy New Year, and welcome to Day 1 of our 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting! We begin this season of being recharged with a simple question: can you hear God?
In the book of Job, a young man called Elihu says something striking. “For God speaks again and again, though people do not recognise it.” Job 33:14 (NLT)
According to Elihu, God is not silent. The difficulty is at our end.
A God Who Speaks
He Has Not Gone Quiet
Elihu goes on to describe some of the ways God gets through to people: in dreams at night, through times of pain and through a messenger sent at the right moment (Job 33:15–23). God is more willing to speak than we are to listen.
Since then He has spoken most clearly of all through His Son (Hebrews 1:1–2). He has also given us the Scriptures and His Holy Spirit. We are not short of a word from God.
The Shepherd’s Voice
In John 10, it is winter and Jesus is walking in the Temple. A crowd gathers round Him and demands that He tell them plainly whether He is the Messiah. He answers that He has told them already. Then He says that His sheep listen to His voice, that He knows them and that they follow Him (John 10:27).
Sheep do not take a course to recognise their shepherd. They learn his voice by being near him day after day. And those who hear and follow are given a wonderful promise: nobody can snatch them out of His hand (John 10:28).
Turning Down the Noise
Why We Miss Him
Our days are full of sound. News, messages, opinions and our own anxious thoughts all compete for our attention. After a while God’s voice is not absent. It is crowded out.
This is one reason we fast. When we say no to something we normally reach for, a little space opens up, and in that space we begin to notice Him again. Psalm 34:18 says that the Lord is close to the broken-hearted. Isaiah 66:2 says that He looks with favour on those who are humble and who tremble at His word. A quiet and humble heart hears well.
Three Steps for Today
Name the noise. What fills your ears and your mind the most? Decide what you will switch off or put down for these 21 days.
Open the Bible first. God’s voice never contradicts His Word. Read today’s passage slowly and ask, “Lord, what are You saying to me?”
Be ready to do it. We hear more clearly when we have already decided to obey. Write down what you sense, and act on it.
You do not have to strain to hear a God who wants to be heard. Come close, be quiet and listen.
Prayer for Today:
Lord, thank You that You are still speaking. Forgive me for the times I have been too busy and too distracted to notice. As I begin this fast, quieten the noise around me and within me. Give me ears to hear Your voice and a heart that is quick to obey. You are my Shepherd, and I am Yours. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Keep going
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