Waiting: The “How-To’s” of Hearing the Lord’s Voice

Waiting: The “How-To’s” of Hearing the Lord’s Voice

For our purposes, waiting on the Lord is the process by which our soul and body are presented before the Lord in stillness by faith to provide Him the opportunity to do His work without our conscious interference.

Decide on a specific amount of time.

As a starting point, set as a goal to practice learning to wait 20 minutes 5 times a week and 2 hours twice a week. The blocks of time can be broken up, though it’s good to set the goal to be able to eventually spend a good chunk of time waiting on the Lord. The ultimate goal will be to maintain a constant, perpetual, restful waiting on the Lord, while still engaged in normal everyday activities. We want to be occupied with living, but not pre-occupied.

Set a separate time apart from study, prayer or healing.

This time is dedicated to the purpose of making yourself available to the Lord for His purposes. Your focus will be on being still before Him, not hearing, learning or receiving from Him, but simply being present with Him. So distinguish this time from other times you may have set with Him for other purposes.

Time of day.

Your personal schedule will contribute to your decisions regarding when to spend time waiting on the Lord. Ask the Lord when the best time for you is; start with something that makes sense to you, then give the Lord an opportunity to revise to fit His requirements.

Location.

Pick a place that is comfortable yet not conducive to falling asleep. You’ll also want to make sure there are not a lot of distractions, whether visual, mental or audible. You may want to set up a particular location for this purpose; this may contribute to your ability to get into a mindset that is attentive to the Lord. Once you develop the habit of waiting, you will expand that ability to wait into any situation that the Lord calls you to.