Learning to Hear God with Your Hands

One afternoon, a number of years ago, while walking across a college campus, I prayed,

"God, I want to hear your voice." It seemed like a simple enough prayer to pray and as far as I knew, I was sincere in my asking.

However, the response I immediately heard back from God surprised me. No sooner had I prayed these words, than I heard the phrase,

"No you don't..."

"Yes, I really do." I responded.

"No, you don't..." God replied once more.

At this point, I thought it wise to stop arguing with God and begin inquiring what He meant by this.

I sensed the following dialogue begin to transpire.

"When the students on this campus go to class, what do they do?"

This was simple, I thought, "Take notes."

"Why?"

"Well, for starters, they're going to be tested on what is being presented by the instructor. Secondly, assuming that they are taking the class for some intrinsic reason greater than academic calisthenics of working their way through the hoops of academia, I imagine they are interested in the subjects at hand and esteem the instructor to be an expert in their field, thus what they have to say is of great value to them and their future."

To which God simply responded, "If students value what these professors say with such note taking diligence, how much more esteemed should My words of instruction be...?"

Out of this conversation, I sensed God saying to me, that He would begin to teach me to hear His voice. It would be with my hands writing, that I would begin to discern His voice more clearly. If I truly treasured what He had to say, I would be diligent in writing it down.

That day, I went out and purchased a journal and began the journey of praying, dialoguing and processing what God was saying and doing in my life. It has been a remarkable journey...

This is what God said to Habakkuk,

"I will stand at my watchand station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint.

Then the Lord replied: “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tabletsso that a herald may run with it."
(Habbakuk 2:1-2)