Speak O Lord

As followers of Christ, we speak to God in prayer. But do we ever stop to listen? 

The very first verses in the Bible reveal that everything began with God speaking. “And God said” echoes throughout Genesis 1 with the account of God speaking the world into creation. Throughout the rest of the Bible, God’s voice resounds in every line, for as 2 Timothy 3:16 declares, “All Scripture is breathed out by God.” God continues to speak today through his Word and through his Spirit, for as Jesus promised us, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come (John 16:13).” 

God has spoken. He has given us his Word. He continues to speak. But again we must ask ourselves - Do we stop to listen? 

In the book of Isaiah, we are presented with a story of many people performing acts in the name of God. Perhaps we too find ourselves busy with work done for the Lord. We seek to serve others, to worship God in prayer and song, to grow to be more like Christ. And while these endeavors can be good and glorifying to God, it is vital to examine the source from which they stem. In response to those busy at work for him, God says in Isaiah 66:2, “But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.” 

Before we move forward in action, God desires us for us to stop and bow before him in humility. Before we speak, God desires for us to tremble at his word. The life of faith resides on the foundation of a heart that fears God and seeks his Word. 

God’s Word is the source of power in our lives. God’s Word fulfills God’s purposes in us. It transforms us to be a light for him. It opens our eyes to God’s character, promises, and plan. And yet, we are faced with the reality that we cannot even hear or receive God’s Word apart from the work of God’s Holy Spirit. And so, we approach God in humility with faith, and we ask him not only to speak but to do the work of planting his Word in our hearts:

Speak, O Lord, as we come to You

To receive the food of Your holy Word

Take Your truth, plant it deep in us

Shape and fashion us in Your likeness

In his book on the work of the Holy Spirit, the South African pastor Andrew Murray writes that a great danger of the Christian life is “seeking to know the truth of God in His Word without waiting on the Spirit of truth.” He continues, “Most earnest efforts to abide in Christ, to walk like Christ, fail when we depend more on the wisdom of this world than on the power of God.” As we stop to listen and receive the Word of God, the first step must be giving up our power to understand God’s Word without the divine leading of the Holy Spirit. Asking God to speak and work, we then wait in faith, and with great expectation our hearts declare:

And by grace, we'll stand on Your promises

And by faith, we'll walk as You walk with us

Speak, O Lord, 'til Your church is built

And the earth is filled with Your glory