Let Go of the Button (Consecrate18 #15)

Job 33:14 For God speaketh once, Yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not.

Growing up we used to play with 2 way radios, or “walkie-talkies” as we called them.  I would always get those play sets and then run outside to see if my dad or mom could hear me and vice versa.  It was lots of fun.  The only negative was that, usually, my parents and sisters grew tired of playing with them far before I did.  Thus, my fun was often short lived.

As I grew older I encountered these types of devices again.  We used them for hunting, and on a few jobs we used 2-way radios.  Most people are familiar with them.

However, as I have discovered, most people know what they are, but many do not know how to actually operate the radios.  Thus, new users usually end up talking over each other, or cutting one another off, because they have not been accustomed to communicating with such a device.

One of the things I have seen multiple new users do is forget to release the talk button when they are done speaking.  When this happens, they continue to transmit, but no one else can respond, because all the radios on that channel are picking up this transmission.  This creates an “open mic” situation, in which there can be no response to what they just said.

Does this not remind you of some of our prayer habits.  Sometimes, we talk to God, but never give Him an opportunity to respond.  We have been trained to think that prayer is about us talking to God.  We enter our prayer time, vent about our frustrations and fears, and then move on with our day.  Our communication with God is so often extremely one sided.

I wonder how many times we think God has not answered us, when in reality we never took the time to rest in His presence and listen to what He was speaking.  I often ask people if they have tried adding silence to their prayer time.  We talk, rant, complain, beg, beseech, moan, and request.  Do we ever listen?

Today, let go of the button.

Refuse to reduce your prayer life to a one way communication.  Make an effort to hear what God is speaking.

God is speaking, are you listening?