Meditation

Read Psalm 25:1-7

We are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.—Ephesians 2:10 (NIV)

I remember sitting in church as a child and wondering if I would ever hear God’s voice. I couldn’t recall a time when I knew God was talking to me. As the years passed, I stopped listening, and I didn’t talk to God much.

Then in my twenties as a mom of two, I started praying more often. I talked to God every night at bedtime and throughout each day, asking for patience and guidance. Soon I started hearing God’s replies. I noticed that the more I talked to God, the more I sensed God talking to me—sometimes by showing me things God wanted me to do.

I heard God urging me to take a cake to a church lunch or to drop off a plate of goodies for a grieving loved one. I recognized that God was urging me to use my gifts to do God’s work. After spending so many years thinking that I would never hear God’s voice, hearing God in these ways encouraged me and strengthened my relationship with God. I began to talk to God more—thanking God for small blessings and asking for strength, patience, or forgiveness when I fell short of the mom, wife, and Christian that I desire to be.

Prayer: Dear God, help us to hear you, to do your work, and to talk to you more each day. Amen.

Thought for the day: Today I will talk to God as I go about my daily tasks.

—Megan Vollmer, Wisconsin