{"id":2898,"date":"2017-02-07T16:24:30","date_gmt":"2017-02-07T16:24:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/?p=2898"},"modified":"2021-02-22T15:58:44","modified_gmt":"2021-02-22T21:58:44","slug":"listening-for-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/2017\/02\/07\/listening-for-love\/","title":{"rendered":"Listening for Love"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>For a parent, life moves at high speed. Time is of the essence. We must work, educate, clean, cook, plan get-togethers, stay fit, volunteer &#8230; the list goes on. Modeling to our children how to be productive with time is important. But just as importantly, we must slow down and show them how to build relationships with people and, most of all, with God.<\/p>\n<p>When my inquisitive daughter was four and a half years old, she asked me, \u201cMommy, why won&#8217;t God talk to me? I talk to Him, but I don\u2019t hear Him talk to me.\u201d As a parent, her words were a blow to my heart. It wasn\u2019t because I felt God was deliberately not speaking to my little girl, but because I knew her little heart couldn\u2019t comprehend why someone she loves wasn\u2019t speaking to her.<\/p>\n<p>I explained that at times we can hear God speak when we read the Bible, sing songs, or when we pray. I mentioned that when she lies down at night, it\u2019s a perfect opportunity to be still and tell God that she\u2019s listening. God wants time with us and we have to open our ears to hear His voice.<\/p>\n<p>It was at this point that I wanted to plead with God to say something to her, but I knew this was a growth opportunity in her spiritual journey.<strong> She had to find Him for herself in order for authentic relationship to grow.<\/strong> <strong>My faith journey could only take her so far.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A few weeks after that conversation, as my husband and I were tucking her into bed, she told me that God had spoken to her. My heart was overjoyed. She proudly said, \u201cMommy, I heard God and he said, \u2018Brooklyn, I love you so much.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She had taken the time to listen to God, and to wait for Him to speak to her. She was not only learning to hear God, but she was also learning how to demonstrate love by waiting.<\/p>\n<p>We can teach our children, no matter their age, to worship God by listening for His voice.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Read John 10:27. Talk to your kids about the fact that God knows them and His Word states they can hear Him speaking. Here are some different ways for them to plug into what God is saying:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>As you read Scripture with your children, ask what stands out to them. God speaks to us through His Word.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Play worship songs in the car. Ask your kids to listen to the words and think about what truths God might be impressing on them through the music.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>As they play outside, teach them to close their eyes and be still. He can speak when they stop and take in His creation.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Encourage your children to pay attention to what trustworthy people around them speak over their lives. God often uses other Christians to speak His truth to us.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>During bedtime prayers, remind your children that prayer can be a two-way conversation. As they are quiet, they can listen for God to talk back.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center\">Check out articles like this and more in <a href=\"https:\/\/iphc.org\/homefront\">HomeFront Magazine!<\/a><\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-2650 size-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/10\/Lindsey-e1477066861834-150x150.jpg\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/>Lindsey currently serves as a Creative Specialist for the Discipleship Ministries Team. \u00a0She has served as a Community Outreach Pastor, Kids Pastor, and Media Pastor across Oklahoma and Texas. Lindsey and her husband, Jared, have a daughter, Brooklyn, and a son, Jack. They love to travel, try new foods, cheer on the Texas Rangers, and cuddle with their dog, Frisco.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"excerpt","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":2899,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,20,4,27,26,37,3],"tags":[48],"class_list":{"0":"post-2898","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boys-ministries","8":"category-childrens-ministries","9":"category-discipleship-ministries","10":"category-girls-ministries-childrens-ministries","11":"category-royal-rangers","12":"category-womens-ministries","13":"category-youth-ministries","14":"tag-prayer","15":"entry"},"title_es":"Escuchando para el amor","content_es":"Para un padre, la vida se mueve a gran velocidad. El tiempo es la esencia. Hay que trabajar, educar, limpiar, cocinar, plan de encuentros, mantenerse en forma, voluntario ... y la lista contin\u00faa. Modelar a nuestros hijos c\u00f3mo ser productivo con el tiempo es importante. Pero igual de importante, hay que reducir la velocidad y mostrarles c\u00f3mo construir relaciones con la gente y, sobre todo, con Dios. Cuando mi hija era inquisitiva cuatro a\u00f1os y medio de edad, ella me pregunt\u00f3: \"Mami, \u00bfpor qu\u00e9 no Dios hablar conmigo? Puedo hablar con \u00e9l, pero no me entero que me hable. \"Como padre, sus palabras eran un golpe en mi coraz\u00f3n. No fue porque sent\u00ed que Dios deliberadamente no estaba hablando a mi ni\u00f1a, sino porque sab\u00eda que su peque\u00f1o coraz\u00f3n no pod\u00eda comprender por qu\u00e9 alguien que ama no estaba hablando con ella. Le expliqu\u00e9 que a veces podemos o\u00edr hablar a Dios cuando leemos la Biblia, cantar canciones, o cuando oramos. He mencionado que cuando se acuesta por la noche, es una oportunidad perfecta para estar en silencio y decirle a Dios que ella est\u00e1 escuchando. Dios quiere tiempo con nosotros y tenemos que abrir nuestros o\u00eddos para o\u00edr su voz. Fue en este punto que quer\u00eda suplicar a Dios para decirle algo, pero yo sab\u00eda que esto era una oportunidad de crecimiento en su viaje espiritual. Ten\u00eda que encontrarlo por s\u00ed misma con el fin de aut\u00e9ntica relaci\u00f3n crezca. Mi camino de fe s\u00f3lo pod\u00eda llevarla hasta el momento. Unas pocas semanas despu\u00e9s de esa conversaci\u00f3n, ya que mi marido y yo la est\u00e1bamos metiendo en la cama, ella me dijo que Dios hab\u00eda hablado con ella. Mi coraz\u00f3n se llen\u00f3 de alegr\u00eda. Con orgullo, dijo: \"Mami, escuch\u00f3 a Dios y dijo: 'Brooklyn, te amo tanto.\" \"Ella hab\u00eda tomado el tiempo para escuchar a Dios, y esperar de \u00e9l para hablar con ella. Ella no s\u00f3lo estaba aprendiendo a escuchar a Dios, sino que tambi\u00e9n estaba aprendiendo c\u00f3mo demostrar amor por la espera. Podemos ense\u00f1ar a nuestros hijos, sin importar su edad, para adorar a Dios por la escucha de su voz. Lea Juan 10:27. Hable con sus hijos sobre el hecho de que Dios los conoce y Su Palabra declara que puedan escuchar lo que habla. Aqu\u00ed hay algunas maneras diferentes para que ellos se conectan a lo que Dios est\u00e1 diciendo: Al leer la Escritura con sus hijos, pregunte lo que les llame la atenci\u00f3n. Dios nos habla a trav\u00e9s de Su Palabra. Reproducir canciones de adoraci\u00f3n en el coche. Pregunte a sus hijos a escuchar las palabras y pensar en lo verdades que Dios podr\u00eda estar imprimiendo en ellos a trav\u00e9s de la m\u00fasica. A medida que juegan afuera, ense\u00f1ar que cierren los ojos y que permanezca. \u00c9l puede hablar cuando se detienen y llevan en su creaci\u00f3n. Anime a sus hijos a prestar atenci\u00f3n a lo que la gente de confianza alrededor de ellos hablan sobre sus vidas. Dios usa a menudo otros cristianos para hablar su verdad a nosotros. Durante las oraciones antes de dormir, recuerde a sus hijos que la oraci\u00f3n puede ser una conversaci\u00f3n de dos v\u00edas. Ya que son silenciosos, pueden escuchar a Dios para hablar de nuevo.\r\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center\">Echa un vistazo a los art\u00edculos como esto y m\u00e1s en <a href=\"https:\/\/iphc.org\/homefront\">HomeFront Magazine!<\/a><\/h3>\r\n<em><img class=\"alignleft wp-image-2650 size-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/10\/Lindsey-e1477066861834-150x150.jpg\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/> Lindsey actualmente se desempe\u00f1a como Especialista creativo para los Ministerios Equipo de Discipulado. Ella ha servido como Pastor de Extensi\u00f3n de la Comunidad, el pastor de los ni\u00f1os y los medios de comunicaci\u00f3n Pastor trav\u00e9s de Oklahoma y Texas. Lindsey y su esposo, Jared, tienen una hija, Brooklyn, y un hijo, Jack. Les encanta viajar, probar nuevos alimentos, animar a los Rangers de Texas, y abrace a su perro, Frisco.<\/em>","author_name":"","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/02\/Listening-for-Love.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4T9u2-KK","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2898"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2898\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}