February 15, 2022
Are you worried that your prayers will always go unheard? How do we talk to God in an honest and authentic way and how do we get answers?
Well first off, God is not going to give us a yes to stupid questions. So don’t ask Him things like, “God, please make this crazy, blaspheming thing true so I can join the club and be happy.” I say this from experience, He is not going to say okay.
But in today’s episode, we are going to be talking about the number one way to hear from God and how you can know God is listening.
Spoiler- It’s not in the heeps of blessings. It all has to do with the peace in the storm.
Listen to the Podcast
Top Resources to help you Rock The Christian Life as an Exmo
Hearing from God is just one area that you may be struggling with now after leaving the church, but you are not alone on this journey. I compiled all of my favorite apps, videos, books, music all sorts of things that have helped me on this journey and put them into a resource library for you. Click below for access to it all. So fun!
Prayer for Spiritual Strength
“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”
Ephesians
3:14-21What are we praying for?
Big question- What are you praying for? We know prayer is how we talk to God, but when you pray, be honest, what is it that you are praying for? Are you praying for things that will make your life easier? Are you praying for God to make things different, give you what you need, or things that you you you, need need need, want want want. Are your prayers about you and your benefit?
When we were LDS everything was on us. Our worthiness with God was 100% based on what we were doing for the church. We said for God, but really it was what we were doing to keep the expectations that the church set up for us and this included keeping ourselves pure, word of wisdom, our callings, and what not to uphold our end of the bargain with God. Grace only got us so far and was dependent on what we were doing.
So when we prayed, it was about us. Everything was about us.
One of the biggest prayers I ever prayed and I prayed it a lot, was asking God to tell me the church was true. I didn’t want this answered because it had anything to do with God. I wanted it answered as a yes so I could join the club, be like all my friends, make my dad happy and receive all the blessings that came with being a for-real member.
Are blessings a representation of our prayers being answered?
And on that subject, let’s talk about blessings.
Let me tell you a story about a man named Job. Poor Job. I in Job he was a man who did everything right and his life truly looked blessed. But then something happened. The devil came along and said I bet I could tempt Job and he would turn away from you, God.
And God said, “No Job is a good and faithful servant, he would never turn his love for me. Go on and test him. You will see.”
And so the devil tested Job and all of the worst things happened in his life. And everyone around him thought much like how we did when we were in the church. His fiends mocked him and told him, Job surely you really were not following God. You must deserve this from God. If you were doing all the works as God intended, you would be blessed.
It is a wild tale of Job’s friends accusing him of wickedness, Job defending himself and then questioning why God would keep him alive, and God basically saying,
“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements—surely you know!”
~ God, Job 38:4-5
And then Job realizes pretty much the most important thing any follower of God will ever understand-
It’s not about me.
This is huge. He realizes blessing, no blessings, whether you are blasted with a tornado or showered with gifts, it does not change the fact that God wants one thing from us- Our belief in Him and His will.
We must love God above all else, and anything else. Our purpose is to know God and make Him known. If we are praying for blessings and if living this blessed life means that we are doing everything right, where does God fit into this equation?
The fact is there is no equation. There is no tit for tat with God.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:8-10
It’s all about what he has done and will continue to do in our lives. What we must do is love Him, trust Him, believe in Him.
Does that mean all the blessings show up? Sometimes not. But even when things are hard when we hold tight to Him and trust Him His peace will see us through. Blessings as in a big house and cush life and no troubles are not a reflection of our prayers. Our peace is a reflection of our faith.
Can Prayers Produce Miracles?
Yes ma’am! I do believe in miracles. Getting a new fancy big house may not constitute as a miracle, but yes miracles do happen.
As Jesus said,
“He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”
Mathew 17:20
But is this miracle for your glory? so you can gloat? So you have things easy? Or is this for God’s glory? 🤔
Again, to know Him and make Him known.
How should you pray?
Before we jumped into the # 1 Way to Hear From God and How YOU Can Know God is Listening? I wanted to just go over these basic points of prayer only because I prayed for years in the church and never felt like I got an answer. A big, huge thing that all of you beautiful exmo gals question is how do I talk to and hear God? I think it is because we prayed for so long with the wrong intent. I admit it, it was all about me.
The first time I really heard God, and yes, it was like I heard Him, not audible, but it was God- I heard Him when I finally prayed saying, “God, I give it all to you. It is not about me at all anymore because I realize I will never be able to do it on my own. I need you, God. It is all your will, here. I am giving my life to you.”
So check yourself. Is this prayer about me? Or is it about God’s will?
Are feelings God’s words? Are Our Feelings Him talking to us?
I also want to briefly go into this. As members of the church feelings were always super encouraged. If we had a strong feeling (that was in line with the church) that was deemed as the holy ghost. But the bible does not say we should rely on our feelings. That is not always of God and feelings can get us into serious trouble sometimes.
Instead, I’m going to encourage something else…
The # 1 Way to Hear From God and How YOU Can Know God is Listening?
The Bible.
It is called His word for a reason!
God speaks through His word. His word, His living word is the bible.
How exactly, you ask?
It really is remarkable. Through the Bible, you will get to know God. You learn His character, how He shows up in the world around us, and His love for us. You will learn who He is and who you are because of Him. You build a relationship.
Then you pray. A simple prayer, for guidance, so you may know His will in your current circumstance. You give praise and ask for His forgiveness for all the sins you have. He already knows them and you don’t need to tell them to a bishop or priest or any intermediary. Just ask for His guidance and comfort.
Then ladies, go to the word. Go to His word. He will give you His direction, answer, and guidance. In a 2000-year-old book that has been perfectly preserved you will hear God.
It will floor you.
It is beautiful. It is a miracle and a testament to the glory of our God.
How do I know God hears me?
This has happened more times than I can count, but every time is so special.
I have a fight over faith with my husband. The next day our daily devotional takes me to 1 Peter and I decide to keep reading. Then I read…
“Wives, in the same way, submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.”
1 Peter 3:1-2
I ask God for patience and how I should handle a family member that I am struggling to have a relationship with. I open up my bible and find myself in Proverbs..
“A person’s wisdom yields patience; it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense.”
Proverbs 19:11
And probably the biggest one…
Remember all those prayers I said when I was younger and a member of the church? I prayed that God would just tell me it was true and I would know Joseph Smith was a true profit.
When I was about 17 and was praying super hard all the time, but had just about given up on God because I didn’t read the bible and had no way of God really communicating to me, I had a dream. Now I want to preface this with I do not believe dreams are trustworthy. The Bible is trustworthy, but as I said, I didn’t read the bible. I kept praying, but how was God supposed to talk to me without His word? In any case, I this dream that was super vivid. Jesus was in the fruit section at the grocery store, but when I got there to see Him, I could see where He was, but He didn’t know me. Now, I had no idea what it meant other than it freaked me out. Without the Bible, I had no idea. See how feelings could get you into all sorts of trouble?
Fast forward 20 years and for the first time, I am doing a deep dive into God’s word. Mathew and here is what I found…
A Tree and Its Fruit
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
I Never Knew You “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”
Mathew 7:15-23
That was my answer in His word. All along. He was listening. I asked crazy questions, and He was still listening. He is always patiently waiting for us to listen back in His word.
Key Take-aways
Through prayer, we are able to talk to God. No one needs to be in between us and God. No one has more authority to talk to Him than we do. Likewise, no one has the ability to get revelation from Him more than we do about our own lives. We get to build that relationship with Him. The vail was torn. Jesus is with us, always.
We get to ask Him for guidance, give Him praise and share our hearts. He speaks to us through His word. You build a relationship through this beautiful line of communication with our creator. How wonderfully lucky are we?!?
Resources
This video below of this man’s testimony will blow your socks off. Talk about talking to God! The Bible, it’s trustworthiness, dreams, it’s not about you- it’s all in there. So cool. Check it out.
Top Resources to help you Rock the Christian Life as an Exmo
I also want you to have all the best videos, articles, podcasts, communities- all sorts of cool things to help with moving forward.
The biggest thing- I want you to trust the bible and I know as an ex-Mormon this could be a struggle, so please head over and watch some of these cool videos on just how amazingly awesome and trustworthy the Bible really is.
I will continue to add to the library with things I find that will help you. Videos, articles, all the cool stuff to help you learn to pray, find truth and gain trust in the Lord.
“I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”
Philippians 4:13
Next Steps…
Find Community…
- Join the Christian Women After Religion Community
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