Through a gift from a dear friend, I recently acquired a DVD of the movie War Room. As I watched it with some of my family members one evening, tears streaming down my cheeks at times (okay…many times), I was reminded of the importance of acknowledging my need for—and my sole reliance upon—God. And trust me, coming from a woman who, as a caregiver and as someone with no spouse in her house, often has to be “independent” and a “take-charge” kind o’ gal, that’s so much easier said than done.

But on December 30, 2015, only a few short weeks ago, I said, “No more. I’m done trying to plan how I think things should go; I’m done foolishly trying to remove the specks from others’ eyes while I’m walking around with a redwood tree in my own (Matthew 7:5); I’m done giving God a list of selfish demands and failing to see that He has abundance ready for me along the path He wants me to follow; I’m done blaming my spiritual failures on the perceived failures of others; I’m done with thinking that in even some small way, I’m in charge. Done!”

And in that very moment, it was as if God said, “What took you so long? Let’s get started on this process of renewal!” No, not everything has been peachy keen since then. No, I’ve not suddenly been transformed into a woman who wholeheartedly makes right choices. But God is at work. And what He does is good…sometimes painful…but always good.

When speaking with one of my sisters about how God was giving me new opportunities to mentor others in their walk of faith, I spoke of this renewed knowledge of the power of prayer and how I was trying to pass that along. In her reply, she in turn mentored me as she shared an important reminder through this illustration [I have presented the true story as if in her words, for the sake of condensing our conversation that day]:

“When I was in England, touring the palace, we were reminded of an important element of protocol. When someone receives an audience with the queen, he or she doesn’t walk in, greet the queen, and begin stating his or her request or offering comments. The queen speaks first. The person who is privileged to be there must begin by listening. The queen must always speak first.”

So often I begin my God-and-I-Time with my prayer list. I enter my personal “War Room” (i.e., place of prayer) with sincere and appropriate petitions on behalf of myself and others. But I forget that I must first listen. The King of kings has given me His own unchanging words of truth, guidance, teaching, admonition, and love, forever recorded in the Bible. He wants me to read them, to know them, to live them…to listen.

It seems that the proper order should be: He speaks, I listen, and in prayer, I respond.

Even the petitions He tells me to bring to Him are offered in response to my first listening to and believing His promises to hear and to answer. So yes, I will continue my journey of fighting my battles in prayer, of focusing on intentionality in my prayers. But more importantly, I will sit at the feet of Jesus and learn…and listen.

I will begin with obedience to His command: “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10, NIV).

Because the King speaks first.

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Did you know that you can literally listen to God’s Word on BibleGateway.com?
Simply click on the links to the Bible verses above (or search for your favorite chapters and passages) and select the “audio” icon in the box that appears.