THE DAILY ENCOURAGER TOPIC: The Sound Your Soul Needs to Hear Three years ago more than fifty believers from Park Cities Baptist Church and other congregations gathered for a "silent retreat." A silent retreat is very simply a time set aside to listen to God. From 9:00 in the morning until 2:00 in the afternoon, we kept silent before God. We considered the Scriptures, meditated, and sat still before God. In this discipline, we obeyed the clear mandate of Scripture: "the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him" (Habakkuk 2:20); "Be silent before the Sovereign Lord, for the day of the Lord is near" (Zephaniah 1:7); "Be still before the Lord, all mankind, because he has roused himself from his holy dwelling" (Zechariah 2:13); there is "a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak" (Ecclesiastes 3:7). To spend an hour or a day in silence before the Father, begin by confessing your need of His presence and mercy. Ask His Spirit to cleanse you from anything which would keep you from listening to His voice. Perhaps this prayer, given to us at the retreat, will help you as it helped me: "Most merciful God, I confess that I have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what I have done, and by what I have left undone. I have not loved you with my whole heart; I have not loved my neighbors as myself. I am truly sorry and I humbly repent. Have mercy on me and forgive me; that I may delight in Your will, and walk in Your ways, to the glory of Your Holy Name. In Jesus name, Amen." Why not make some time today to allow the Spirit to cleanse your soul before the Father? Pray these words in sincerity to Him. Claim His mercy and His grace. Ask His Spirit to speak to your soul. And He will. Dr. James C. Denison
Posted on: Tue, 01 Oct 2013 23:11:57 +0000
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