expect an answer...

another prerequisite in asking for advice or guidance from GOD is you must believe HE wants to answer.

james 1.5-6 (ms), if you don't know what you're doing, pray to the FATHER. HE loves to help. you'll get HIS help, and won't be condescended to when you ask for it. ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought.

GOD is more willing to talk to you than you are willing to talk to HIM.

when you expect answers to your prayers then you really pray and when you really pray then you really get answers.

now we are going to take some time and look at the old testament book of habakkuk and in this book we are going to find some practical things he did to tune into GOD.

look with me at what he said in habakkuk 2.1-2 (tev), i will climb my watchtower and wait and see what the LORD will tell me to say and what answer HE will give to my complaint. the LORD gave me this answer: ''write down clearly on tablets what I reveal to you, so that it can be read at a glance."

the first thing is you need to withdraw or get alone in a quiet place. i will climb my watchtower.

that is an hebrew expression that means, i'm going to get alone, get off by myself, eliminate external distractions so i can hear GOD speak. find a quiet place alone.

in today's world that can be difficult at times, especially those of you who are mothers of preschoolers.

i read about susanna wesley who was the mother of 18 children. two of her sons, charles and john, shaped england in their day. charles wrote several hundred songs and hymns which churches still sing today and john was the founder of the methodist denomination. both men had a profound effect.

now with 18 kids, how did susanna wesley ever find a quiet place to pray? this was her solution. every afternoon she would sit in her living room and throw her apron up over her head. the children knew that when mother was in her rocking chair with her apron up over her head she was not to be disturbed. where there is a will, there is a way!

find a place where you can be quiet and get alone with GOD and listen.

just a thought from the front porch…