Speak Up.

This morning, I found myself in a conversation with a friend about our need to listen more in prayer. As we talked we got on the recent trend of silent retreats where you go away for days without talking…just undisturbed time to listen. Now don’t get me wrong, there’s no doubt that we could all use more time just listening…especially to God. But think about this, Jesus never mentions a lack of listening as our biggest issue when it comes to prayer. In fact, just the opposite. Jesus was very clear that in reality our biggest issue is simply not speaking up. As I mentioned last weekend God longs not for more politeness in our prayers, but more boldness (Matt. 7:7-8). A boldness that grows as our relationship with Him grows. The best illustration I can give for this is the relationship with my wife. When I first met my wife a bold request was to hang out over coffee. As the relationship grew the boldness of the requests grew as well, to the point where I asked her to marry me. See I believe God longs for us to ask big, knowing that the boldness it requires comes out of a deepening relationship with Him. If anything, we need less to be quiet about the struggles, needs, and concerns of life and to start speaking up more. Speaking up to our heavenly Father who longs to hear from us, and promises to respond beyond what we could ever ask for (Eph. 3:20). See in speaking up I speak out against this idea that I can get through life’s stuff on my own. In speaking up I speak out against my doubts, and fears. See my biggest struggle in the rush of life is not staying quiet, it’s easy for me to do that, but rather it’s taking time to go before God and speak up that I might have the strength and courage to speak out.