Getting Started This Week | How Do I Hear From God | Week 2
August 10 - August 15, 2026
Prayer
Focus of the Week:
God speaks to us. He is intimately aware of every aspect of our lives. Not only does He speak through Scripture, but also directly to us through prayer.
God speaks to us. He is intimately aware of every aspect of our lives. Not only does He speak through Scripture, but also directly to us through prayer.
Getting Ready For The Week
This week will look like last week for those that were with us. Instead of written content each day to read in addition to scripture, we are diving deep on day one giving scripture for each following day. This lets us read and hear more from God's word directly and reflect and journal on His words.
Notes on the practices:
Journaling and reflection both help to slow down and be mindful of what is being read. Both are similar practices; feel free to journal reflection questions or reflect on journalling questions. These are here to be a guide, not a task. Let the Holy Spirit lead you to whatever He may want to highlight for you specifically.
Getting Started:
Talking about hearing from God, it's easy for something like prayer to feel like checking a box - an obligatory moment in our day. We can be going through the motions, engaging in it when we wake up, before we eat, or right before we go to sleep. And this can feel like a sharp contrast when we hear stories about the life-changing "power of prayer," and it can feel as though there is a disconnect between our lived reality and what God intends for us.
Consider this - the prayers we hear that have unexplainable power are actually more in kind with those we find in Scripture. Of God directly interacting and speaking with those who follow Him. But how do we do this in practice? How do we move from just the obligatory prayers at bedtime to the powerful, Spirit-filled, direct line to Jesus type of prayers?
Cultivating this takes time and practice; it does not happen overnight. Just like you're not best friends with someone in the first five minutes of meeting them. Orienting your mind to be still and quiet is part of self-control, which Paul speaks to in his letters to the early Christians, and it is a large part of hearing from God in prayer. In a world that is constantly jumping from one task to the next, sitting with one singular thought can be challenging.
Additionally, there is a tool developed by followers of Christ in the early days of the Church. It is a form of slowly, intentionally reading and praying through the Scriptures. This practice is called Lectio Divina. This is made up of four parts: you Read Scripture, Reflect on what you've read, Respond in prayer, and Rest in who God is.
As we head into each day this week and read about direct interactions with God in prayer, let us slow down and spend time listening for God to speak to us, too.
Let this be the starting point:
Ask God to speak in times of prayer, and then listen and watch for how He responds.
Notes on the practices:
Journaling and reflection both help to slow down and be mindful of what is being read. Both are similar practices; feel free to journal reflection questions or reflect on journalling questions. These are here to be a guide, not a task. Let the Holy Spirit lead you to whatever He may want to highlight for you specifically.
Getting Started:
Talking about hearing from God, it's easy for something like prayer to feel like checking a box - an obligatory moment in our day. We can be going through the motions, engaging in it when we wake up, before we eat, or right before we go to sleep. And this can feel like a sharp contrast when we hear stories about the life-changing "power of prayer," and it can feel as though there is a disconnect between our lived reality and what God intends for us.
Consider this - the prayers we hear that have unexplainable power are actually more in kind with those we find in Scripture. Of God directly interacting and speaking with those who follow Him. But how do we do this in practice? How do we move from just the obligatory prayers at bedtime to the powerful, Spirit-filled, direct line to Jesus type of prayers?
Cultivating this takes time and practice; it does not happen overnight. Just like you're not best friends with someone in the first five minutes of meeting them. Orienting your mind to be still and quiet is part of self-control, which Paul speaks to in his letters to the early Christians, and it is a large part of hearing from God in prayer. In a world that is constantly jumping from one task to the next, sitting with one singular thought can be challenging.
Additionally, there is a tool developed by followers of Christ in the early days of the Church. It is a form of slowly, intentionally reading and praying through the Scriptures. This practice is called Lectio Divina. This is made up of four parts: you Read Scripture, Reflect on what you've read, Respond in prayer, and Rest in who God is.
As we head into each day this week and read about direct interactions with God in prayer, let us slow down and spend time listening for God to speak to us, too.
Let this be the starting point:
Ask God to speak in times of prayer, and then listen and watch for how He responds.
Scriptures For The Week
Scripture helps us hear God and live out His truth. This week we will focus on Scripture that displays God speaking through prayer.
- Tuesday | A Calling Prayer - 1 Samuel 3:1-14
- Wednesday | Directing Prayer - Acts 9:10-16
- Thursday | Answered Prayer - Luke 1:11-13
- Friday | Instructing Prayer - Acts 10:9-20
- Saturday | A Command to Pray - 2 Chronicles 7:12-14
Weekly Memory Verse
Read it once a day. Let it shape how you think and pray this week.
"Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known."
Jeremiah 33:3 ESV
Jeremiah 33:3 ESV
Reflection
Reflection helps us pause, listen, and let God speak to our hearts.
- Am I just checking off an item on my to-do list or really spending time with God in prayer and listening for His direction?
- How do I expect God to speak?
- Am I willing to forgo time on something else in my life to spend time with God in prayer?
Ready To Begin?
You don’t have to have everything figured out.
Just take the next step.
Just take the next step.
Engage Scripture Daily, Come Back Next Week
Spend time each day this week reading and rereading the passage of Scripture. Spend time in prayer as you reflect and journal aspects that stood out to you as God speaks directly to us through prayer. Join us next week as we explore how we hear from God through the Holy Spirit.
Lectio Divina Resources
If you are wanting more information on the practice of Lectio Divina, we have compiled the following resources.