“For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am
fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are
Your works, and my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not
one of them.” Psalm 139:13-16 (NASB).
“Just as He chose us
in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless
before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ
to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the
glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved” Ephesians
1:4-6 (NASB).
God knew you before
you were even conceived in your mothers womb. He also had a destiny in mind for
you. Before Jeremiah was born God had set him apart for a holy purpose – to be
a prophet to the nations. God has not changed. You are not an exception. Even
before the foundation of the planet earth, God had you in His heart and mind
and wanted you to be born because He had something specific in mind for you.
The first part of His
plan was that you would be adopted as a son or daughter through the work that
Jesus Christ did in your behalf by giving His life on a cross. “Amazing grace
how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me!”
But, as if this
wasn’t enough, He also created you with explicit gifting and a task in mind to
contribute to the advance and nurturing of His Kingdom.
Maybe you came to
Christ at an early age. Or perhaps you came to know Him as an adult.
Nonetheless as you move through life studying, working, taking part in
different tasks, and trying your hand in this area or that … God’s plan is that
you would one day discover the reason why He put you on the planet. As you go
through different vocational experiences and/or aspects of Christian service,
over time, you discover tasks that you do well and seem to suit you. As you move closer and closer to this
discovery, you’ll experience an inner revelation and fulfillment in what you are
doing. I’m not only talking of those who have been called into vocational
Christian work, but also of those who work in the blue collar sector, business,
real estate, sales, entrepreneurial work, etc.
At the same time, the
process of discovering why you are here can be difficult because the devil and
his angels (demons) are determined to do everything in their power to both keep
you from coming to know Christ and, once he has lost this battle, from
discovering the destiny that He has for you. Satan is described as the deceiver
(John 8:44) and accuser (Revelation 12:10) whose overarching goal is to sift
you like wheat (Luke 22:31) and destroy you (1 Peter 5:8, John 10:10).
Listening prayer is a
key facet of discovering your God given identity, design, and destiny. As you
invest the time it takes to truly listen, God the Father, Son, and Spirit
communicate deep within your heart and spirit. It’s as though He calls you into
being the person He had in mind when He thought of you before the foundation of
the world.
LISTENING PRAYER
EXERCISE
1. (Find a quiet place. Turn of all electronic
equipment. Be still and know that He is God. 1 Corinthians 2:16 says that “we
have the mind of Christ” as though He has the capability of thinking His
thoughts inside of us. After you have asked Jesus this question, without
analyzing, write down the things that come into your mind). Pray something like
this: God, Your word indicates that You
know everything about me (Psalm 139:1-5). I want to invest the next 20 minutes to listen to Your still small
voice. Jesus, what do you have to communicate with me just now about the
positive aspects of who I am in the process of becoming? (Write everything down that comes to
you. After you have finished go on to the second question).
2.
Lord Jesus, would you bring to mind a verse(s)
or passage(s) from your written word to confirm that what I heard was really
from you?
3.
Share
what God is saying to you with other fellow listeners in your community and on this blog.
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