How do We Hear God Calling to Us?

O God, whose Son Jesus is the good shepherd of your people; Grant that when we hear his voice we may know him who calls us each by name, and follow where he leads; who, with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, )

Lent is a time when we focus on our obedience (or lack thereof) to the will of God. The word obey comes from the Latin word ob-audire, literally, to act upon what one hears. This is what the Epistle of James is getting at when he bids us to “be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves” (James 1:22). Before we can act upon what we hear, however, we must first hear what God is saying.

We humans are ingenious at finding ways to avoid hearing God’s call. Lucky for us, God is persistent! If one way of getting through to us doesn’t work, He tries another, and another, and another.  Sometimes he uses words, sometimes he uses . . . other means.

Join us this Lent for a bible study that explores a few of the ways in which we do or do not hear God’s voice when He calls to us. Our goal will be to improve our hearing, so that we may be prepared to follow where the Shepherd is leading us.

Soup and Scripture at Seven

(Tuesday Evenings in Lent, after Confessions and Stations of the Cross)

March 11—Playing in the Dirt (Matthew 13: 1-23)

March 18—Anywhere but that! (Jonah 1:1-16)

March 25—No Study (Celebrate the Feast of the Annunciation at the Cathedral)

April 1—Fools speak folly (Isaiah 32:1-8)

April 8—Mirror, mirror (James 1:17-35)

April 15—Listening for His Voice in the Garden (Matthew 26:36-46)