Fast Like DanielSample

Grace from Start to Finish

Do you expect to hear God’s voice? Seriously, when you pray, do you wait for Him to answer? I’m just going to tell you point blank: you will not hear His answers if you don’t expect Him to speak or open your spiritual ears to listen.

So many people think God doesn’t speak anymore like He got laryngitis and just stopped speaking to people somewhere in the past. Ain’t nobody got time for that. Some have been taught this, while others just think it can’t happen for them—like maybe God speaks to big-time church leaders, but they’re a special exception.

But does God speak to regular people like you and me?

Yes! He does. He never changes, and He has never stopped speaking to His children.

But we often have stopped listening!

Let me paint a picture for you. Imagine a person calls their spouse and, in one big breath, shares every detail about their day, a long shopping list, concerns about their kids, and challenges with work—and then immediately hang up.

What kind of conversation was that? A good one? Not—they’d probably get an “EXCUSE ME?!” if that’s how they communicated all the time!

So why do we do this to God?

In today’s reading, you’re going to see how incredibly patient God is with us as He teaches Elijah how to hear His voice. Elijah performed many mighty miracles for God, but beyond the shock and awe of gale-force winds, an earthquake, and a firestorm, Elijah found that the sound of God’s voice was not a shout.

It was a gentle whisper.

If you’re not listening, you can easily miss a whisper.

Are we listening? Or do we pick up the phone of prayer, call God, dump on Him, give Him our To Do List, and then hang up?

I want you to finish this fast expecting to hear God’s gentle whisper. Jesus said His sheep—and that’s all of us—hear His voice. He has not grown silent, and you’ve never really prayed and fasted until you’ve done so with the hopeful expectation of hearing God speak back to you.

He has a word for you today: “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).

Now, listen.