Scripture Reading (God talks to me in my heart): “When Thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto Thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek.” (Psalm 27:8).
“My heart has heard You say, `Come and talk with Me, O my people.’ And my heart responds, `Lord, I am coming!'” (TLB).
Here we have a lively conversation between King David and our living and speaking God. What God spoke to David stirred him up to speak to God. God had told him to seek His face, to seek His presence, to come into His presence and talk with Him. Did God say this to David audibly or in his innermost being, in his heart? David tells us he heard God’s still small voice in his heart. The Holy Spirit witnesses to our human spirit that we are the children of God. Born again believers can hear God speaking within them, in their heart. “My heart has heard God say, `Seek my face, seek Me, seek my Presence, and my heart responds, `LORD…'” God loves to talk with us, to commune with us, to converse with us. He does not like a monologue; He converses!
Most Bible reading is like reading God’s monologue! Most praying is human monologue. A marvelous discovery is to read God’s Word prayerfully, conversationally. Thus, Bible reading can be restored to be a lively conversation between you and your living and speaking God, Who loves to converse with you! Yes, seek His presence, seek Him, talk with Him, converse with Him. He is not far away, He is not outside of you. If you are a believer, He lives inside of you!
As you read the Scripture, God talks to you. As you pray to God regarding what you have just read, you talk to Him. That is conversation; a living, lively communication between you and the living, speaking, loving God!
Children that are born deaf become deaf-mutes. But their vocal chords are not damaged. The problem is in their hearing. However, because they are unable to hear human speech, they are unable to duplicate it, to imitate it, to speak themselves, unless they receive specialized schooling. As children we learn to speak by hearing! What we hear we imitate and duplicate. Eventually, long after we hear and understand our daddy and mommy, we begin to say our first words. We learn to speak.
Likewise, how do we learn to communicate with God? Which is more important, for me to speak to God or for God to speak to me? It is more important for God to speak to me. Out of God’s speaking to me, I learn how to listen to Him, how to heed Him, how to hearken to Him and especially, what to reply to Him, what to ask, who to intercede for, what to request, how to pray, how to tell Him I love Him, how to worship Him, how to adore Him. Hearkening to His Word I converse with Him about every matter. When puzzled, I remember that His Name is also Counselor, so I am encouraged to ask His counsel about the matter that baffles me. He loves to counsel us! When unsure about which way to go, I remember that His Name is also the Good Shepherd, so I am emboldened to ask Him to lead me in the way He wants me to go. He loves to lead us, His sheep, if we only ask Him!
David had that experience with God. He immortalized it in writing this psalm. But David was not the first nor the last to have such an experience. Much of what you read in the psalms are the very experiences of our dearest Lord Jesus Christ in His private conversations with the Heavenly Father. Since before time began, way back in eternity past, there always was an active communication in the Triune God. The Father and the Son often talked very lovingly about you and me even before there was a creation! You and I were the subject of the Father’s conversations with His Son before Lucifer or any other being, angelic or human, was created!
Because God is love, He loves to be loved. Because God is alive, He speaks. Because God is Triune, there always was a lively, loving communication between the Heavenly Father and the Eternal Son of God. They lovingly planned you! They thought you up! They custom-designed you! They lovingly conversed about you. You were on God’s drawing board before you were born!
To give you an idea how a living conversation with God works, please read again Psalm 27:8 in both versions at the beginning of this chapter. Read it slowly, then talk to God about it! You will be saying to Him something like this:
Prayer (I talk to God): “Dearest Father, in my spirit I sense that You want me to seek Your presence, to come to You, to talk with You. And yet, I realize that You are not far off, not even outside of me. You are living inside of me. You are so easy to find! So reachable! So available! As I just read Your word, I realize in my heart that You are talking to me! Yes, Your Word talks to me! Then my heart responds to You, LORD! My God! Heavenly Father, my Father! Oh, yes, I am coming to Your presence right now!… in my spirit… deep inside of me… You are there!… So close! Closer than my own hands and feet! You are not a dumb idol. You speak! You are alive! You are talking to me right now as I read Your Word. Likewise, I am talking to You right now as I pray! Wow! God, You and I are talking together! We are conversing! We are communicating! We are communing! Just You and I! Wow! I love You!”
From Talking with God – Chapter 1