Have you ever had a prompting from God that you tried to dismiss?  

I've never heard an auditable voice from God but there have been many times that God has 'spoken' to me. 

I remember such a time when I 'heard' a distinct message from  God:  you go and I'll meet you there.

I was sitting at the lunch table of Promise Keepers event, listening as the host promoted an upcoming Clergy Conference in Atlanta.  As he spoke, I distinctly heard, you go and I'll meet you there.  That Friday at noon and I guess I dismissed it, not giving it anymore thought through the weekend.

God spoke to him in this way.  (Acts 7:6) 

The voice spoke to him a second time.  (Acts 10:15)

On Monday I received another clear impression from God:  Did you hear me?  You go and I'll meet you there.
Immediately my mind returned to the information I had heard about the Clergy Conference but I also found myself offering excuses as to why I could not or would not be able to go.  It's not a good time, it's not something we can afford and even if money were not an issue, it's probably too late to register and even if I could get registered, I might not be able to find accommodation.  In my mind I had presented a reasonable argument; surely God would understand.

A few days later I again received the same prompting, you go and I'll meet you there.  This time I decided I would be best served by checking into the conference.  I was able to register and through a contact with a friend in ministry, I was able to join a group of pastors in the area that were going; they had a room available at a motel three blocks from the Georgia Dome where the event was to be held.  On Sunday of that week an anonymous gift came to cover the cost to attend the conference.  I was out of excuses!

So I went and it was an historic gathering of 40,000+ pastors, mostly from North America, but literally from all over the world.  It was a powerful time of worship and coming under the Word of God; I was blessed just to be there.  But then there came for me a defining moment in an afternoon session when it became very clear this was the moment when God wanted to meet with me; to speak into my life.  It was a moment of worship and surrender that was life-changing.  I knew this was why God had prompted me to go.

I can't explain exactly what happened in that sacred meeting with God, but when I left Atlanta and returned to our church and ministry in Hamilton it was immediately evident that God was at work in new and exciting ways.  That encounter with God launched our church into a season of unprecedented growth, the launching of a seeker service and incredible stories of men and women coming to know Christ.  In a period of just over a year from Mother's Day of one year to Father's Day of the next year we baptized over 50 new believers as God poured out His blessing among us.

Throughout my journey with God I have been blessed and inspired as God's Spirit has 'spoken' and prompted and led; it is a rich part of my walk with God. 

Frederick Buechner has observed: If God speaks to us at all other than through such official channels as the Bible and church, then I think that he speaks to us largely through what happens to us. If we keep our hearts and minds open as well as our ears, if we listen with patience and hope, if we remember at all deeply and honestly, then I think we come to recognize, beyond all doubt, that, however faintly we may hear him, he is indeed speaking to us, and that, however little we may understand of it, his word to each of us is both recoverable and precious beyond telling.

I can recall a time when I often thought to myself “I should read the Bible”. I would try but I learned what a “stumbling block” meant. The “foolishness to Gentiles” kept getting in my way as I tried over and over again to be committed to reading the entire Word of God.
 
One day, I remember hearing that a habit will form if you stay on track for one month without ceasing. What could I lose? 

I found my quiet place and started reading in Genesis. It wasn’t long, of course, before I came to the book of Leviticus and the book of Numbers. I quickly decided to leave the Old Testament and start with the New Testament. I was intrigued, captured in the life of Jesus, the apostles and the meaning of “living for Jesus” When my month of daily Bible readings was over, I had formed a “habit” and continued to finish the New Testament.  

Then I returned to the Old Testament, for clarity of meaning, of what Jesus had referred to so many times. 
I’m sure that many of you have a similar story, but I’m so thankful that God gave me that first month, removed that stumbling block, and gave me my daily morning quiet time in what my girls called my “prayer chair”. 

May God bless you with that quiet time and place and draw near to Him every day.

At the age of 40 I began my journey back to the Father. It was a long journey as I had left my relationship with Jesus about the age of twelve to pursue my goal of popularity and acceptance by my peers. Clothes, hair length, dancing, dates, shows, etc. beckoned me with an allure I couldn't resist. I slowly slipped away recognizing I just was too weak and selfish to die to self and live for Christ. I decided I would walk away from the church and just be a "good person."

Twenty-eight years later I came to the end of myself. I wasn't good, for no man is good. I felt desperate for my life was falling apart. I had reached the apex of my career, education degree and acting principal at my school but my marriage was falling apart, Divorce loomed on the horizon and that was something I just couldn't face. I was attending a self -help group that told us we should pray to the God of our understanding. I would cry out, "But God, I Don't understand you!' I had a friend who prayed me into the kingdom. No matter what excuse or protest I used she would counter with love and grace. When I told her I couldn't be a Christian because I couldn't even quit smoking she would just laugh and say, when we get to Heaven Jesus will just call out, “Smokers over here!”

Actually I felt like an Essau who had sold his birthright for a bowl of stew only I had rejected my salvation in the pursuit of pleasure. My guilt separated me from peace with God and I wondered if I could be forgiven for despising the precious gift of life. I had no excuse for I knew the truth and had rejected his love. The journey back took about a year of seeking, praying, reading and relearning the love and grace of God through friends who lived out their faith before me.

Finally on Easter morning at 2:00 a.m. in 1980 I surrendered myself to the Father. I was empty of self, no answers or solutions and I was right where God wanted so He could begin my restoration. “I can’t be a Christian but if you want me anyway I’m yours!” You’ve heard the expression Heaven came down and glory filled my soul…I experienced the awesome presence of Almighty God that changed me in an instant to a totally forgiven, rejuvenated child of the King.
 
I was loved, accepted and made new without any requirement put on me to change or do. I couldn’t be a Christian but by God’s Grace I was!

When I became aware of my surroundings again I looked across the room where Ken was reading a book, totally unaware of the earth-shaking happening that I had just experienced. I looked at my soon-to-be-divorced husband and with child-like honesty I asked God, “What do I do with that thing in my life?”
The answer came with startling clarity. The light was shining over Ken’s shoulder and the side in the light was all the things that I loved and had attracted me; I was to thank God for them. The side of him in the darkness, those things I hated and feared where none of my business…let God deal with it. Yes! I could do that. The simplicity of being thankful or conversely reminding myself it was none of my business, if I would obey God in this He would heal my marriage!

Thus I received my first promise from God which He faithfully carried out in response to my obedience of thanking him or giving the moment over to him. It’s been 36 years since that experience and our marriage is rich in love. We owe it all to Him who receives us in our weakness where His strength is made perfect. I discovered that my relationship was not a matter of keeping to the rules and regulations that man requires but was walking in obedience and in step with the King of Kings. That early Easter morning I knelt down by Ken and asked forgiveness for the times I had wounded him and assured him that all things were changing I just didn’t know how.