Summer is a good time for reading. So I read the dictionary for the next verses in 1 Peter. While pondering what to do with the notes, more than one friend posted about summer—what I call “non-routines.” Eating and exercise patterns shift. There’s an ebb and flow in this season that’s different from the rest of the year as people come and go on vacation. Even our spiritual disciplines may not look quite the same.
*How can a change in routine bring hope?
While waiting for inspiration to hit, I read Angela Ruth Strong’s blog post that included an illustration of valuing people by listening to their stories. Someone else recently wrote that their word for the year was “listen.” We’ve moved from “listen” in Luke to “hope” in our study in 1 Peter, but listening surfaced again today. We talked about the value of listening and hearing and praying and being there for one another. Those who practice and offer the gift of listening give hope to the rest of us. 
We may receive our greatest hope in and from God in those moments when we experience His listening embrace.
*When has someone valued your story?
*How can you offer the gift of listening to someone this week?
We listen to our children when they come to us or call on us. It’s a natural reaction. In our recent reading in 1 Peter, we revisited the idea that to fear God is to acknowledge He exists and that He is in charge. When we call on Him in fear and humility and make room for Him in our lives, He hears our prayers. Our natural reaction in this process is to praise Him for who He is and what He has done.
*What does it look like to make room for God in our lives?
*How can we praise God as part of our practice of listening to Him?
In these days of non-routines, I’m reading Psalms. In Psalm 66, the author brings it all together:
- come near to God
- praise Him
- He listens and hears
“Come and hear, all you who fear God;
Let me tell you what He has done for me.
I cried out to Him with my mouth;
His praise was on my tongue.
If I had cherished sin in my heart,
The Lord would not have listened;
But God has surely listened
And has heard my prayer.
Praise be to God,
Who has not rejected my prayer
Or withheld His love from me!” (Psalm 66:16-20)
What great hope He has given us, in the gift of hearing our prayers!
We also give and receive hope as we listen to each other.
*When has God listened and heard your prayer?
*What hope have you heard from God?
Good reminder to male room for God by listening!