Have you ever heard God speaking to you? In John 10:1-19 Jesus refers to himself as “the good shepherd” of His sheep, and Jesus states “the sheep listen to his voice.”

A few years ago I attended a weekend conference dedicated to studying God’s word and very intentionally listening for God to speak. That weekend I turned off my cell phone; I didn’t watch television; I didn’t check email. During one of the quiet times, I felt God very clearly leading me to pray for and reach out to a co-worker. I knew the co-worker was having marriage problems, but I knew no specifics of the situation. But, I listened and I prayed, and the next day I reached out to him by email and discovered that, at the very moment God had spoken to me, my co-worker was moving out of his house. His wife had filed for divorce and kicked him out of the house. He thanked me, and this opened the door for us to speak more openly about life and God. Over the past few years he has grown in his faith and grown closer to God.

It wasn’t my prayer, or my email alone that caused my co-worker to rededicate his life to Christ. But I firmly believe that God spoke to me that day, and because I listened, he used me to reach out to someone in need at a very crucial time. My prayer for myself and all of us is that we will spend time listening to God, so that we don’t rob ourselves or others of His blessings.