Prayer sometimes requires an action as well. Sometimes Gods’ answers a prayer suddenly without warning and other times we have to wait. But what I have learnt, and it has taken me years that God wants us also to contribute some action before the prayer is fully answered in many cases. For example at the moment I am praying to become more obedient to God. So my action is trying to become more aware when the Holy Spirit has put a thought in me to do or not to do something.

Instead of treating my thought as if they are all mine, I want to be alert when it is God speaking to me. And if a thought comes to me that is an instruction from the Holy Spirit I want to be aware of it. So that I won’t treat it as if it is an optional thing to do or not. I have discovered over the years not all my thoughts are mine. The devil puts thoughts into our minds as well as the Holy Spirit. And I am still learning to discern. I write them down and try to work it out from there. God is talking to us all the time, so are the devils. So when a thought now comes to me to do that extra kind thing or eat less than I was planning too, I have to be more alert as where these thoughts are coming from. If they are from God then I have to learn to obey.

It is easy to know to obey the Commandments, but when a thought comes to you like do the washing up now. I might say I do it later, then later comes and it will be put aside again. That’s what I am talking about. If it is God talking then I have to learn to obey promptly and not put it off. It will be a new challenge for me. I know the more we respond to Gods’ Spirit the more sensitive we become to hearing Him. And if we obey we will be truly be blessed by Him. To disobey we lose out.

There books on how to discern your thoughts from the thoughts that come from God or the devil. I got mine from Sids Roth on-line store years ago.  I think we kind of know the thoughts that come from the devil. They are either condemning us or inviting us to sin. Gods’ voice might be harder to recognize in that they are usually gentle, kind, uplifting thoughts. We tend to think we don’t deserve them and it us being egoistic.

The thoughts that come to you that just flow are supernatural. Our own thoughts are deliberate, we plan them. It takes practice to discern where they come from. They might only be a few words at a time that is how it happens to me often. First you have to quieten yourself down. I always try to write them down. I find it is easier that way. It is advisable to have a person or two to check it out to see if you are discerning correctly. I have been told to do silly things, thinking it was from God, but in fact was from the devil. For example, to sell my car and I don’t have enough money to replace it and where I live I need a car. This happened to me. God in His goodness protected me, nobody was interested in buying it. So be careful. It is tremendously rewarding if you plan to learn how to discern the thoughts that come to you. You get to know God better and know He truly loves you. Gods’ voice becomes clearer the more we listen to it. It will develop over time.

Prayer is so powerful and we need to pray for everybody not just our family.