Speaker 1: Life Audio.
Speaker 2: Teach Us to Praise brought to you by Life Audio
Speaker 2: and is a part of our Faith Toolkit series. For
Speaker 2: more inspirational faith affirming podcasts, visit lifeaudio dot com.
Speaker 1: Before you speak to anyone, you want to ensure that
Speaker 1: you have their attention so that they can actually hear
Speaker 1: what you have to say. In the same way, God
Speaker 1: sends signs to get our attention so that we can
Speaker 1: hear from Him. In today's episode, learn different signs that
Speaker 1: God is trying to get your attention so that you
Speaker 1: don't miss out on his voice. Welcome back, friend. You
Speaker 1: are listening to the Teacher Us to Pray podcast, where
Speaker 1: we teach believers practical and real life tips on how
Speaker 1: to grow your faith and relationship with God through the
Speaker 1: power of prayer. I'm Christina Patterson hopes that they Teach
Speaker 1: Us to Pray podcast and founder of Beloved Women, where
Speaker 1: I encourage, equip and empower women in the love of
Speaker 1: Jesus Christ and the truth of God's Word. Have you
Speaker 1: ever been somewhere like in church or a conference, meeting
Speaker 1: or class and you desire to get your friend's attention. However,
Speaker 1: they were looking straight ahead. They were not paying you
Speaker 1: any attention, and so either you tap them on the shoulder,
Speaker 1: you waved your hands, or you just intently stared at them,
Speaker 1: hoping that they could feel your stare and turn their
Speaker 1: heads so that you could finally get their attention. We
Speaker 1: go through all of this to get someone's attention because
Speaker 1: we want them to hear us. And as we've said
Speaker 1: over and over again on this podcast, prayer isn't just
Speaker 1: about us asking God for things. It's Him speaking to us.
Speaker 1: And this is so power powerful because what God has
Speaker 1: to say his word over our lives, well it's life changing.
Speaker 1: So if God is trying to get our attention, we
Speaker 1: certainly want to be aware of it and we want
Speaker 1: to be able to respond. But we can't hear him
Speaker 1: and respond to him when he's trying to get our
Speaker 1: attention if we don't know that he's trying to get
Speaker 1: our attention in the first place, often we are distracted.
Speaker 1: We have so many things like social media, Netflix, and
Speaker 1: more competing for our attention, and usually these things spend
Speaker 1: a lot of time and billions of dollars to get
Speaker 1: our attention. Because your attention is valuable, so we need
Speaker 1: to ensure that we are giving our attention to God.
Speaker 1: So today I want to share with you a few
Speaker 1: ways to know that God is trying to get your attention.
Speaker 1: The first way is through what I call coincidence. The
Speaker 1: Cambridge University definition defines coincidence as an occasion when two
Speaker 1: or more similar things happen at the same time, especially
Speaker 1: in a way that is unlikely and surprising to you.
Speaker 1: So for example, let's say you and your friend both
Speaker 1: wear the exact same dress to a party. You might
Speaker 1: say that is a coincidence. Or you and your husband
Speaker 1: both bring the same type of dinner home that night
Speaker 1: because you both had the similar craving. That would be
Speaker 1: a coincidence. Now, we may see a coincidence as just happenstance,
Speaker 1: But because of God's sovereignty and supreme rule over everything,
Speaker 1: God has the ability to cause a co incidents to
Speaker 1: get our attention. Often coincidences surprise us, delight us, and
Speaker 1: even shock us. Sometimes and sometimes God will use this
Speaker 1: to get our attention. So, for example, this month, I
Speaker 1: have been memorizing Philippians Chapter four, verses six and seven,
Speaker 1: just in a heart to overcome just some anxiety in
Speaker 1: my life. The verse reads, do not be anxious about anything,
Speaker 1: but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let
Speaker 1: your request be made known to God. And the peace
Speaker 1: of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts
Speaker 1: and your minds in Christ Jesus. So clearly you can
Speaker 1: see here how this verse is really speaking to me
Speaker 1: about overcoming anxiety and choosing prayer and thanksgiving as opposed
Speaker 1: to worry and stress and anxious thoughts. So it's been
Speaker 1: really helpful for me. At the same time, as I've
Speaker 1: decided to memorize this scripture this month, I've been seeing
Speaker 1: it a lot of other places. I'll open up a
Speaker 1: devotional that I'm reading and see the verse right there,
Speaker 1: or I'll be looking online for something else or a
Speaker 1: past Bible study video that I created, and I'll stumble
Speaker 1: across the verse again. So while some people might view
Speaker 1: this as a coincidence, I see it as a sign
Speaker 1: that God is trying to get my attention. He is
Speaker 1: encouraging me to really lean into this verse and see
Speaker 1: what it has to say. The next sign that you
Speaker 1: can look for that God is trying to get your
Speaker 1: attention is when you're having dreams. Okay, that is right.
Speaker 1: Sometimes God will use dreams to get our attention, not
Speaker 1: just speak to us now. Not every dream that we
Speaker 1: have is God speaking to us and needs to be interpreted.
Speaker 1: Sometimes we just ate too many tacos the night before.
Speaker 1: But even if that's the case, oftentimes dreams, especially ones
Speaker 1: that we remember when we wake up, they get our attention.
Speaker 1: They get our mind wondering, well, why did I have
Speaker 1: that dream? The Bible tells us that it is the
Speaker 1: character of God to conceal a matter, but it's the
Speaker 1: privilege of kings to uncover it. So God likes to
Speaker 1: sometimes allow us to experience things that we're not really
Speaker 1: sure what they mean, so that we will then seek Him.
Speaker 1: The whole purpose is to get our attention, so that
Speaker 1: will lean in, will listen a little bit more intently,
Speaker 1: we'll pray a little bit harder to gain understanding from God.
Speaker 1: Whether your dream is a message from God or not,
Speaker 1: I can't tell you that. But oftentimes if it's something
Speaker 1: that shook you either or just made you a little
Speaker 1: bit more interested about what that was about. But it
Speaker 1: turns your heart and your mind towards God, that can
Speaker 1: be God trying to get your attention. The end goal
Speaker 1: is to hear from Him, not necessarily to interpret the
Speaker 1: dream moment by moment, but to lean in to say, God,
Speaker 1: what's going on in my life that will cause me
Speaker 1: to have this particular dream. Now it could be Okay,
Speaker 1: I just ate a little bit too much the night before,
Speaker 1: or as the Bible tells us that when you have
Speaker 1: many cares on your heart, you start to dream. And
Speaker 1: the Bible tells us that we should be casting our
Speaker 1: cares on God. And so that dream might just be
Speaker 1: a sign from God getting your attention that, Hey, you
Speaker 1: got a lot weighing on your heart right now, why
Speaker 1: don't you cast that and put it at my feet
Speaker 1: and let me take care of it. The final sign
Speaker 1: that I want to share with you that God might
Speaker 1: be trying to get your attention is confirmation. And this
Speaker 1: is when God gives you a message or he shares
Speaker 1: something with you, but then you hear it from someone else,
Speaker 1: and this is just confirming what He's already said to you,
Speaker 1: and He's trying to get your attention so that you
Speaker 1: really take what he's communicating to you seriously. It's kind
Speaker 1: of like adding an exclamation mark at the end of
Speaker 1: a sentence or bolding a paragraph to highlight that, hey,
Speaker 1: this point right here is super important and God is
Speaker 1: trying to get your attention. There was something specific that
Speaker 1: God was leading me to do, and I had a
Speaker 1: friend confirm it. She said, Christina, I think you should
Speaker 1: do this. And God had already been speaking to me
Speaker 1: about it. So that was one friend. So that just
Speaker 1: affirms to me, Okay, God's really trying to get my
Speaker 1: attention to go in this direction. But then I briefly
Speaker 1: shared with some friends my thoughts about heading in this
Speaker 1: direction that the Lord was leading me in, and I
Speaker 1: had a friend text me and say, hey, can you
Speaker 1: call me really quick? And I said okay, So I
Speaker 1: called her and she just confirmed, without me even giving
Speaker 1: her all the details everything that God had already been
Speaker 1: speaking to me and she was just saying it. She
Speaker 1: was like, as a matter of fact, God gave me
Speaker 1: this in my morning devotion this morning, and it might
Speaker 1: be for you, and let me tell you it was.
Speaker 1: It was so impactful and it really got my attention
Speaker 1: because it just echoed, well, God had already been placing
Speaker 1: on my heart and so now I'm sitting up a
Speaker 1: little bit straight, more straight, my ears are perked up,
Speaker 1: and I'm like, okay, God, I see that you're trying
Speaker 1: to get my attention. You're making this clear. Let me listen,
Speaker 1: let me follow, let me hear what you have to say.
Speaker 1: It is my hope that today's episode has provided you
Speaker 1: with insightful and helpful tips on how you can pray
Speaker 1: give to you. Be sure to download my free five
Speaker 1: day prayer guide and take my prayer personality quiz at
Speaker 1: prayquiz dot com to learn how you best hear from
Speaker 1: God and connect with Him in prayer. You may find
Speaker 1: all links in today's show notes. We have so much
Speaker 1: more to talk about when it comes to prayer, so
Speaker 1: I hope that if you are encouraged by today's episode,
Speaker 1: you will share it with a friend and subscribe so
Speaker 1: that you don't miss any future episodes of the Teach
Speaker 1: Us to Pray Podcast, where we will continue to learn how,
Speaker 1: just like breathing, prayer can become a natural, consistent, and
Speaker 1: life giving part of our everyday lives. Until then, be
Speaker 1: sure to connect with me at Belovedwomen dot org and
Speaker 1: join me on the Beloved Women app for unlimited and
Speaker 1: add free videos to grow your faith, learn God's word,
Speaker 1: and encourage your soul. Available now in the Apple and
Speaker 1: Google play stores or at Beloved Women dot tv. Thank
Speaker 1: you so much for taking time to listen today. God
Speaker 1: bless you, and I'll talk to you in the next episode.
Speaker 1: Teach Us to Pray is a production of Life Audio
Speaker 1: and Say Media. If you like what you heard today,
Speaker 1: please take a second to rate and review this podcast
Speaker 1: in your favorite podcast app so that more listeners like
Speaker 1: you can find the show. For more faith filled inspirational podcasts,
Speaker 1: visit us at lifeaudio dot com.