Take 2-3 minutes to quiet yourself and ask God to speak to you today through your devotional time.
Reading: Acts 16
Be sure to highlight or note anything that stands out to you while you read.
After reading the passage, take the next 5-10 minutes and spend time reflecting on what you read. You can write these things down in a journal or record them in your phone. Be attentive to both what you highlighted in the passage and what is going on in your life.
Paul and his companions were actively pursuing God’s mission, yet the Holy Spirit redirected them along the way. Sometimes God's direction comes as a check—an inner restraint that tells us to pause or reconsider—and sometimes it comes as a nudge, prompting us toward a particular action or opportunity. God can also direct us through open and closed doors, but circumstances alone are not enough to determine His will. As we know His Word, ask Him to speak, and become sensitive to the Holy Spirit, we can learn to listen for His direction and look for how He may be leading us.
Is there a check, nudge, open door, or closed door in your life right now that you need to slow down and prayerfully discern?
Now, take 10 minutes to seek God in prayer…
- Begin your time in prayer by taking 1-3 minutes to sit in silence (You can take longer if you sense the Spirit already beginning to speak to you).
- Pray through the things you sensed God speaking to you through the Scriptures or pray the following prayer: Holy Spirit, make us sensitive to Your leading. Help us recognize the checks that tell us to pause and the nudges that invite us to move forward. Give us wisdom to discern the difference between Your direction and our own desires, fears, or assumptions. Amen.
- Close by taking 5 minutes to sit in silence, asking God if there is anything else He wants to speak to you today.
Faith Step:
Set aside a few quiet minutes today with no distractions and ask the Holy Spirit, “Is there anything You are prompting me to notice, stop, or do?”