Dialogue with God

Last weekend, our church hosted its' annual Ladies Retreat.

It was actually a pretty amazing anniversary as well.  Every single year for the past 25 years, our church has hosted a ladies retreat.  That's quite an accomplishment, in my humble opinion.

Our special guest speaker this year was Susie Davis.  You might be familiar with some of the books she's written, but she's a bit of a local celebrity around these parts.  (click on her name to check out her lovely website)

Susie shared how she does her quiet times - something she calls a two pen dialogue.  I thought it was such a great, visual way of hearing from God.

Here's how she describes it:

For years, I have been having a 2 pen dialogue with God.

Goes something like this. I sit down in the morning – coffee poured – and open my journal.

Then I mark the date on the page and write down my prayers with a plain, blue pen. After that, I read the bible and when something jumps out at me … I grab a colored felt tip marker and write down God’s words in orange or green or violet, etc.

I really like this idea.

There have been lots of times while reading a passage of Scripture, that a particular verse just seems to jump out at me.  I love thinking that maybe, just maybe, God is speaking directly to me, asking me to pay attention and listen to Him.

Then writing down that Scripture and maybe a few words about why I think it seems especially meaningful will help me absorb the conversation even better.

On days that I feel alone or discouraged, all I need to do is pull out that journal and flip through it, seeing all the colorful words of God speaking right to me. What better evidence of God's unfailing love for me, no matter how I feel.

Susie also mentioned that she uses a One Year Bible in the New Living Translation for this two pen dialogue.  She simply opens to the current date, reads a section from both the Old and New Testaments, along with a Psalm and Proverb.

Quick and simple, yet profound.  Not to mention that by the end of the year, you'll have read the entire Bible.

I'm going to give this two pen dialogue a try for a while.

I'm pretty good at talking to (and sometimes at) God.

Not so with the listening part.

My goal will be to see much more colorful writing (God's words) than plain, blue writing (my words).

Got any quiet time ideas?  Leave a comment and pass 'em on!