This week, I am attending a conference in Los Angeles. In yesterday’s opening presentation, the speaker said something that sounded very much like Jesus’ words from Matthew 6. The speaker said, “ignore the voices.” It is hard to be still and to be quiet and to be available to God’s voice when there are so many voices. And there are so many voices. So many voices within me and so many voices all around me. This is a noisy and ever more complicated world. What voices do you need to ignore?

Jesus said, Go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. It is not that God waits until we go to our rooms and close the door, but to truly hear God’s voice we must close the door to all of the other voices and get quiet enough to hear God’s.

We don’t pray because God doesn’t know what is happening in our lives. But do we know? Unless we slow down, go to our room, close the door and get quiet. That’s the way I’ve made myself available to what God has for me.

Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will ge given to you as well. My hope is that your time in scripture today is the opportunity you need to close the door, ignore the voices, and listen for God.