The Bible tells us that in these days, God speaks through his son (Hebrews 1:2). Listening to Jesus takes time, faith, and practice as we cultivate a listening life. As we prepare our hearts for Easter during this Lenten season, be intentional about making time to hear God’s voice. Ponder a short insight to help you listen to Jesus and open holy moments throughout your day. You will find tips ways to use the printable version of the devotions and the graphics at the end of the post.

The night before Lent began, my husband caught me by surprise when he made this statement: “I’ve decided to give up a few things for Lent this year. Sugar, gluten, caffeine and all processed foods.”

Umm…what happened to giving up one item for Lent?! Isn’t this a little overkill?

This isn’t the kind of Lenten observance you spring on a girl at bedtime the night before. It takes mental preparation and a serious trip to the grocery store to turn your diet upside down for 40 days. I’m thinking two things:

1. I don’t want to be around when you go cold turkey on all this.
2. I don’t want to join you on this zealous approach to giving up things for Lent.

Is that bad? I did keep my thoughts to myself. 

Two weeks later, he is realizing that he was overly ambitious. Enough said.

Holy Moments for Listening to Jesus

There are many ways to prepare your heart for Easter. Like my husband, many deny themselves a pleasure to help focus on Christ during Lent. Others commit to spiritual practices that draw our hearts closer to Jesus. However you observe Lent, you can find daily mini-devotions on my Facebook Page and my Instagram. (If you join me in these places, please leave a comment and share posts).

Some of the reflections are adapted from Holy in the Moment, but many are meditations are from my journal.  I’ll be sharing some of these short reflections each week on my website as well. Don’t miss the downloadable PDF with the six day devotional including graphics to print and share. 

Create space in your day for holy moments to listen to Jesus as you ponder these simple meditations on God’s Word. Use these short meditations as part of your quiet time or as a way to connect with God in a short break in your day.  If you aren’t sure how to listen to Jesus or meditate on God’s Word you will find these posts helpful. 

• When You Long for God to Speak to You
• Simple Ways to Meditate on God’s Word
• Discover Six Important Truths About Listening to God
• 7 Helpful Ways to Listen to God

Day One: Holy Moments for a Living Sacrifice

Today is your day to choose holiness. During this Lenten season, let’s walk together, as we commit to offer our hearts to Jesus on a deeper level. Discover the wonder of holy and whole moments through short insights to help you live a listening life with Jesus.

Ask Jesus to open your heart to this truth about holiness:

“Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship” (Romans 12:1).

Isn’t it a relief to recognize we don’t have to make ourselves faultless and acceptable to God? Rather than requiring our perfection, God simply asks us to offer ourselves, to place our lives in His hands.

We offer our time, effort, gifts, skills, and obedience, but we trust God for the results. Depending on God to work through our efforts brings God into our present awareness. On our part, holiness also begins with a choice—the choice to offer our everyday moments to God.

Don’t let the phrase “holy sacrifice” intimidate you. We don’t make ourselves holy and acceptable. Jesus has done the work that makes us holy and whole. Shift your perspective from the pressure of doing to the simplicity of offering.

As you reflect on the truth that your holy life is acceptable to God, what is Jesus saying to your heart?

*adapted from Holy in the Moment,

Day Two: Holy Moments to Come as You Are

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly” (Matthew 11:28-30 MSG).

I’ve read this passage more times than I can count. It never gets old, never feels stale. I think that’s because I never outgrow my need for help carrying my burdens. As you come to Jesus, release the sense of overwhelm that creeps in when life’s challenges outpace stamina.

What could happen if you pull back the throttle that keeps you running on continual over-drive, offering Jesus your heart and your trust one day at a time? This is the choice that makes all the difference.

Come as you are in this moment right now. As you hear Him whisper, “Come to me” consider how you can keep company with Jesus today. Let Jesus show you how to live in rest and rest in life.

What is Jesus saying to you about living in His unforced rhythms of grace?

Day Three: Holy Moments on Hard Days

This reflection features the most popular quote from my book, Holy in the Moment. I share this because Jesus strengthened me of this truth during the darkest moments of my sister’s battle with ALS.

“Not every moment is good but God is good in every moment.” —Holy in the Moment.

We don’t always feel holy in our hard moments when God’s goodness seems elusive.

“For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting and His faithfulness is to all generations” (Psalm 86:4-6). What does it look like to trust in God’s goodness in your life today?

It’s on our hard days that we need to practice the holy habit of remembering that God is good. Always good. Forever good.

Not every situation is good. Some situations are downright awful, the kind that threaten to unravel you to the core. I’ve had more than a few of these moments this past year. Maybe you have too.

I’m not talking about glossing over the gut-wrenching problems of life with shallow and trite religious clichés. Even when life’s tragedies cut across the grain of our hopes and dreams, God’s goodness prevails.

I can trust His heart even when I don’t understand why certain things happen. And when emotions rant and faith flounders, I can trust his faithfulness. The good news is that you can too.

Offer Jesus your honest feelings about a situation in your life that isn’t good. What is Jesus saying to you about the reality of God’s goodness in this very moment as it is?

Day Four: Holy Moments to Be Blessed

On days when consecration feels more like a cold code of conduct or a test to pass, consider the profound love expressed in these words: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him” (Ephesians 1:3-4).

“One of our spiritual blessings, holiness doesn’t depend on our ability to be perfect, although we often try. Holiness begins with a choice, a choice God made when He chose you.”—Holy in the Moment

In this world of comparison and competition, it’s easy to strive for what we already have in Christ: significance, love, acceptance, security, worth, and value. These are few of our precious spiritual benefits as well as our deepest, God-given needs.

Will you stop and savor the truth that God has chosen you? He loves you. He accepts you, not on the basis of your best days, but on the fact that you belong to Him. Tell yourself this truth: there is nothing you have to do to earn God’s approval when you are in Christ. He sees you as holy and blameless, clothed in the righteousness of Jesus.

On the days when this feels too good to be true, refuse to bow under the burden of perceived “not enough-ness.” Let your spiritual blessings lighten your load and strengthen your step. Don’t let the big or small issues of life rob you of precious gifts God has given you.

What is Jesus saying to you about the reality of your spiritual blessings today?

Day Five: Holy Moments to Pour Out Your Heart in Prayer

Prayer is a reverent offering, especially on our worst days and deepest heartbreaks. To offer up our prayer includes the meaning of presenting a gift or bringing with purpose. Pray with confidence in Christ, intentionally bringing your concerns to Him.

This act of offering is the same idea in which friends brought beggars and lame men to Jesus, people desperate for his healing touch. They brought the need to the source of help—a visible picture of prayer.

Pray passionately.

Pray hard.

Pray anywhere and everywhere.

Jesus prayed on hillsides, in lonely places, in the temple, and in the wilderness of temptation. He prayed in the early stillness of morning, and He prayed throughout many nights. Luke tells us Jesus regularly prayed in the garden of Gethsemane; just as He did on the night He was betrayed (Luke 22:39).

When the storms of life crash into your dreams, pray for commitment to obey, strength to put God’s will before your preferences. Christ learned obedience through suffering, submitting His desires to God’s perfect will. Christ’s obedient sacrifice was ushered in with prayer, “Yet not My will, but Yours be done.”

When we trust God in our suffering, choosing to pray and accept His will, we express our deepest worship.

What thoughts rise to the surface when you reflect on how Jesus prayed? What is Jesus saying to you about prayer today?

Day Six: Holy Moments for Commitment

“Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He will do it” (Psalm 37: 5 NASB).

Are you a morning person or a night owl? Is your personality extroverted or introverted, or somewhere in between? Maybe you are a list maker or do you prefer to go where the wind takes you? Do you struggle to curb your tongue, complete tasks, or get to work on time? Have you committed your ways to Jesus?

Whether your path is smooth or filled with bumps and unexpected turns, commit your way to the Lord. Make the holy choice to trust Him with the entire journey. Right in the middle of who you are and what you’re doing, this is where Jesus wants to be—with you in this holy moment.

What would it feel like to go all in with Jesus? Don’t hold back. Commit your way to the Lord and trust Him with the results.

Begin a conversation with Jesus with this simple prayer: “Lord, my way, my journey, and my life belong to You. I commit my way to You and I trust You with my life.”

Which area of life do you find the greatest challenge to commit to Jesus? What does Jesus want to say to you about that? 

How to Make the Most of These Devotions

Here are a few ideas for incorporating these short reflections to inspire moments for listening to Jesus.

1. Join me on Instagram or Facebook each day as part of your daily devotions.
2. Use a journal to record what you sense Jesus is saying to you each day.
3. Print out this post to use as a six day devotional for listening to Jesus.
4. Download and print the graphics to post as reminders, give to a friend, or paste into your journal.

Download and Print

Click here to download a PDF of the text and graphics. Let me know if you like having this kind of resource as part of the post! I’m trying something new and your feedback is really helpful.

*This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission, at no cost to you.

Holy in the Moment

Give the gift of holy this Easter. Discover the practical power of intentional choices to trust God in the moment. This is your moment to deepen your faith and freedom in Christ. Learn more. 

More Posts to Help You Listen to God

• When You Long for God to Speak to You
• Simple Ways to Meditate on God’s Word
• 8 Powerful Ways to Connect with God When He Is Silent
• Ignite Your Faith with Simple Truths for Listening to God
• Do You Struggle with Listening to God?
• Moments to Pray, Listen, and Think Bring Us Closer to God
• 15 Simple Ways to Overcome Distraction to Focus Your Attention on God (with printable)
• 10 Benefits of Reviewing What We Learn from God
• Simple Ways Silence Can Deepen Your Faith
• Discover Six Important Truths About Listening to Go

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