An excerpt from Christine's new book "About The Voice of God" which will be released in July.

God’s invitation is to know and be known. To seek to know someone means that we must lay down our personal agenda, open our hearts to receive who they are, and gaze. Learning to be with God in this way will take a lifetime, and this is a gift. It’s a marvelous invitation! It helps to remember that pushing aside our agenda is an act of love in and of itself. When we have a plan, timetable, or blueprint for our relationship with God, we are treating Him with disrespect. When we think we can manipulate Him to encounter us a certain way, we presume too much. But when we open our hearts to simply receive Him, in whatever way He desires to be with us, then we are making our soul a hospitable place for the divine. 

It’s in our original design to connect with God. So, in our deepest, most authentic self, we can’t not know Him. As St. Augustine says, “Thou hast made us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee.”

He’s always near, always present, and always communicating. He started this conversation, and we’re just joining in. When our agendas are put aside and the criticism of our own humanity is quieted, we’re free to simply love Him. When we’re trying to get something from Him, our heart shifts into striving, and it ceases receiving. When we despise our own neediness or pervert our longing into a defect, we keep ourselves locked inside our self-condemning, striving cage. 

When we are just seeking to love Him and know Him, our soul opens in delight. The rest is up to God. How He meets us, if, when, and how He communicates something specifically to us, and whether He allows us to sense His presence physically are all up to Him. The part that’s up to us is our attention and our love.

Coupling our attention with love is the essence of all worship. When we turn our attention toward God, open our heart to receive Him, and let love rise up within our soul, we are very close to discovering our purpose for existence.