o you suppose God hit me with a telephone pole to get my attention? The truth is, I ran into a telephone pole while jogging, and it broke my nose. That began a significant chain of events. But Im getting ahead of myself.

I was reading about Moses and how he got anxious to be a leader. This led me back to what Claude King and Henry Blackaby teach. It got me to thinking about how "waiting on God" actually works. I looked back through Experiencing God and found eight things we need to do to adjust to God. I applied them to what happened in my neighborhood.

1. God takes the initiative by causing us to want to pray. I started prayerwalking before I knew it had a name. I started jogging while I was in my mid-40s. One rainy night I was running late. I cut across a corner, slipped in the mud and tumbled face first into a telephone pole. Sitting past midnight with an ice pack on my swollen nose, I decided jogging was not for me. I read that walking at a fast pace was just about as good. So I got up early each morning and slowed to a fast walk.

With 30 minutes a day spent walking I was led to pass the time in prayer. Every morning I prayed as I walked.

I met a fellow church member while out one morning.

"Dont you have a radio to listen to?" he asked.

"I spend this time praying," I said.

"Well, be sure to pray for me when you go by my house."

So I did. In fact I thought it was a good idea. I began praying for each Christian family I knew in our neighborhood. Then I decided to start praying for the non-Christians I knew.

2. The Holy Spirit takes the Word of God and reveals to us the will of God. The next Sunday our pastor preached on "Churches Without Walls." He encouraged us to start Bible studies in our homes. I was already teaching on Sunday morning. Wasnt that enough? As I continued to listen I felt strongly that God was speaking to me through the pastor and His Word. I knew this was something I could do.

3. In the Spirit we pray in agreement with the will of God. Thats what I did. Each morning, as I walked, I prayed for my neighbors. I asked God to show me what I was to do.

4. We adjust our life to the truth (to God). My wife and I determined that we would open our home for a Bible study.

5. We look and listen for confirmation or further direction from the Bible, circumstances and the church. Our pastor followed up with several weeks of sermons on "Churches Without Walls." Then my neighbor right across the street came home with an antique Bible, an old concordance and a Bible dictionary. He brought the books to show to me.

"Dudley, do you think God is telling you something?"

He looked at me a little perplexed, then grinned and answered, "I think He may be."

"Would you like to come to a weekly Bible study?" I asked.

"Let me think about it."

We left it there for the moment. I truly believe we dont listen enough. We are so anxious to say something, we often dont hear those who are saying, "I would like to know God."

Two days later, as I was walking and praying two blocks from home, a man stopped me. "I understand you and Dudley are going to get together for a Bible study. Im a Christian, and I know Dudley isnt, but Id like to come. What are you going to study?"

6. We obey. Our conversation continued. "Ive been thinking about the book of John."

"When are you going to start?"

"How about next week?"

"Ill be there."

7. God works in us to accomplish His purpose. At the end of the second session, Dudley asked, "Would it be all right if I asked Ben to come? I told him about our study. Hes not a Christian, but he has a lot of questions."

8. We experience Him just as the Spirit revealed as we pray. Were up to four in the study. I know we now have two men who need to know Jesus, both of them well-known in the community.

Experience God while prayerwalking. Try it. Its amazing what God will do if we dont rush ahead of Him but patiently wait and listen. But do watch out for the telephone poles.