When He Whispers: Learning to Listen on the Journey

By Linnea Boese

Does God really speak to us today? Linnea became desperate to hear him, to learn to listen for his voice instead of just mouthing prayers. She found that the spiritual disciplines of solitude and silence opened the way for her to practice listening, and she chronicled her journey in poems. This collection shares key elements of that journey. Come listen with her and find consolation, hope and rest!

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Apr 15, 2021
• ISBN: 9781664224094

Linnea Boese

Linnea Boese has spent most of her life in Africa. She grew up there as the daughter of medical missionaries. Dr. Dwight and Barbara Slater, and she and her husband Glenn worked in northern Côte d’Ivoire as missionaries with WorldVenture for 40 years. Her ministry focused mainly on linguistics and partnering with a team in Bible translation for the least-reached Nyarafolo people. The New Testament, Pentateuch and Psalms are now in print, in Nyarafolo! In order to be equipped for this project, Linnea added an M.A. in linguistics and an M.Div. to her B.A. in journalism. She truly loves words, especially the Word. During the journey she has found herself responding most readily to what the Lord is saying by picking up her pen. Now retired and living in Detroit, a current goal is to “tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders he has done”(Ps 78:4 NIV).

Book preview

Copyright © 2021 Linnea Boese.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means,

graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by

any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author

except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

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Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

844-714-3454

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in

this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views

expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the

views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are

models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Interior Image Credit: Tom Harpootlian; Linnea Boese

Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International

Version® NIV® Copyright © 1973 1978 1984 2011 by Biblica, Inc.

TM. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

ISBN: 978-1-6642-2410-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-2409-4 (e)

WestBow Press rev. date: 04/15/2021

Dedicated to my partner in life and ministry,

Glenn Boese,

who has helped me with technical issues

and constant encouragement.

His patience with this bookworm and pen-in-hand listener

is one of the reasons I have been free to devote my time

to listening, and to putting this all together.

Many thanks to Amber Beery,

for the gift of her time to edit the manuscript,

and to Tom Harpootlian,

for his beautiful photos to illustrate the poems.

(Three photos were taken in Africa by me, pp. 30, 80 and 98)

Contents

Introduction

1 LEARNING TO LISTEN

Waiting for Word

Be Silent

Finding Him in the Noise

Grateful, Listening

Solitude at the Beach

If He Comes

Time Apart

His Face

Other Food

The Throne of Grace

In the Silence

One Sure Thing

Shouts of Joy

2 WAITING – OR NOT

Cones and Reservoirs

Ant Lions

Cave

The Shape of You

Contemplation

The Alert Wait

Waiting for Dawn in the Grove

Waiting for the Master

3 WHAT HE SAID

Fixed Thoughts

Hang in There, He Said

All I Have is Yours

Praying Hosea 11

Open Up or Hold Back?

Prayer Wrestler

New Clothes

4 WHEN IT’S HARD

Download

Psalm on Mean Street

Refuge

Pressure

I Am That Ewe

Turning the Other Cheek

In the Wind

The Cleansing

The Watched Pot

The Rain

5 HEARING THE VOICE IN NATURE

Look Up

Higher Things

Reminder to My Soul

What I Would Rather Be

This Is What I Hear Today

Morning Shade

Morning Hope

Daybreak Shower

Cool Breeze

Stillness

6 THE CONVERSATION

When I Pray

Prayer Circle: Jesus Intercedes

A Table Set Before Me

Mourning

Sensing God

Taste the Glory!

GLOSSARY(Note: individual words marked by italics are included in the glossary.)

Introduction

As I launch this venture of sharing a very intimate pilgrimage with you readers, I want to challenge you to walk the journey with me. Some of you are way ahead of me in learning