5. Troubleshooting & The Practice of Surfacing Nothing

What do you do when you get nothing or feel blank? 

Be honest! Then listen and notice. 

Whenever someone tells me they aren't getting anything, the reality is that they are getting something; it's just not at all what they were expecting. 

Here are two questions to ask yourself if and when you feel blank: 

1. What does it feel like to "be blank" or not get anything? Write down your answer. 
2. What does nothing or blank look like in your mind currently? Describe what you are picturing. Write down your answer. 
   

Now take the description of your "nothing" that you just wrote down and see it for the "something" that it is. What you described is actually something. 

Now to move forward in your listening practice, share honestly the "something" that just surfaced from your answers to the 2 questions. For example, you might have written down something like: "I feel frustrated and incapable, like this hearing God thing will work for everyone but me." 

Say that to God and then listen after this prompt, "Jesus, what do you know that I don't know?" Or "God, what's really going on behind what I'm feeling?" Record what comes to mind next. 

God uses far more than words to communicate. Feelings, imagery, and memories shape the way we use our words. 

Pay attention to all of it and notice that nothing is never nothing.