Blackbird Singing in the Dead of Night:
What to Do When God Won’t Answer
By Gregory L. Hunt
Blackbird Singing in the Dead of Night was conceived not only to let you eavesdrop on Greg Hunt’s experience during a transformative time in his life, but also to invite you into deepened reflection about your own life and relationship with God. Here are some suggestions for getting the most out of your experience with the book.
1. Choose a time for reading when your energy and attention is at its best.
2. Find a place where you can read quietly and without distractions.
3. Have a Bible handy so that you can refer to biblical references that appear throughout the book.
4. Consider using a journal to record responses and prayers that grow out of your reading.
5. Read and reflect on one chapter per day.
6. Before each reading, ask God’s Spirit to enliven your reading, prompting you toward awareness and response as God sees fit. One way to do this is to precede each reading with the prayer of Samuel (I Samuel 3:10): “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.”
7. Open your Bible to the focal text in Matthew that begins each chapter. This will give you ready access to the full biblical story within which the focal text appears.
8. Follow the train of Greg’s thought with a willing spirit, but pay attention to your own impressions as well.
9. Flag words and phrases that strike a responsive chord. Write in the margins of your book, if you’re so inclined.
10. Pause between chapters and ask: What questions does this chapter raise for me? What thoughts, feelings, or wants does this chapter evoke in me?
11. As you feel led by God’s Spirit, make inward commitments to do what that day’s scripture or book chapter prompts you to do.
12. In your closing prayer, invite God’s ongoing work in you in light of that day’s reading.
What to Do When God Won’t Answer
By Gregory L. Hunt
Blackbird Singing in the Dead of Night was conceived not only to let you eavesdrop on Greg Hunt’s experience during a transformative time in his life, but also to invite you into deepened reflection about your own life and relationship with God. Here are some suggestions for getting the most out of your experience with the book.
1. Choose a time for reading when your energy and attention is at its best.
2. Find a place where you can read quietly and without distractions.
3. Have a Bible handy so that you can refer to biblical references that appear throughout the book.
4. Consider using a journal to record responses and prayers that grow out of your reading.
5. Read and reflect on one chapter per day.
6. Before each reading, ask God’s Spirit to enliven your reading, prompting you toward awareness and response as God sees fit. One way to do this is to precede each reading with the prayer of Samuel (I Samuel 3:10): “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.”
7. Open your Bible to the focal text in Matthew that begins each chapter. This will give you ready access to the full biblical story within which the focal text appears.
8. Follow the train of Greg’s thought with a willing spirit, but pay attention to your own impressions as well.
9. Flag words and phrases that strike a responsive chord. Write in the margins of your book, if you’re so inclined.
10. Pause between chapters and ask: What questions does this chapter raise for me? What thoughts, feelings, or wants does this chapter evoke in me?
11. As you feel led by God’s Spirit, make inward commitments to do what that day’s scripture or book chapter prompts you to do.
12. In your closing prayer, invite God’s ongoing work in you in light of that day’s reading.