Have you ever noticed how certain things sometimes keep capturing your attention?
A sentence from a book.
A Scripture.
An image, phrase, or song that keeps circling back.
Something catches your attention and keeps bouncing around in your mind.
God Nudges
In the Divine Flow contemplative lifestyle, I call that a “God nudge.” I first wrote about God nudges in my book, Finding Flow: Spiritual Practices to Reclaim Inner Peace, Balance, and Wholeness.
God nudges (aka holy pokeys) are one way we learn to notice the Holy Spirit’s movement in our daily lives. A God nudge is one of those ordinary moments when something keeps grabbing our attention.
Most of us do one of two things with God nudges.
We ignore them. Or we overanalyze them.
We brush them off as nothing. Or we turn them into a mental project trying to figure them out.
But what if there’s a third option? What if we got curious?
What if what keeps returning to our heart, mind, or imagination is an invitation to pause and listen more deeply?
Learning to Pay Attention
Over the last few days, this Scripture verse kept coming to mind several times: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).
It wasn’t dramatic. It wasn’t a vision. It wasn’t a thunderbolt from heaven. It was just a phrase that kept rising up in me.
At first, I did what I often do: I went into overthinking mode. I wanted to figure out what the phrase meant, why it kept showing up, and what God might be trying to say.
That led to chasing my thoughts and getting confused.
Eventually, I realized the verse was a God nudge—something that kept capturing my attention and inviting me to listen more deeply.
So, I stopped trying to figure it out. I sat in the quiet and pondered the verse with God, asking:
God, what are you trying to teach me? What are you inviting me to notice?
I let the words move from my head into my heart. And slowly, I realized God was speaking to my fears—especially the fear that I might not be able to carry out the dreams He’s placed on my heart.
The verse became a reminder I needed: God will help me do the work He wants me to do.
This applies to all of us.
The dreams, callings, and holy invitations God places within us are not meant to be carried by our strength alone. We carry them through Christ, with Christ, and in Christ.
We are co-creators with God.
God plants the dream.
God provides the strength.
And we provide the footwork.
This revelation provided the courage I needed. Not the courage to try harder. But the courage to remember I’m not alone. I can do all things as I lean into God’s grace to lead, guide, and empower me.
The Gift of Imagination
St. Ignatius of Loyola teaches us to pay attention to what captures our attention.
He reminds us it’s okay to use our imaginations to experience God. Through imagination, we bypass some of our overthinking and move from the head into the heart space, where God often speaks in quieter, deeper ways.
God often speaks to us in the ordinary moments of our lives. Not just through burning bushes, angels, or dramatic religious experiences. But through the quiet tug. The repeated thought. The Scripture verse or song that keeps playing in our heads. The phrase that keeps whispering to us.
Let’s Get Curious
The key is learning how to listen without overthinking or forcing a meaning onto the God nudge.
That’s hard for many of us.
We want certainty. We want quick answers. We want God to speak in bullet points.
But the spiritual life rarely works that way. God often begins by gently getting our attention.
Something stirs. Something returns. Something keeps knocking at the door of our soul.
Instead of demanding an answer, we’re invited to become curious.
Curiosity opens the heart. Curiosity says, “I wonder what this might be showing me?”
Analysis says, “I need to figure this out.” Overthinking fills the space with more mental noise.
Curiosity creates open space for God to speak to us.
Ponder the Invitation
A God nudge is meant to awaken us, to get our attention. It’s like God’s saying, “Hello! I’m here. Are you listening?”
The nudge may be inviting us to heal something, release something, notice something, or become honest about something we’ve been avoiding.
It may be a doorway to deeper trust.
A nudge toward forgiveness.
An invitation to rest.
A call to step more fully into who God created us to be.
That doesn’t mean every random thought is a divine message. But it does mean our inner life is worth listening to.
Our attention is sacred ground. And when something keeps returning, we’re wise not to dismiss the nudge, but to pause and ponder it.
Your Turn
This week, notice what keeps capturing your attention.
A word or phrase.
A song.
A Scripture passage.
A question.
A repeated tug in your heart.
Don’t force an answer. Don’t turn it into a project.
Let yourself become curious.
Bring the nudge into your quiet time with these three questions:
- What keeps capturing my attention?
- Why might this be important right now?
- What invitation might be hidden in it?
Then listen. Not with pressure. Not with fear. But with curiosity. Because sometimes the God nudge that keeps capturing our attention is God’s gentle invitation for us to notice something deeper.
A word of courage.
A reminder of love.
A call toward healing.
A doorway into trust.
An invitation to take the next faithful step.
The Great Communicator
God is always communicating with us. Our invitation as co-creators with God is to take time to notice, pause, and listen with our hearts so God’s invitation becomes clear.
That’s how we step into the river of Divine Flow—the sacred place where we hear God’s voice of love and follow the wisdom that invites us to live our best life.
May your week be filled with lots of God nudges. And if you get one of those “holy pokeys,” shoot me an email and share your God nudge with me. I’d love to hear how God shows up in your life.
Your friend in the flow,
brian
“The Spirit always guides us toward our highest good. Our job is to be attentive to the presence of the Spirit, discern Its invitations, and respond to Its life-giving movements.”
Divine Flow: Reclaiming the Lost Art of Contemplation for Everyday Life
—brian plachta
P.S. You’re invited! Join me for a fun, laid-back Divine Flow Book Launch Party on Zoom on Tuesday, June 23 at 6:30 p.m. Grab your favorite beverage, hop into your virtual kayak, and come float down the River of Divine Flow with me and a few friends as we share stories of hope, transformation, and experiencing God in everyday life.
Everyone who attends live will be entered into a drawing for some free gifts.
Hope to see you on the river! Here’s the link to RSVP: https://www.brianplachta.com/booklaunch
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A quote from my upcoming book:
Divine Flow: Reclaiming the Lost Art of Contemplation for Everyday Life
“The Spirit always guides us toward our highest good. Our job is to be attentive to the presence of the Spirit, discern Its invitations, and respond to Its life-giving movements.”
If you pre-order Divine Flow before June 23 and email me your receipt to [email protected], I’ll send you these packages of bonuses worth over $50:
- The Divine Flow Journal and
- The Divine Flow Daily Reflections PDF
To learn more about my upcoming book Divine Flow: Click here
Links to Pre-Order:
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If you’re seeking a gentler start to your mornings—one you can carry with you into your day to find more inner peace—I invite you to join divineFlow Daily, a free short reflection and quote sent to your inbox each day. In under a minute, it’s meant to help you slow down, breathe, and remember what truly gives life before the noise sets in.
Sign up for divineFlow Daily here.
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