Thank you, Hulk, for your comments regarding the ego. When we set it aside, we sense better Allah's guidance and will, don't we? I am finding this to be more and more true with age.
Feeling Allah's guidance (one example):
Last spring, after a 10 hour day at work, I began my 40 minute drive home...after buying food for my family. I live in the country and came across an elderly couple in the middle of nowhere. Instantaneously, I knew I was supposed to help them. I didn't really want to stop. All I wanted was to go home to my family and be with them. There was no voice...no pillar of fire...just God telling me, somehow, that this was what I was supposed to do. I said aloud, with a smile: " Okay. I hear and will obey".
I did it with love and joy in my heart, being filled with God's motivation. As it turns out, this couple had to be in the city for a legal case. They had a ride up there, but no way home. I loaded them up and drove them the 3 hours round trip to their home further south. When I got there, I helped the lady take her backpack indoors. They lived in a mobile home and they had explained with the economy that neither had work for 6 months. When I put the bottled water they had in the backpack into their refrigerator, I quickly saw their fridge was empty and that their cupboards were bare. They both looked emaciated and had no food.
Although they protested, I took the groceries I had and stocked their larders. I didn't have much cash on me, but what I had, I gave to them...maybe enough to fill their car with gas. (They couldn't afford the gas to get into the city)
When I began to leave, the wife called me an angel. I told her: "I am but a man, a mere tool in God's hand, But I was led today to help you. May you do the same when God leads you to".
I drove the 90 minutes home, feeling very grateful that I have the facilities (through Allah's grace) to help those who He calls on me to aid. God is great!
This is what I refer to as God-consciousness, a term I have held dearly, but was afraid to use here until I heard Dr. Naik use it in one of his lectures recently.
The best spiritual advise I have ever receievd: In prayer, stop talking and start listening.
Love and peace to all, especially those who trudged through this lengthy post...This is, to me, an example of a time when I felt God's guidance.