God has spoken, who is listening? Our prayers are so often simply a recitation of things we want God to do. If you spoke to a friend the way we do to God would your friend ever want to talk to you again? Have you ever had a friend who talked non-stop about themselves and hardly gave you a chance to speak? Too often we complain about God not speaking to us but do ever stop to listen? How do we hear Him?
God Has Spoken
In Hebrews 1: 1-2 we learn how God speaks to us.
"God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;"
God speaks to us through the words of His Son. When we are unhappy and feel like God is not "answering" us, we should ask ourselves, "Have we spent time reading what Jesus said? Have we been open to the Holy Spirit to show us through the words of our Lord what is His will?"
Patience To Listen
Sometimes we aren't patient enough to listen. Maybe because we just aren't honestly interested in what God has to say. Maybe because we have already decided what His answer should be and we don't want to be corrected. If we come before the Lord with humility and read His word prayerfully, we will hear Him. Then the next step is to be obedient to what He says.
The Holy Spirit Helps Us Listen
In 1 Corinthians 2:10-12 Paul says we have received the Holy Spirit so that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. The Holy Spirit teaches us wisdom. The Holy Spirit helps us to discern the will of God, the voice of God, if you will. The Holy Spirit literally speaks to us from God's word.
When we read the Bible, we automatically hear the words. Hearing requires no action on our part, it is passive. We don't really try to hear sounds; we just hear them. Listening is different. Listening does require action. When we listen, we pay attention and we respond to what we hear.
God Listens To Us
Our loving God is a God who listens. In Psalm 34: 17 we read,
"The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles."
The righteous are those who have put their faith in Jesus and try to live according to His word. The Lord listens and the Lord responds.
Listen And Respond
We also are expected to listen and respond. In James 1: 22-25 James says that we can't just hear the words of our Lord but we must act on them, we must be doers. That requires us to listen. He says if we are only hearers then we deceive ourselves. I know from experience in school that you can look intently at the speaker and literally hear the sounds coming from their mouth but still not listen to anything they have to say. Do we listen to our Lord or do we just hear Him?
In Matthew 17 we read the story of the transfiguration of Jesus. A voice from Heaven tells the disciples that Jesus is "my beloved Son, listen to Him." Today Jesus speaks to us just as He did two thousand years ago. Today we are blessed to have the Holy Spirit to help us to understand His words but now, just as then, we must listen, not just hear.
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