Listening to God

Listening To God
October 15, 2005

I was sitting on my outdoor deck looking at a full moon tonight. The stillness and quietness was wonderful. Ever so slowly stars became visible. To see the stars all I had to do was wait and watch. I could not make them visible. All I could do was recognize them. God like the stars wants to be visible to us. He longs to know us--to be in friendship with us. Yet we have formed ourselves to value so many lesser things. We live in an inverted world. Our Teacher points this out when He say to gain we must lose and to be great we must be a servant. To hear God I must apply the principal of inversion. Rather than turn my attention to me I must turn it another. Now I don't know about you but I have listened to me all my life and enjoy my voice and my ideas. To turn away from me is a colossal task. But if I am to learn the voice of Jesus I must turn from me to Him.

Old car radios required you to turn a knob to tune into your favorite station. If you were to get in between stations there would be much static. To clear the static you must move the knob ever so little until the music becomes crystal clear. Listening to God is like this. You must turn from your station to His—intentionally. Even though you like your station and have been a faithful listener all your life to hear God you have to change channels. Once you get on God’s frequency then you will need to turn the volume up so His voice drowns out all distractions.

Exercises to Help You Listen to God
1. You must want to hear from God—do you? Read Ps. 25:4-5 and ask God to teach you His ways and to show you His paths. Ask Him to deepen your hunger for Him.
2. When you are with Him do not hurry. Take time to linger with Him. Don’t rush. Hurrying is one way to distract you from His voice.
3. Outside of the Bible, I believe God most often speaks to us in the form of thoughts. He gives us ideas. When you are learning to be with Him and recognize His voice be attentive to the thoughts that enter your mind. At first you will be overwhelmed with the voice of your own mind. You may even want to record some of your thoughts in a journal for later reference.
4. Take time to listen to God when you are not doing your regular bible reading and prayer. The novice often reads the bible and prays for legalistic reasons: to impress others or God. This hinders one from hearing the voice of God. Do your bible reading and prayer then allow time for just sitting with God, for listening to God.
5. Persevere and you will make tremendous progress.