Are You Listening?

"Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul." (Psalm 143:8) 

We all have a desire to truly hear our Master’s voice, and hearing God’s voice should be as natural as hearing your best friend talk to you. When you talk to God, how clearly do you hear Him? What do you want to hear from Him? I believe learning to hear the voice of God is a (listening) skill we acquire based on our faith through scripture and prayer…

… the Bible is one of the main tools through which He speaks, and reading scripture 

is the primary way that God communicates; it is God's instruction book for all of us.

… God often speaks to us through prayer, and listening to God requires the right 

attitude in our hearts, and a commitment to understand His message. Once 

we’ve prepared our hearts to listen to prayer, we are more likely to hear His voice.

God speaks to us frequently, but only when we are listening. I wonder how God feels when He is trying to communicate something important to us, and we are not listening? In Joshua 1:7-8, God's word to Joshua is that we must follow His words to be a success in His eyes, because it is His opinion that lasts forever! "Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law that my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this book of the law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful in everything written in it."

God listens and sends us a message in many different ways when we are fully surrendered to Him. We must choose to center our lives on Him daily through thoughtful prayer and reading the Bible so that we can follow His guidelines in every situation. Too many times we find excuses that delay us from spending time in worship and daily scripture, and listen only to what we want to hear. But if we want to truly live our lives in faith and trust in Him, we must listen to God with all ears regardless of what He is saying! If we listen very closely and look all around us, we nearly always hear the voice of God or get an indirect message from Him every time we are in need or He is trying to lay something upon our hearts. In "What Happens When Women Say Yes To God", Lysa TerKeurst says it best, "When God is speaking to me about a particular issue, I cannot escape it. Around every corner there is a sermon or bible study lesson or speaker's topic or conversation with a friend that is consistent with what I've been hearing from God in my time alone with Him."

"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:13

God uses lots of things to talk to us, and He can be found when you seek Him with all of your heart; we need to keep our thoughts and our hearts open to hear His message, and be quick to obey so that He will direct and keep us on the right path. Hearing from God isn’t so much a matter of if He’s talking, but rather whether we are listening! He waits for our willing response to His call, and delights in our continuous conversations with Him throughout the day. If we want to hear God’s voice then we must be ready to listen! In order for us to grow in our relationship with Him, we must draw near to Him and trust that He wants to personally speak to us. Listening and responding to God is our most important time with Him because… He hears…He answers…He’s always there!

"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." (Revelation 3:20)

"Sharing His Beauty" with Joan today at "The Beauty in His Grip"...

...and linking up with Hazel at "A Joyful Noise"