Shooting the Breeze
Listening is one of the greatest gifts we can give to another person. We all want to be understood. We all want to be listened to.
When we listen to someone, we’re saying, “You matter to me.”
When I listen to my children, when I listen to my wife, when I listen to anybody, I’m saying, “I value what you have to say. I value your opinion. You’re important to me.”
When I don’t listen to somebody I’m basically saying, “You don’t matter to me. You’re not important to me. What you have to say I don’t value.”
One of the ways we express love to anybody is by listening to them.
The same is true with God.
Every time we listen to God we’re saying, “God, You matter to me. I value what You have to say.”
Listening is the most misunderstood and left off part of prayer.
Most of us think that prayer is just talking to God. That’s only fifty-percent of prayer.
The other fifty-percent of prayer is shutting up and being quiet and letting God speak to us.
Usually we’re in too much of a hurry to do this. When we talk to God most of us do something like this, “Hi, God, it’s me. I’ve got ten things I need from You. Thank You. Over and out. Good bye.”
We don’t stop.
We don’t wait.
We don’t listen.
We don’t say, “God, do You have a few things to say to me?”
One of the most important steps we can take in listening to God is to set aside time for God.
All of us have pressure packed, deadline-filled schedules. Our days and our souls are filled with noise.
Perhaps the reason some of us can’t hear God is that our lives are so fast and so full and so noisy, that there is no room for God.
The reality is that God is speaking to us all the time. At least He’s trying to speak to us all the time.
Why don’t we ever hear Him?
Well, it’s because we’re not listening.
We don’t ever take the time.
We don’t ever get quiet.
We never pause in the middle of the day and say, “God, do You have anything to say to me right now?”
We need to not just take time to talk to God. We need to take time to listen to God.
We need to stop and pause because God is speaking.
Do you find it hard to listen to God?
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This post is part of a 4 part series on showing our love for God:
Part 1 God made you so He could love you
Part 2 Show your love for God by talking to Him
Part 3 Show your love for God by listening to Him.
Part 4 Show your love for God by giving to Him.
Related posts:
hi Kevin,
You pointed out a couple of really important of things to remember. Listening to someone shows you value them and their opinion.
And how can you claim someone didn’t ‘answer you’ just because you didn’t hang around long enough to hear that answer.
Great post, thanks
Mandy Swift @ Understanding Online Marketing recently posted..Getting Back To Basics – Understanding Your Online Marketing ‘A,B,C’
Listening is definitely a critical aspect in all relationships.
Thanks for sharing Mandy!
Kevin Martineau recently posted..Show your love for God by giving to Him
So I’m curious, how do you know it’s God talking to you and not your own thoughts? How do you distinguish between the two?
To learn to discern God’s voice I would suggest you begin spending time each morning reading the Bible whether you feel like it or not.
Begin with a prayer and ask God to speak to you and in time you will begin getting insights from the Bible that are relevant to your life and that still, silent voice that speaks to you then and reveals to you what the Word of God really means, will also begin speak to you when you are in other situations.
Miriam @ Christian Stress Management recently posted..How to Fight for your Job with Bible Verses
Most times I don’t because I have learnt that just a few seconds in the Lord’s presence even when I am running late can save me hours of stress during the day.
Miriam @ Christian Stress Management recently posted..How to Fight for your Job with Bible Verses
Jim Jones and David Koresh both read the Bible every day and both of them felt that God was speaking to them. I know we disagree on quite a bit but I hope we can all agree they were both nuts. The consequences of their claims of hearing God’s voice were quite severe for people who followed them.
I’m immediately suspicious when someone claims to hear God speaking to them. I know I’ll never hear God speaking to me. I wonder about the claims of people who do. Could God command you to say go kill someone? There is Biblical support in the OT for God doing just that.
So again my question, how do you know you’re not hearing your own thoughts echoed back to you? What does it sound like to hear God’s voice?
Hello Kevin, I’m so glad you brought up this very much needed point. I can say from personal experience that it never fails, when I pray and I choose to be silent and listen, God always speaks to me. That’s when I choose to- if i’m not in a hurry. If i’m not trying to get my words out and hurry God. But when I choose to get quiet and hear God’s voice, he’ll speak to me. And not only that, there are times when God speaks to us and we dismiss his instruction… In God’s Word, he says, “Today, when you hear my voice, harden not your heart…”
It’s important for us to listen and hear God and not just give him, as you said, our list of things that we want and be done and out. Because what happens, is the next day the same thing happens. Rinse and repeat. And over time you know what happens, our prayers are stacking up. They’re being put on hold because we’re not following the instructions that comes with those prayers. I wonder how many prayers we have that are stacking up because God is waiting to get a word in edge-wise. hmmm…
This is a very key point, Kevin… Thanks for sharing and reminding us.
God bless ya man!
Jarrod @ Optimistic Journey recently posted..Find the Lessons in Your Failures
It is amazing how many times we miss hearing God’s voice because we are too busy or too distracted.
Thanks for sharing Jarrod!
Kevin Martineau recently posted..Favourite Links Friday: 6 awesome posts to check out!
There is so much suffering so that we can learn from our mistakes. If there was no sufferiing, the world would become reckless and no one would give a damn.Thanks for sharing this inspiring post..
Thanks for sharing Cynthia!
Kevin Martineau recently posted..Missing opportunities
Actually, I don’t usually have difficulty listening to/hearing Him. It may sound nuts, but there’s one place in my head where His Words and instructions are very direct and distinct. I occasionally might want to avoid them [the instructions], but that would only be b/c He is asking me to do something I don’t want to do [or NOT do something I DO want to do]. Over the years, of course, I have been blessed to experience His faithfulness and outpouring of wisdom to me. Consequently, 99.9% of the time I do try to listen and follow His straightforward guidance. [And I do repent of what I’ve refused to accept; He’s more important than anything any time, and I need to always keep that in mind. Obedience is a “good” thing.
Joanne Norton recently posted..PRESSURE…PEACE….PURPOSE
What are you describe here is what Jesus talked about when He said His sheep hear His voice. If we get familiar with His voice we will hear it!
Thanks for sharing Joanne!
Kevin Martineau recently posted..4 ways to teach your kids to value integrity
This is because without that communication between you and God, you will soon find yourself drifting further and further away from God. And as the distance between you and God increases, your heart will indeed become harder and the ways of the world will begin to become ever more important.
Mika Castro recently posted..sms
Great points Mika! We will definitely drift away from God without constant communication with Him.
Thanks for sharing.
Kevin Martineau recently posted..Write your hurts in the sand, carve your blessings in stone!
Thanks for sharing this inspiring text! I think the biggest problem is that nowadays people don’t have the time to chill out and listen to the voice of god. We are working all the time, for that money to pay the bill and we forget about the peace of our mind.
Catwoman recently posted..fogpótlás
Very true Catwoman! That’s why it is important to make the time to stop and listen.
Thanks for sharing!
Kevin Martineau recently posted..Do you appreciate your spouse?
God love to reveal himself to us. He is less ashame of us then we are of him. If you don’t believe in him he will show himself to you. He answer all prayer, and there isn’t one prayer he doesn’t answer. Just because he didn’t give it to you doesn’t mean he didn’t answer your prayer. He give you an answer in many diffrent way, and form. If you don’t believe in him he will love to reveal to you so just pour water in the bathtub, and try to walk on it he’ll show you that he exist. He made people speaking in tounge not for themself it’s for the unbeliever, and he want you to know that he is real. He made us just so we can know him. You just got to look for him, and he said if anybody look for him they shall find him. If you want to find out he’s real you could easily find him just seek God, and you shall find it.