"PREPARING THE WAY" - #1 IN "HOLY CONVERSATION" SERIES (July 27, 2008)

President Franklin D Roosevelt got tired of smiling that big smile and saying the usual things at all those White House receptions. So, one evening he decided to find out whether anybody was actually listening and paying attention to what he was saying. As each person came up to him with extended hand, he flashed that big smile and said, “I murdered my grandmother this morning.” People would automatically respond with comments such as “How lovely!” or “Just continue with your great work!” Nobody listened to what he was saying, except one foreign diplomat. When the president said, “I murdered my grandmother this morning,” the diplomat responded softly, “I’m sure she had it coming to her.”

(Flight Attendant giving instructions about oxygen mask)

It is true that one of the keys to life and good relationships is effective communication. And for effective communication to occur, there must be effective listening. This is true not only in developing relationships with one another, but in our relationship with God as well.

There are devices that people can purchase to put in their offices that generate white noise. This white noise offers more privacy because people can not hear conversations that are taking place in the office that has a noise generator. This is very interesting. No wonder we strain to hear what God has to say to us. Our lives are filled with little noises, soft, inward, ambient thoughts and fears and attitudes. These trick the ears of our mind and masks God’s still, small voice.

This reminds me of a story about a park ranger at Yellowstone National Park. The ranger was leading a group of hikers to a fire lookout and as he was progressing up the trail he was busily telling them about the flowers and animals that he could see. During his talk he was distracted by his 2-way radio so he switched it off. Nearing the lookout tower, the ranger was met by a nearly breathless ranger from the tower who asked why he had not responded to the messages on his radio. He said it was because it was distracting. The breathless lookout told him that they had spotted a grizzly bear stalking the group on the way up to the tower and they were trying to warn him of the impending danger. Anytime we tune out the messages God is sending to us, we put at peril, not only ourselves, but those around us. Open communication with God is extremely important to our well being.

Why do we study the Bible? Why do we pray? Why do we worship?

The process looks something like this:

• COMMUNICATION: Listening to God
• COMPREHENSION: Understanding what God says
• CONFIDENCE: Trusting in what God says
• CHANGE: Being transformed by what God says

Without this process of communication, there simply cannot be any real spiritual change in the life of man. Because of this, God is deeply concerned about how well we listen when we are listening.

I. The Importance Scripture Places on Listening to God

A. Have you ever noticed how often the Bible emphasizes the idea of listening?

B. It is a concept that is repeated over and over in a variety of ways.

C. This is obviously not without purpose.

1. The specific phrase "hear the Word of the Lord" occurs 24 times

2. We also find a number of comments like "Incline your ear," or "give ear" and similar expressions used in various ways to call humanity to listen intently to God.

3. In the New Testament, the Lord warns us to consider carefully what you hear (Mk. 4:24) and how you hear

4. The words "today, if ye will hear his voice," are found three times in Hebrews and once in the Old Testament

5. Seven times, once in each of the letters to the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3 we read "He that hath an ear let him hear"

D. We find that often there are reasons that we do not hear or listen as we should.

1. Martha was too busy with other things.

2. Note the parable of the sower in MARK 4:18-19

18And others are those sown among the thorns: these are the ones who hear the word, 19but the cares of the world, and the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it yields nothing.

3. The lesson is obvious: We are to listen so we can learn to trust the Lord.

4. To fail to listen shows our determination to pursue life through our own resources and foolishness.

JAMES 1:19 - You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger;

PROV 22:17-19

In “My Utmost For His Highest” devotion by Oswald Chambers for February 12th reads:
They said to Moses, ’You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die’ ` —Exodus 20:19

We don’t consciously and deliberately disobey God— we simply don’t listen to Him. God has given His commands to us, but we pay no attention to them— not because of willful disobedience, but because we do not truly love and respect Him. "If you love Me, keep My commandments" (John 14:15). Once we realize we have constantly been showing disrespect to God, we will be filled with shame and humiliation for ignoring Him.

"You speak with us, . . . but let not God speak with us . . . ." We show how little love we have for God by preferring to listen to His servants rather than to Him. We like to listen to personal testimonies, but we don’t want God Himself to speak to us. Why are we so terrified for God to speak to us? It is because we know that when God speaks we must either do what He asks or tell Him we will not obey. But if it is simply one of God’s servants speaking to us, we feel obedience is optional, not imperative. We respond by saying, "Well, that’s only your own idea, even though I don’t deny that what you said is probably God’s truth."

Am I constantly humiliating God by ignoring Him, while He lovingly continues to treat me as His child? Once I finally do hear Him, the humiliation I have heaped on Him returns to me. My response then becomes, "Lord, why was I so insensitive and obstinate?" This is always the result once we hear God. But our real delight in finally hearing Him is tempered with the shame we feel for having taken so long to do so.

Listening to God - Preparing Your Heart to Hear Him

Listening to God is like listening to anyone-before you can hear Him, you must be ready to listen. Just as in a conversation, you cannot hear the other person if you are talking or if your mind is distracted. So it is with God. If you want to hear Him speak, you must be quiet and you must be focused on what He is saying. Regular conversation with God can transform your life! Consider identifying a place and time to meet with God everyday.

Prayer is how you begin a conversation with God. Think of it as saying "hello."

Listening to God - How Can I Hear Him?

Listening to God requires a deliberate choice to shut out the chaos around us and focus our thoughts. Is God someone you can hear? The Bible says He is, and the Bible is one of the main tools through which He speaks.

We live in a world of noise. Almost everywhere we go, we find sounds competing with our minds, keeping us from letting our thoughts get below the surface level. Hearing God's voice means not listening to the noise of the world around us. It's not easy, but it can be done.

King David, author of most of the book of Psalms, gave us a model for meeting with God, "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).

He sought God's direction in the morning, at the beginning of the day. Like a general in God's army, he wanted to hear from his Commanding Officer before he entered into battle. Beginning each day fresh with God is a great reminder that, as the Scripture says, His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22, 23). You must find the time of day that works for you, but morning is the best time if that is possible.

Do you want to hear God speak to you? Listening to God requires regular Bible reading, since the Bible is the Word of God.

Listening to God - Get the Picture

Listening to God requires a heart committed to understand His message. God often speaks to us in visual images. Consider the example of the prophet Habakkuk, in Habakkuk chapter 2. The prophet longed to hear from God! He was so determined that he was willing to stand and wait as long as it took. "I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me…" (Habakkuk 2:1).

Habakkuk found that God was faithful. "Then the LORD replied, 'Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay" (Habakkuk 2:2).

Listening to God - What Now?

Listening to God requires a right attitude in our hearts. In order to listen to God and receive His instruction, we must want to do His will, much as Habakkuk did. God honors the heart that is fully surrendered to Him. If we are stubbornly clinging to our own desires, we are likely to get a garbled message that will not be God's voice at all. As a result, we are likely to continue pursuing a path that is contrary to the one God has designed for our lives.

Psalm 40:8 says, "I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart."

Do you desire God's will for your life above every other desire? If you do, you can trust that He will direct your path. Listen to His message, and be quick to obey. Write down what He tells you and be ready to share it so that others may understand.

When you listen to God and obey Him, you will discover a life that is full and rich with purpose, confident you are following the Master's plan.

Hearing God's Voice - Are You Ready to Listen?

Hearing God's voice is something we all long for-but did you know that it's not hard to do? In fact, God wants you to hear His voice! He doesn't speak to us through a quiver in our liver or through vibes or mediums. Hearing the voice of God is as natural as hearing your best friend talk to you. What's more, we can hear Him everyday and not just on special occasions or by chanting special incantations. He speaks to us in the natural moments of life. Do you want to hear God's voice? Then you must be ready to listen.

God’s voice does not come in the thunder, or lightening, or the mighty rushing wind, but in the still small voice, the whisper. (1 Kings 19:12)

Hearing God's Voice - Why Do You Want to Hear Him?

Why do you want to hear God's voice? That may sound like a silly question, but motives are important in anything we do. The Bible says this about God's Word: "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12)

Do you want to hear God's voice? If you do, it's possible you're hearing Him already, for He may be the one giving you the longing to hear Him.

Does God talk to us? Can we actually perceive God communicating with us? Absolutely! God does not typically speak in an audible voice, but he most certainly is speaking with us. The voice of God whispers directly into our heart and soul, guiding us, counseling us and comforting us. But are we listening, or are we too busy talking? God will not scream at us to pay attention, so if we are too preoccupied with our own thoughts, His gentle voice will be drowned out.

Our prayer time must consist of listening as well as speaking. We need to attentively reach for that small voice and eagerly let it guide us. In quiet prayer, ask God to reveal his will and then listen patiently for His response. The more often you do this, the easier it will become.

However, if you fail to do this, you will miss out on the advice and direction God is offering. Worse still, your relationship will suffer, just as a marriage suffers when one partner simply refuses to listen.

This deterioration of our relationship with God is a steep downward slope. If you consistently fail to pay attention to what God is telling you, it will get progressively harder to make out his will against the background noise of your own desires. It may become so difficult that you will no longer believe that God even speaks at all.

Let me close with a powerful example from Erwin Raphael McManus. His son Aaron had run into trouble at camp and was preparing to leave. In a final effort to convince him to stay, Erwin had the following conversation.

I asked him a simple question: "Aaron, is there any voice inside you telling you what you should do?"

He paused and then responded, "Yes."

"What's the voice telling you?"

"That I should stay and work it out."

I asked him, "Can you identify that voice?"

He immediately said, "Yes, It's God."

It was the moment I had waited for. I didn't expect it to come under those circumstances. Nevertheless, it was there. I turned to Aaron and said, "Aaron, do you realize what just happened? You just heard the voice of the living God. He spoke to you from within your soul. Forget everything else that just happened. God has spoken to you, and you were able to recognize Him."

I'll never forget his response: "Well, I'm still not doing what He said."

I explained to him that was his choice, but this is what would happen. If he rejected the voice of God and chose to disobey His guidance, his heart would become hardened, and his ears would become dull. And if he continued on this path, there would be a day when he would never again hear the voice of God. There would come a day when he would deny that God even speaks or has ever spoken to him. But if he treasured God's voice and responded to Him with obedience, then his heart would be softened, and his ears would always be able to hear the whisper of God into his soul. (Erwin Raphael McManus, The Barbarian Way, pp. 87-88, Thomas Nelson, 2005)

God does speak to us and we have to prepare our hearts and our minds to listen. We do so through preparing to hear God by developing a closer relationship with God:

• Prayer
• Reading God’s Word
• Fellowship with other believers
• Silence

Next week we will continue in this series of how to more effectively listen to God.