Listening: January 9, 2014

TODAY’S WORD FOR THURSDAY JANUARY 9, 2014.

LISTENING

DEFINITION:

Hear; heed; pay attention.

SCRIPTURE:

Hear, O My people, and I will admonish you! O Israel, if you will listen to me. Psalm 81:8

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Are you a listener? When people talk to you do you let them complete their thoughts or do you interrupt and start talking?

As parents, we learned early in our marriage the importance of listening. Every night at dinner, as we told you yesterday, we set aside a time for listening to each of our six children. We asked each one to tell us to share the events of their day with us all. The results were several. Each sibling developed a concern for the others. There was wonderful bonding that is still there today. But for us, as parents, we could listen for concerns that one of our children was facing or even hurts that were bothering them. This allowed us to talk with them, one on one, allowing that child to work out his or her concerns

One of the most important lessons we can learn is how to listen to God. Many people think, however, that in this hectic world we live in they do not have the time. But nothing is more urgent, nothing more important, nothing more necessary and nothing more rewarding than hearing what God has to say to us and then obeying Him.

But many people ask, or at least wonder, if the Lord really speaks to us today. Let us answer that question by sharing with you the verses found in Hebrews 1:1-2: “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and various ways but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son.”

Our God is not silent, He is alive and active. He speaks to us individually in a way we can hear Him, receive His message, and obey Him. God is infinite and fully capable to communicate with us right where we are in the midst of our circumstance and in a very personal way.

Listening is more than just hearing words. It requires paying careful attention. It involves focusing our minds and senses on what God is saying to us and being prepared to carry out His instructions.

Learning to listen to God may be one of the most important concepts you will grasp. To begin with, the Word of God, the Bible, contains His truth so you must open it and read it daily. How else can you know what God is saying to you? Whatever God says to you it will always agree with what is written in God’s Word.

When you read the Bible you must also pray and ask the Holy Spirit to open your heart so you will have a deeper understanding of God’s Word. Then as you read and pray daily you will grow spiritually and will gain a deeper understanding of His purposes, provision, care and love.

Maybe you are having difficulty understanding and even listening to God because you do not know how to listen. Maybe this thought will help you.

When you study God’s Word daily you will be expanding your understanding of how God wants you to live. You will have a clear understanding of what is right and wrong in God’s sight. Soon when you are struggling with a situation and if you stop to pray and read the Bible something will happen. You will either come upon a passage that answers your concern or a passage will come to mind that will lead you to the right direction.

The closer you are to God, because you communicate and listen to Him daily, the easier it will be to hear what God has to say to you through His Word. There is no other way to enjoy the amazingly wonderful abundant life He offers than by listening to Him through the reading of His Word.

When you listen and pay close attention to what He is saying to you, He will certainly “tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know” Jeremiah 33:3.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in John 15:9.

As the father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.

PRAYER:

Help me to learn to listen to You. Help me to understand that I need to take time daily to read Your Word and to then pray in order to allow you to talk to me. Help me to grow daily in my understanding of just how great Your love is to me and how much You desire me to listen to You.