How to Listen
By David Matranga
It was one of the most phenomenal things I’d ever seen.
My wife and I sat on the edge of our seats watching a young woman sing on America’s Got Talent. She was wonderful, her voice clear, sharp, and lilting, but what blew us away was something else. She was completely deaf.
I don’t know how much you know about singing, but you can’t sing on pitch if you can’t hear yourself. That’s why you see clips from time to time of famous singers at loud concerts or in the middle of a stadium singing, well, badly.
This woman, named Mandy Harvey, can’t hear a thing. She has a connective tissue disorder which destroyed the tissues that allow her ears to function. And yet she sings with perfect clarity and spot on pitch.
You and I have a connective disorder as well, if I can be metaphorical for a minute. Sin cuts us off from fellowship with God, making it hard to hear His voice. Our flesh wars against our spirit, the world tries to shout over God’s voice in our lives, and even as Christians, we struggle to hear Him. This can be so frustrating that many times, instead of finding a way to overcome, we just give up on trying to hear God.
This is a tragedy, because personally, we need to hear God’s voice. Corporately, we need to hear Him so that we can effectively minister to our brothers and sisters in Christ and be Jesus to an otherwise hopeless world.
Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.
- Jeremiah 33:3
How to Hear
God wants to speak to us! We need to learn how to listen to Him instead of giving it up as hopeless. Look at Mandy’s example. Want to know how she managed to sing without her ears working?
She had three tactics: 1. She takes her shoes off to feel the rhythm of the music through the floor. 2. She practices a lot, and when she does she uses visual tuners to correct her pitch. 3. She has learned to remember the feeling, the muscle memory, of singing at the correct pitch.
This is a beautiful example for us, because to hear God we need to do these same three things.
Take Off Your Shoes
In the Bible, Moses took off his shoes when he was standing on Holy ground, in the presence of God. It is a sign of reverence, awe, and fear of the Lord.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom...
- Proverbs 9:10
If we want to differentiate God’s speaking from the competing voices of our own thoughts, desires, experience, and the enemy, we first need to consider God’s Word a weighty thing. Sometimes people are flippant about listening to the Lord’s voice, and it ends in delusion because they think every thought that passes through their mind is from God.
That isn’t how we are to live. How dare we ascribe something to God that is not from Him? We need to be willing to hear what He wants to say, even if it isn’t what we want. When we take our shoes off, we set aside a tremendous error, and it is easier to hear Him accurately.
Check Yourself With Visual Tuners
God will never contradict Himself. The Bible says that He is unchanging, and so the Holy Spirit that inspired the Bible will never tell you something contrary to His own Word. What a blessing that God’s revelation is written down for us! Every time we think we hear Him speaking to us, we ought to check it against the revelation of His Word. They will never contradict each other.
In fact, beyond just checking what we think we’ve heard in our hearts and minds, God often speaks to us directly through His Word.
Yes, He can speak to us in dreams and visions, during prayer time, through circumstances, desires, or through a still, small voice. But often God speaks to us through the Bible and through the counsel of other Christians.
Memory
I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. The sheep know His voice.
- John 10:11
Get close to the Lord. Study His Word, remember what He has told you in the past, and seek Him. When you do, you will learn to recognize His voice, sort of like you know which friend is on the phone without looking at caller ID. It’s still important that we approach this with the fear of God and that we still check ourselves, but the longer we walk with the Lord, the better we should know when it is Him speaking to us.
The Result
We can’t force God to speak. He isn’t a spigot waiting to be opened or a radio station that’s constantly broadcasting. He speaks when He wants to. Yet when we learn to know and listen to His voice, our prayer times become prayer life. Prayer becomes a conversation, and we will hear Him more often.
Most of us have constant noise in our lives –music, tv, podcasts, social media, etc. This is just one more thing that makes it hard for us to hear God’s voice. Take time for silence, and lean into His Word.
What is one area in your life where you need to hear God’s voice and instruction? Has He already spoken about it in His Word, or through a godly friend or family member? Or maybe you just need to be still. Just remember to take off your shoes, check yourself with a tuner, and use your memory.
