God Speaking

How often when we were young did we hear our parents or our teachers say “Pay attention!”  How often did we see others shake their heads and say, “None as deaf as those who will not hear”.

A well-known New Yorker, tired of the endless round of cocktail parties he had to endure, which always meant having to take part in meaningless small talk, decided to test his theory that nobody really listened to what the others were saying.    When he heard the obligatory, “How are you?” he would reply with some outrageous statement with a smile, such as “I am well, my grandmother was murdered this last week”.  Invariably the other would smile back and move on to greet someone else.  We have probably been in a small way guilty of the same thing.

Solomon knew the importance of listening carefully and entreats his son many times in the Book of Proverbs to be attentive.  In Proverbs 5:1 he says,

Being attentive requires devoting oneself to the art of listening.  In Luke 8:18 we read,

When we train ourselves to listen carefully to others we are going to hear that cry for help under the bravado of the teenager’s ranting.  We will hear “Please be my friend”  disguised by gruff replies to questions.  We will hear “I don’t like myself” covered by boastings and bragging.

But the most of all we need to hear very clearly when the Lord is speaking to us.

In Revelation 3:22, it is said

When we are listening, remarkable direction will come for our lives.

Isaiah 30:21 says,

Let us practice the art of listening