We are continuing our series on prayer with a look at how to listen to God. We see that prayer is simply talking to God. But to carry on a conversation, and to truly communicate, we need to hear from God, as well. So this week, that's our focus - How do we listen to God? Our world is busy, so full of hustle and bustle, we often have a hard time being quiet. So I want to start this morning with 30 seconds of silence. So as we start, let’s just be quiet for 30 seconds… What did you hear? A Cough? Did you hear some road noise, some people shuffling in their seats?
Here is the point of that little exercise. Now that I’m talking again, and you’re listening to me, you probably don’t hear those noises any more, but they are still there. You are focusing on me, so you can’t hear them, at least not as well. But that background noise is still there. All the sounds are still happening, but we don’t hear them because we’re focusing on something else. What if God is speaking to us all the time, but we don’t hear Him because we’re not listening, we’re focused on something else. I actually think that’s the case. God is constantly speaking to us, but we don’t hear Him because we aren’t listening, we’re focusing on other things. So I think the real question isn’t, “Is God speaking?” I think He is. The real question is “Am I listening?” So today we look at how to listen to God, because if we’re really trying to communicate with Him, it’s just as important for us to hear what he is saying, as it is for us to know what to say to Him. Prayer is talking with God, not talking at God, so we need to know how to listen to God. So how do we do that? How do we listen to God? We get an idea of where we start with our reading this morning. I intentionally didn’t read it until now – it’s short, only one verse, and I’d like us all to read it together. It’s on the wall now, let’s all read it together, pretend you’re awake, and read loud enough for others to know you’re awake, everyone ready? “Be still and know that I am God.” So the idea on where we start with listening to God is simply to “Be still.” Let me give you a really quick lesson here: the reason God speaks to us is so that we can know Him better. God’s desire in speaking to you and in your listening to Him is so that you may know Him better. That’s one of the things prayer accomplishes for us, we get to know God better. We don’t pray so that God can know us better. No offense. But our prayers don’t help God know us better. Why? Because God already knows everything about you. God knows you better than you know yourself. God knows your make up, He knows how you’re wired, He knows how you’re put together, because He put you together. He knows everything about you, and he loves everything about you. So our reading implies that if we want to know God we have to learn to be still and listen. Maybe you sincerely want to hear God speak to you, but you’re not sure how. This morning I have an acronym for the word STILL that I want to share with you, just some ideas that might help you hear from God, and help you recognize that it is God you’re hearing from. The first letter is S - Spend Time With God Daily. We’ve heard this before in previous messages. It’s really important to spend time daily with God. For many of us, the biggest reason we don’t hear from God, is that we don’t spend consistent quiet time with Him on a daily basis. I know our lives are busy, and it’s really easy to skip a day, and one skipped day often turns into two or three, or a week - But when we don’t make time to be with God, we won’t hear Him. I believe the Bible is pretty clear that the best time to do this is first thing in the morning. It’s been said that the first hour of the day is like the rudder of a ship, it will determine the course of your day and where you will end up. Psalm 143:8 says, “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.” If the morning is going to bring us word of God’s unfailing love, if it’s going to bring direction for the way we should go today, we should be listening, every morning. And of course, the morning doesn’t speak to us, it’s God who is speaking. And we know this was Jesus’ habit. In Mark 1:35, we see, “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” If Jesus came to show us how to live, and He taught us about prayer, then we should follow His example. He knew this was important, so He made the effort to get up early. We should, too. The second letter is a T - Thank God for what I have. We all understand this idea of counting our blessings. I think that most of us realize that we have so much to be thankful for. Half of the world’s population lives on less than $2 a day, we are really blessed to have been born in this country. So spend time each day thanking God. The more grateful we become, the more our hearts will be open to God. Psalm 100:4-5 says, “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” Ephesians 5:20 says, “Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Always giving thanks to God for everything is a pretty good rule to live by. The next letter is I - Investigate the ways God speaks to you. In order to hear from God, you need to know how God usually speaks to you. This is the tough part in a message on how to hear from God, because He made each of us unique. Different things appeal to us. So He speaks to us differently. You need to investigate for yourself how He usually speaks to you. If we can quiet our hearts each morning, we will often hear from Him as we think about the passages we read, or as we’re still after prayer. If we can be still and be quiet, we might get a feeling, or sense a word from Him. Sometimes He speaks in dreams. Sometimes, in an audible voice. You’ll have to try different things and see how He most often speaks to you. He might speak to you through nature. Romans 1:19-20 says, “What may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. Since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so men are without excuse.” Some of us can walk through the nature and see the creator in everything you see. It just speaks to you. You can see God’s finger print on everything. Some of us can see God in art, whether creating art or just appreciating art. We can connect with the God who gives the gift of art. Some of us see God in science, how intricately and complex we are made. Some see God through astrology, how massive and awe inspiring the universe is. Some see God through mathematics, they see how numbers work, and how the advanced equations work, and they see God all over the place. Most of us can agree that God can speak through music. Music can move us and connect us with God. God can use other people to speak to us – and not just pastors. Spouses and friends and even people you’ve just met can bring a word from God. Have you ever been discerning something from God, when somebody said something about it – and you realize there was no way they could have known what you’ve been thinking. The Bible is also a great place to hear from God. That’s where we should go first. Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” So if you’re looking for guidance on what you should be doing, for your path, God’s Word is the place to start. The next letter is an L - Leave the noise behind. This should be pretty self explanatory. We’ve already talked about finding a quiet time every day. Make sure it’s a time and a place where you won’t be interrupted. But this goes a step beyond that. We want daily quiet time, but we also sometimes need longer periods or rest. In Mark 6:31-32, we see, “Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, ‘Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.’” Take a Bible with you, maybe a journal so you can record what God is saying, and just go off by yourself. As you read your bible, and reflect on what you’ve read, and you write about what you’re thinking, you’ll usually hear from God. Especially if you take a couple days to do this. The last letter is another L - Learn to say yes before God speaks. When you sense that God wants you to do something, do you think about whether or not we really want to before we agree? What if we can prepare our hearts to say yes before He even speaks. Tell God, “I trust you. I’ll do whatever you want. Just tell me what you want me to do and I’ll do it.” You’ll be surprised how often we’ll hear God when we have this attitude. If God knows He can count on you to do what He asks, He’ll ask. You trust God, right? Then say yes to Him first, then listen for what He wants? In Psalm 32:8 we see a promise from God, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.” Do you trust Him to do that? Do you realize that He loves you and only wants the best for you? Then commit to following Him no matter what? All of us can hear from God. Maybe not audible voices, but all of us can get a sense of where He is leading. We just have to be STILL – Spend time with God Daily, Thank Him for your blessings, Investigate how He speaks to you, Leave the noise behind, find a quite time to get away once in a while, and Learn to say yes first, then listen for your marching orders.
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