Are You Listening?

Mum…., Mum…. Mum…., the words from my son echoed constantly.  With that he proceeded to say a mouthful and finished with this sentence, “Mum, I am talking to you but you are not responding, why are you ignoring me.”   I was perplexed because I was responding. I was not ignoring him; I just didn’t answer the specific question the way he wanted me to.  As I began to explain to him that I was answering but he just was not listening, the Holy Spirit arrested me.  His response was “just like you are responding to your son, I am always responding to you, but are you listening? 

Revelation

Sometimes, I am like “God, why do you have to hit me with such low blows?”.  But then after I accept and come in humility through prayer, God always gives a revelation. So, my revelation went like this. Many times, we pray to God and sit in frustration while waiting for a response. The answer doesn’t always come the way we expect it, so we miss it.  Or maybe it comes, but not in our time, so we give up.  Or the answer is not what we want so we dismiss it.  Then we somehow come to the conclusion that God is ignoring us. 

But newsflash, God never ignores His children, He is never too busy or otherwise occupied.  He is always there listening to us.  1 John 5:14-15 tells us “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.” So, the question, then cannot be, God are you hearing us?  But it now becomes” are you asking according to His will and “are you listening to His response?

Are you asking according to God’s will?

God’s directive that we can ask for anything in prayer, does not automatically translate to we will get everything we ask for.  It must be according to His will.  And if we truly think about some of the things we prayed for in the past.  With our attitudes and commitment, trust that it was a blessing that God did not deliver.  

We are constantly concerned with Our will as opposed to God’s will for our lives.  One person sums it up as “Pray should be so much more than casting wishes to heaven, but it should be rooted in understanding God’s will and promises according to His word, and praying those promises into action.”

We must also remember that God knows best.  We see to the corner, but God sees around the bend.  Imagine my son asking me for cake and ice-cream for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Now there is nothing wrong with cake and ice-cream in moderation. But, as a meal for the whole day, he would develop tummy pain, a sugar rush and loads of other issues.  Now at his tender age, he may not be able to understand all the consequences. But me, being the parent, who has been around the corner, knows how it will all end.  Similarly, in our limited view, we don’t always understand why we can’t have it now or more, but God sees the consequences.  With every blessing comes responsibility, therefore, as your Heavenly Father, He is protecting you.

Are you Listening?

Mark 4: 23-24 tells us “If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear. “Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more” With this God pointed out that oftentimes we “hear him” (John 10:27 tells us that My sheep recognize my voice) however most times even though we hear we do not listen. 

He then took me to the difference between hearing and listening. Hearing is passive and involuntary; it requires no effort.  Psychology today describes it as “Hearing is like collecting data; we hear sounds and words all day long, even if we are not paying attention to them.” 

Listening on the other hand is active, and voluntary. It requires effort and attention.  This means that even though you hear, you can choose whether or not to listen.

Re-Couragement

What I gather from this is that God always speaks, but just like children, we often hear but we seldom listen.  Then we go away throwing tantrums just like children feeling as though God is not hearing or responding to us.  But God’s word assures us that He hears every prayer and that He answers each and every request even if that answer is “no, wait or do this instead”.  So, the question remains, are you listening?”  Are you taking the time and effort needed to quiet your heart and tune into God through prayer, worship, reading His word and listening to Godly wisdom.

The next time you are tempted to pout and sulk, thinking that God is not responding or that He is ignoring you.  Ask yourself, “Am I really listening?” I am encouraging you to take some time and really listen to God today. You will be surprised at how much God has to say, when you actively listen to Him. Be Re-Couraged in Christ!