LEARNING TO LISTEN

Several weeks ago in our Grounded & Growing class we discussed how our tendency is to spend all of our time in prayer talking, and no real time listening to what God wants to say to us. Last week someone who attended that class shared with me how his prayer time has changed, that he is now spending time allowing God to speak. He told me what an important change it has been in his relationship with God.

Over the years I have come to believe that every aspect of our Christian lives is determined by the quality of our relationship with God. Whenever we explore the topic of spiritual growth or "spiritual formation", no matter what direction we come from it all eventually boils down to the same discussion.  If we want to be spiritually mature and have the quality of life God intends for each of His children we have to focus on our relationship with Him. One of the ways that happens is through our prayer life.

So, what does your prayer life look like? If you're like most people your time in prayer involves a lot of talking. You may spend a bit of time praising and thanking God, and then a lot of time telling God what He can do for you and others. You may be an exception, but for most of us our prayers are typically pretty one-sided conversations.

Think of this in terms of building a relationship with another person. How much can you really get to know someone, and what kind of relationship can you build with them, if you do all the talking and don't do any listening? You will never develop a deep meaningful relationship with anyone on that basis. So how can we expect to grow in our relationship with God, and grow spiritually in the way we would like, if our communication with God is only one way.

Of course it's easy to understand why this happens. Talking with God is not like speaking with another "flesh and blood" person sitting across the kitchen table. The fact that we can't see God when we are talking with him certainly changes things, and the fact that we can't hear an audible voice tends to make us think that either God doesn't want to talk to us, or it's not possible to hear Him.

Jeremiah 33: 3 says "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know. " It seems obvious from this verse that God wants to speak to us.

Jesus said in John 10: 27 "My sheep listen to my voice."  That suggests we can learn to recognize God's voice when He's talking to us.

There are lots of examples in scripture of God speaking to people. Only rarely was it an audible voice. Most often He spoke to the heart, the same way He speaks to us. There are also lots of references that make it clear God wants to speak to us, and that we can actually hear his voice, if we are willing. God would not suggest that He wants to talk with us if it is not possible for us to hear Him.

There is some controversy in Christian circles about what some call "listening prayer", or even meditation. Some are concerned that it smacks of new age practices, or something out of eastern religions. There is no doubt that some forms of meditation could fall into that category, but that should not prevent us from simply taking time in prayer to meditate on God and quit talking so that He has an opportunity to actually speak to us. I believe that as we practice this kind of prayer we can learn to discern God's voice, and separate that from our own thoughts and impressions. 

Making sure it's God's voice we are hearing is important, but that's an issue we will address at another time. Suffice it to say for now that scriptures are clear that God wants to speak to us. Common sense tells us that hearing His voice is essential to good relationship and spiritual growth. So how about changing your prayer time to allow for some listening?