Learning to Listen to God

I’m reading Secrets of the Secrete Place by Bob Sorge and one thing that stands out is his revelation about LISTENING to God. 

Everything in our lives hangs on our ability to LISTEN to God.

How can we answer the invitation to Grace if we don’t listen to the initial call of Salvation? 

How can we know God’s purpose for our lives if we don’t listen to His voice?

How do we know what HE wants for us if we don’t listen to His directives? 

Over and over in the Scriptures we read of God instructing His people to LISTEN.

I’ll be honest, listening isn’t my strongest discipline.

I’m better at praise/worship, prayer, Bible reading…even fasting.

Not so good at pausing to listen to what God has to say. 

Yes, He speaks to me in His Holy Word….but I’m starting to think (Holy Spirit promptings here) that there’s more to listening than what I’m currently doing. 

While this could intimidate me (I’m a doer and not very good at being inactive and silent), instead I feel peace.

I know there will be a HUGE learning curve, that God will be patient with me.

Listening, like all Godly disciplines, takes time and practice.

I won’t be “good” at it at first, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible for me.

In fact, as I’ve been seeking God on how to “Listen better” He brought me to Luke 17:5-10 NIV, 

“The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”

He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

“Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’?  Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’?  Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do?  So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’”

Here we see the apostles asking Jesus how they can increase their faith.

LISTEN to His answer: 

OBEY.

Just do what you know to do. Don’t worry about the things you don’t know. 

Do the small things…then you’ll get bigger things.

Obey in the things you know and more responsibility (faith) will be added to you. And don’t assume you deserve more faith, can “earn” it, or that there’s a magic formula to obtain it. 

Just be a servant. 

Obey. 

Now I’m not certain how obeying will necessarily increase my faith.

But if Jesus said it will, then I can take it to the bank.

How does this correspond to me learning how to listen?

Simple, I must do what I know to do.

Start there.

Don’t worry about” HEARING THE VOICE OF GOD” or gaining amazing revelations the first time I set aside ten minutes to listen. Don’t worry that I only have ten minutes. Don’t worry if thousands of thoughts bombard me and distract me. Don’t worry if this discipline doesn’t come “naturally” to me.

Start small. 

My faith, and my listening skills, will grow—just like the mustard seed grows.

My point:

Listen to whatever it is God is telling you to do. He wants to increase your faith and build up your relationship with Him.

Don’t sweat the small stuff.

Don’t worry about the details.

Just obey the parts you do know. 

The rest we can leave in God’s hands to reveal to us as we grow.

Have a blessed day and please, take a moment to listen to God.