Listening

1 Kings 19:11-13


Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

There are two kinds of people in this world—those who hear God speaking, and those who do not. Most of us fall in this latter category. We hear God only rarely, if at all. When we do, it is usually through some indirect means such as the Bible or a sermon. We do not expect that God will speak directly to us, because we live in a world that is rational and pragmatic. To us, a thunderstorm is just a thunderstorm, and an earthquake is jus an earthquake. We don’t listen for the voice of God in them as Elijah did.

We don’t hear directly from God very often, and truthfully we like it that way. Divine revelation comes from a world we cannot control or understand. It upsets our feeling of being in control of our own existence. That is why we neither seek nor do we expect to hear God’s voice. We wake in the morning and go to bed at night with no expectation of dreams, visions, or omens.

Even so, there are a few people who fit into the former category. They hear from God all the time. They hear from God in the same way others hear from their wives or husbands. Everything that happens to them is a sign of God’s presence.

Most of my life has been spent among people who did not regularly hear from God. Even as a believer, I had no expectation that I would regularly hear from Him. Outside of some vague feelings of peace, I really could not say there was much actual communication from Him—neither did anyone I knew claim to have direct contact with the Almighty.

Then in the summer between high school and college I worked at a Christian summer camp in the mountains of Tennessee. There were church services twice a day at the camp, and all kinds of pastors and evangelists came and went from the camp. One of them was a man who claimed to have seen angels. I asked him if he had really ever seen an angel. He replied “Yes, there’s one standing over there in the corner.” Was he crazy? Or was he a man who actually was able to see angels.

In the Bible, some people had the ability to peer into the spiritual realms. Jacob had dreams of angels. Joseph was an interpreter of dreams. God spoke regularly with Adam and Eve. Noah heard from God and built the ark. Abraham heard from God and left his country. Moses heard the Ten Commandments and the Law. During the Exodus, God went before his people in a pillar of fire. The Prophets were all called by God, and spoke the oracles of God. John heard from God and wrote about the end of the world. Throughout the Bible people communicated directly with God.

The great men and women of the Bible all had this in common—they heard God. Think about the wisest man in the Bible (Solomon). His intelligence did not make him wise. Whatever wisdom he had came from his communication with God. Think about the most foolish hero in the Bible (Samson). He became great in spite of being foolish, because he knew how to draw on the power of God. Listening to God is made both of them great. Neither were paragons of virtue, but when they listened and obeyed, they were great.

Yet most Christians do not expect to hear from God. Why?

We have been told that God speaks to man only infrequently--and there is some justification for this. In the Bible, there are often hundreds of years between divine visitations. When God speaks, not everyone hears Him. Even if He is speaking, we may not listen.

Why God chooses to speak clearly only infrequently I do not know. But God has caused a veil to fall between us and the full extent of His majesty and presence. In the Bible, we sometimes see examples of people who encounter God, and anyone who did was permanently changed. The direct sight of God in our bodies of flesh strikes us with fear and terror. God usually appears veiled to us in the natural, so that we may stand His presence.

But God does reveal Himself in indirect ways. God shows Himself in the creation of the World. He has also revealed him in the written record of His acts on earth—the Bible. God handles us with the gloves of this rational world. But if we are discerning, and recognize His presence behind all things, we encounter him every day.

Prayer is part talking, but mainly listening. So why don’t we hear His voice more often? Why don’t we see angels, or have visions? Why do we not hear the quiet whisper?

Hearing God requires three things—faith, calmness, and discipline.

Faith is the assurance that God still speaks to people today. In the Bible, God sometimes spoke in an audible voice--through dreams, visions and signs. The way God speaks is through impressions in the heart. We feel His voice more than hear it. This is where faith comes in. We learn to trust the inner voice of the Father.

Those who hear God’s voice often believe that they will. They are looking for it. Everything that happens might be an omen. Every dream might be a message. Every impression of the heart must be paid attention to. God can speak through anything and anywhere.

I do not mean to say that every impression is of God. But some impressions of the heart are from God, so we had better listen to them.

In regard to divine impressions, it is a good rule to keep four harbor lights in sight when we navigate those waters. First--the written Word of God. Second--the witness of the Spirit in our heart. Third--circumstances that God arranges. Last--the witness of others. Before we make a serious decision based on an impression, we should wait until the lights line up.

Here’s a rule of thumb on divine impressions. If it involves no risk or inconvenience, then we should do it immediately. But if God is telling us to do something that is life-changing, we should seek careful confirmation before we act upon it. That confirmation should come from circumstances, other believers, the Bible, as well as the inner voice of the heart. If God wants us to move in a certain direction, He will make it abundantly clear before we go.

Calmness is a second prerequisite to hearing listening to God. We must stop what we are doing and listen. To hear the voice of God, we must learn to be calm. Psalm 131 says I have calmed and quieted my soul. Until we learn to be calm, we cannot hear that still small voice.

How do we get calm? First of all, we need to turn off the noise and distractions. We who live in a technological age are seldom calm and quiet. We are bombarded with sensory overload. If we are to hear God clearly, then we must break free of all this. We must get away and listen.

This cannot happen overnight. But it can be done, even in the busiest of lives. Remember that God wants time alone with you, even if you don’t want time with Him. He desires to speak with you more than you desire to listen.

We are not likely to hear God’s voice over the television or radio noise. We have to get alone in a quiet place. If you are still trying to have devotions between commercials or driving down the road, you will probably miss much of what God is saying. So lay aside your outward distractions, and concentrate on that “still small voice” within.

There are many techniques. One is to take a single verse each day, repeat it to yourself, over and over until you have memorized it. Concentrating on one verse or phrase can help you focus on Him. Clear your mind of everything but thoughts of Him, and then look at the world around you.

Have you ever seen a “magic eye” picture? When you first see it, it looks like a meaningless pattern. But usually there are two dots at the bottom.

If you look at the two dots, then cross your eyes until the two dots seem to come together. Then when you look at the picture and be still, a picture seems to emerge from the mess, and hover above the page. By focusing on the dots and looking away, you see the message in the mess. The same is true with hearing from God. Once we focus on Him, we can see the method in the mess around us.

The third prerequisite is discipline. Discipline is denying those feelings which we think of as natural instincts for a higher purpose.

Listening to God also must become a habit. God speaks to us primarily in two ways—through the Word of God, and the Spirit of God. If we are to hear God, we must discipline ourselves to constantly seek the Word of God. The Word of God to us is the Bible.

One thing we can know about God is that He will never contradict the truth that He has already said. Our God is a God of consistency and order. That is why we need to make a constant, lifetime study of the Bible. The Bible is a record of what He said to the people of God in the past. Nothing that God says to us today will contradict what He has said in the past.

One of the names for the Bible is the “canon” of Scripture. “Canon” means a plumb line, a weight on a string used to test whether a building is truly perpendicular. The words of the Bible give us a measure of whether or not we have heard correctly.

As we begin to listen, it is vitally important that we read the whole Bible in a systematic fashion. If we only read portions of it, who knows what we might be missing.

We need to have humility while we read. There are many things in the Bible that a casual reader may not comprehend. That is why commentaries and other Bible helps are so important. Those who know the Bible can help us interpret it correctly.

Throughout church history, whenever God wanted to change His people’s direction, he usually did it through someone reading the Bible, and discovering something they had missed. When the church of the Middle Ages was going in the wrong direction, God showed Martin Luther a single verse in Romans “The just shall live by faith.” This revelation from the Scriptures changed the course of world history.

God may not change history through what He shows you in the Bible, but He will certainly change your life and direction.

God has a message for you. You must seek that message through faith, calmness, and discipline.