2 Samuel 5:19 David inquired of the LORD, “Shall I go and attack the Philistines? .The LORD answered him, “Go, for I will surely deliver the Philistines into your hands.”
Tuning our spiritual ears and heart to listen to God’s voice is a spiritual discipline. Listening to God and having a conversation with God does not come naturally to us. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve conversed with God. They had a ‘date’ with the LORD God every day! During the cool part of the day, the Lord God was walking in the garden (Genesis 3:8). Not sure what they talked about as they had no problems to discuss but it would have been an awesome time of fun and fellowship. We lost that closeness with God as the virus of sin has deafened our spiritual ears and blinded our spiritual eyes. The routine of tuning-in everyday to listen to the voice of God is a trained spiritual discipline. Hearing is the passive intake of sound while listening is the act of intentionally working to comprehend the sounds you hear. In other words, hearing does not register the content but listening imprints the message in our heart. This is what Jesus meant when He said, They have ears, but they don’t listen (Matthew 13:14).
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), ‘noise pollution’ is one of the most dangerous environmental threats to health. We live in a demanding and noisy world so if we don’t set a time and place to listen to the Lord, we will not develop the spiritual discipline of listening.
Spiritual discipline of ‘listening’ to the LORD:
1. Appointment: Our first appointment during the early hours of the day should be with the LORD. We must tune-in to listen to what God has to say before we check FB, Whatsapp or instagram. Don’t check your phone before you’ve checked-in with the Lord. Our mind must be free and our heart must be sensitive to God’s voice. No matter how many appointments we miss during the day we must never miss our appointment with God. Set a time in the early hours of the morning to listen to God’s directions.
2. Atmosphere: Set a place of appointment. Susanna Wesley, mother of nine children and the mother of John Wesley, the revival leader of Methodism, spent 2 hours a day in prayer. She homeschooled her children in her improvised parsonage with no modern electrical equipment, no microwaves, dishwasher or washing machines. Yet she created an ambience of prayer in her busy kitchen. Her apron was the ‘prayer-tent cover’ over her head. Create an atmosphere to hear God even in the midst of your busy schedule.
3. Affection: We cannot hear God without a deep sense of longing and affection. Tuning-in to listen to the Lord is nothing but hanging out with Jesus. Wake up with a sense of excitement to have a “eureka moment” with the Lord. The more we love Him the clearer His voice will be.
Set a time and place and eagerly wait to listen to Jesus.
Psalm 5:3 In the morning, LORD, You will hear my voice.
Prayer: Sweet Jesus, discipline my schedule to make time to listen to you every morning and may my spiritual ears and heart be tuned into the divine frequency even during the busy hours of the day. Amen
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