Today, we concluded our "Listen and Learn" by talking about listening to God.
Over the years, Christians have generally agreed that God speaks in at least the following ways: nature, people, wisdom, conscience, scripture, and the Holy Spirit. We could spend a long time talking about each of these ways that God speaks. And we could probably add a few to the list.
The issue isn't whether God speaks; the issue is whether we are in a position to listen.
Jesus often ended his sermons with the phrase, “Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear”. What Jesus is saying is, “Some of you are in a position to listen to what I said, other aren’t. My message is only for those who are in a position to listen.”
So, who is in a position to listen? Simple. If you want to be in a position to hear from God, you have to have a "Your will be done" attitude in every area of life (Matthew 6:9-10).
But instead, I think most of us go through life with things basically under control. We’re not opposed to God, but we’re not wide open either. And every so often, we hit an uh-oh moment and we want God to give us some advice. We want God to speak to one specific area. It’s not a “Your will be done” thing, we're just looking for a little advice.
The problem is that prayer is not a call-in show. God is not an "answer man". He's not willing to sit on his throne waiting for you to ask for some advice. He wants to speak into your whole life. And every time we hold out on him, we stand the risk of missing His voice.
So, how do we get there? How do we get to a “your will be done” attitude in prayer? "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10).
When we get still. When we quiet ourselves… not to learn something… not to get advice on something… not to tell God something… but just to know something… that God is God… then He speaks...and we're in a position to hear His voice.
God is speaking. Are you in a position to listen?
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