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Heart Listening and Superficial Hearing
“Hi, how are you?”
“Fine. And you?”
“Good.”
(End of conversation.)
Conversations like that occur everywhere and every day. Most of the time, they are superficial and neither person is sincerely interested in a detailed answer.
When our conversations are regularly at the superficial level, our listening skills become dulled. When hearing at the superficial level becomes a habit, hearing with our heart becomes more and more difficult.
1 John 4:20–21a says, “If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.”
A profound spiritual truth is revealed in the above scripture: our attitude towards that which can be seen is the limit to our attitude towards that which is not seen. Although love is the topic in those verses, the same spiritual truth can be applied to listening: If anyone does not truly listen to his brother whom he has seen, he cannot truly listen to God whom he has not seen.
Heart listening is a choice. Some people seem to hear God’s voice frequently and clearly, while others are not sure if they have ever heard His voice. Listening is not a gift—it’s a developed skill.
There are two people that I know with completely different listening skills. When I talk to one of these two people, I know that I will be interrupted within two sentences with questions or that person’s point of view. Even after gently pointing out that he could hear God’s voice much better if he worked on his listening skills, he…well, you guessed it—wasn’t listening!
In contrast, the other person locks the focus of his entire attention onto the person that is speaking to him. He listens to the words, any emphasis or inflections on those words, any emotions, and any body language. In fact, his ministry is known for his willingness and ability to hear God’s voice. He is a listener, a heart listener, to those that he can see and to Him who he cannot see.
Father’s burning desire that you have the ability to listen to Him. He desires to communicate with you daily, to reveal His will and His heart to you.
It is my prayer for you that Father will continue to help you to hear His voice, and more and more frequently.
With God’s grace and in His peace,
Gary
Permission is granted to forward this e-newsletter without alteration to others as well as reprint it in hard copy form. We ask only that you keep the Ears-2-Hear website, email contact info, and author contact information intact. Thank you and may God be revealed more and more to you and through you.
Gary (gary@ears-2-hear.com), Author, Web Designer, www.ears-2-hear.com.
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Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks of International Bible Society. Use of either trademark for the offering of goods or services requires the prior written consent of International Bible Society.
