The Listening Heart – Part 1

 THE LISTENING HEART – Part 1

Matters of the Heart Series

God give us listening hearts.

“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Matthew 11:15 NASB)

Multiple times in Scripture we have the admonition given above. From those words of Jesus, we gather that there is more to listening than simply hearing the words. In the Amplified we find the verse stated this way, “He who has ears to hear, let him be listening and let him consider and perceive and comprehend by hearing.”

Solomon must have understood that there is more to listening to God than simply hearing. He prays in I Kings 3:9, “So give Your servant an understanding mind and a hearing heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and bad.” Solomon asked for a listening heart.

Let’s get practical…first of all, how do we listen?  How do we develop a listening heart?

We must start at the beginning—when we very first heard his voice speaking to us. That time when we knew he was drawing us to himself and in our hearts, we said, “Yes.”

It is my opinion in the church of today that we don’t understand that saying “Yes,” to Jesus involves a call. We are called to be the people of God. It is more than simply believing in Jesus. Scripture tells us that the demons believe and tremble (James 2:19). Jesus’s most common invitation to people was “Follow me” (Matt 4:19). To follow Jesus involves obedience, not simply mental assent.

Take Abraham and Sarah for example. They were living in a large metropolitan city, Ur of the Chaldees. From what we can discern from Scripture they were wealthy, had lots of servants, a large household. Abraham comes home one day and says, “Guess what, Honey, we’re moving!” I can just hear the conversation.

Sarah looks at her husband, confused. “Moving? Where?”

“Well-l-l, I’m not really sure.”

“Why?”

“Because God told me to.”

“Which god?”

“Uh, I don’t know his name.” You see, they lived in a culture of many gods, and Jehovah God had not yet revealed his name.

How would you feel if your husband came home and made that announcement?  He listened to God, believed God and obeyed.  The call demanded action, and Abraham was willing to go. The call and the mission were inseparable.

In the same way today, when Jesus calls us, he calls us to mission, to destiny. His call is not simply to believe in Him and sit in church on Sunday mornings. Although those things are intrinsic to the Christian walk, it is only a small part of the call. God has plans for your life that depend on your obedience to His call. (Tweet this!) If you are willing to follow Him wholly and completely, get ready for the greatest adventure of your life. (Tweet this!) I guarantee it won’t simply be sitting in church on Sunday mornings.

The first part of developing a listening heart, really hearing God, is to understand that hearing God involves obedience. When we listen and hear Him and obey, then we are more able to hear Him the next time. (Tweet this!)

Do you understand what it means to be called—to be the people of God? Maybe you always thought it meant simply “believing in Jesus” or being the member of a church. Has this short lesson changed your perspective at all as to what it means to the “called”?  In what way has your thinking changed?

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