Learn to Listen

Scripture:

“ My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”  John 10:27

Devotional:

“ To have God speak to the heart is a majestic experience, an experience that people may miss if they monopolize the conversation and never pause to hear God’s responses.”   Charles Stanley

Maybe it’s a symptom of the fall, but I feel naturally wired to think almost entirely of myself. I listen long enough to others to be afforded the chance to get back to talking again. And while my mouth isn’t moving my mind is racing back and forth to any number of things. I’m rarely still and humble enough to get my mind off myself and open my ears to anyone else, God included.

The trouble with this is that I already have enough of myself in life. I don’t need more of my own thoughts, I need God’s thoughts. I don’t need to ramble on any longer about my problems, I need God’s solutions. I am in desperate need of his voice, yet I can’t seem to stop talking long enough to hear him. I desperately need to develop the discipline of listening.

Jesus tells us in John 10:27, “ My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. ” Oftentimes I don’t feel like Jesus’ sheep. I’m trying to be my own shepherd, or I’m following another worldly shepherd somewhere on the promise of better food and colder water, only to discover more of the same. To reap the benefit of being a sheep in the Good Shepherd’s flock we must choose to hear and follow his voice. If our ear is tuned to somewhere else, we’ll miss the guidance we need to follow to find abundant life.

The first step is choosing to dwell in the pasture of prayer. We need to create space for the Good Shepherd to speak—a space not filled with our voice telling him all our problems, but his voice guiding us into the solution.

Maybe you have a relationship problem. Invite God into it by voicing that problem to him. But don’t stop there. And don’t stop just with his peace. Ask him what to do about it! Ask him for wisdom. Allow him to show you where you’ve gone wrong that you might approach that relationship with humility and confession rather than pride and accusation.

Maybe you have a circumstantial problem. There’s something blocking your path and you need a solution. God sees it all. He sees your past, present, and future. He knows the way through or around your problem. And as your Good Shepherd, he longs to share his ideas with you. Ask him for help and don’t give up until you feel you’ve discovered his solution for you.

Lastly, maybe you have a sin problem. Maybe you feel like Paul in Romans 7 and you wish you felt like the Paul of Romans 6 or 8. You just can’t seem to find freedom and righteousness. Ask God what the pathway to freedom looks like for you. Ask him what lie or wound is at the core of your sin. Ask him how your lie can be corrected or your wound healed. He longs for you to walk in the freedom and righteousness afforded you by the death and resurrection of your Savior.

The power of prayer isn’t in your words but in God’s. The peace, the wisdom, the solution won’t come from speaking but from listening. Choose to develop the discipline of listening in your prayer life and discover that your Good Shepherd has the ability to directly lead you in every way into green pastures and still waters that your soul might be fully restored.

Guided Prayer:

1. Ask God to reveal his desire to speak to you. Allow his goodness and his voice to lay a foundation that fills you with the faith to listen.

2. What do you need guidance on? Where do you need freedom? What questions do you have? Bring them before your loving Father.
3. Now make space to simply listen. Journal your question and God’s answer if that’s helpful. Pay attention to any thoughts, phrases, feelings or pictures you get. Dig deeper into what you sense God saying. Ask the Holy Spirit for more revelation and insight. Keep going until you feel you have what you need to move forward.
4. Take a moment and thank God for his desire to speak and lead. Ask the Holy Spirit to remind you to listen the next time you feel stuck inside your own thoughts or problems.

The solution to living an unstuck life might be as simple as learning to listen first and speak second. Your Good Shepherd is able to lead you perfectly. He has grace for when you’re stuck. But he’d rather lead you away from that lie, bad circumstance, or bad relationship in the first place before it causes you pain. As you learn to listen, choose to follow God before things go wrong. Learn to ask him what to do before you make a decision. And discover how amazing it is to be the beloved sheep of your wonderful Shepherd.