God Who Listens: A 7-Day Devotional With Chris TomlinSample

The God Who Speaks

“Call to me and I will answer you. I’ll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your own.” Jeremiah 33:3 (MSG)

God isn’t the only one who listens when we pray. Prayer is a two-way conversation. We need to do as much listening as we do speaking.

I don’t know about you, but I tend to do most of the talking when I pray. Sometimes I’m so busy telling God what I think I need, I miss what He has to say.

God wants to speak to us, but we often don’t stop long enough to hear His voice. We’re too busy focusing on our problems or trying to move our own agenda forward.

There are lots of voices that speak into our lives if we let them. The culture, the news, world leaders, social media, our boss, our co-workers, our family, our friends… Some of those voices are positive, and some of those voices are negative. We have to decide what voices we’re going to listen to.

When we pray, we’re letting God know we’re choosing to listen to His voice. 

You might assume God is only heard in the grand gesture, the big moment, the loud noise. And while there are times when God does speak through epic moments, more times than not, God prefers the small gesture, the ordinary moment, or the gentle whisper to speak to His children.

God speaks through the Bible. He speaks through other people, and He speaks through prayer. 

Yes, God wants us to ask Him for what we need, but that’s only 50 percent of prayer. The other half involves listening. If we quiet ourselves long enough to seek His still, small voice, I believe we will hear exactly what He has to say.

Take some time today to be still and know that He is God. He is a God who listens, but He is also a God who speaks.

The angels hide their faces in His presence

The demons run for cover when You speak

You rule the world and reign above the heavens

And still draw close to me.