The art of listening to God
Just imagine every morning, your spouse gets up, says, 'I love you,' makes a cup of coffee, and reads your old letters, messages, emails, and smiles at you. Then they expect you to give your full attention to their plans, concerns, and the help they need from you. After that, they get ready, go to work, and do what they want. Upon returning home, they freshen up, have dinner, say, ‘I love you,’ and go to sleep. They don’t listen to your plans and concerns, nor do they discuss the help you may need. How would you feel? In the same way, prayer is not just praising, thanking, reading the Bible, and sharing your plans, concerns, and placing your requests before God. The most important part of prayer is listening to God.
Good ways vs godly ways
Does doing ministry please God? No. Shocking, right? Ministry is God’s work and must be carried out in His way, time, and methods. Knowing a list of Christian practices, having good intentions, and doing them in our own way may not align with God's will and ways. On a personal level, when we ask for something good, we often assume it must be godly, but is not necessarily the case. We are led to believe that only the things which are successful, prosperous, healthy, and beneficial to us are blessings from God. In contrast, things like failure, mistakes, betrayal, poverty, sickness, death, delays, and disappointments are viewed as curses from God.
Every human being faces all types of circumstances; it does not matter if they are Christians or not. We must recognize that God and the enemy alike use both good and bad things that happen to us. God uses them to mold our character and nature in His likeness. The enemy uses them to keep us away from God or make us resent Him. We grow and mature most through hardship, not ease. At the same time, we need not pursue adversity, but we must not overlook its power to teach, shape, and mature us. Paul wrote in his letter to Romans, “we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. Romans 5:3-4.
Prayer is two-way communication
We all know we can either talk or listen; we cannot do both at the same time. This applies to our prayer also. Most of the time, our prayers are filled with our own words. When we pray silently, our thoughts, ideas, and inner conversations fill it. Often, we try to explain situations that He already knows much better than we do. And unfortunately, these days, most teachings on prayer focus on either telling or asking, rather than listening to God. Therefore, it is crucial to develop the habit of being still in His presence so we may listen to Him.
The habit of listening
Listening to God is simple, but not easy. To listen to God, first realize that God knows your situation and needs better than you do. Jesus told his disciples, "Your Father knows what you need before you ask him." Matthew 6:8. Secondly, if you are praying for specific things, let Him know your desire and be willing to receive any answer. Even Jesus prayed, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." Luke 22:44. Ultimately, we should always desire to know His will and develop the willingness to do whatever God wants in every situation. Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” Mathew 7:21.
Believe He knows everything; tell Him your desires, trust in Him, and be willing to accept whatever He thinks is good. Then do what you believe to be His will. If your attitude is this, then you are open to listening to Him. If not, we will only expect God to listen to us, and our prayers will be filled with our thoughts and desires.
Quieting your thoughts
To start with, while praying, try to quiet your thoughts and inner conversations. Doing this occasionally is not particularly helpful; make it a consistent practice until it becomes a habit. If this becomes a habit, we will gradually discern the guidance and inner workings of the Holy Spirit, not just during prayer, but at all times. Jesus said, “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” John 14:26.
The power of listening to God
When we begin to practice the presence of God and learn to listen to Him, we find ourselves in the best place on earth. In witnessing relationships, the Holy Spirit, who is at work in their heart and who has access to your heart and mind, will lead you on as you build witnessing relationships. That is why Jesus said, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8