Learning to Listen Well
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- Published Mar 14, 2022
“For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe” (Ephesians 1:15-19a).
“Don’t interrupt,” is a primary lesson I try to teach my daughters. Watching them struggle to listen patiently while they wait their turn to speak is like looking in the mirror. A lover of people and conversation, I often struggle to concentrate on what others are saying! As excited as we are to share our experiences, so is God to share His wisdom and love with us if we will have ears to hear and receive it.
Paul wrote the prayer above to the Ephesians, in hopes they would realize what they were spiritually blind to. God has not only purposefully placed people in our lives to pour wisdom into our hearts and minds, but He surrounds us with connecting moments when we seek to see Him in His word and throughout our days.
The eyes of your heart, describes our minds, understanding or inner awareness (NIV). Wisdom can be defined as “knowledge of what is true or right coupled with just judgement as to action.” As Christ followers, James reminded us not just to be hearers of the word, but doers. When we daydream through the sermon or scroll through our social media feeds instead of looking up and out into the world, we really do miss the wisdom of God. Learning to listen takes the discipline of focus. It requires an open heart and teachable spirit, willing to walk through each day expectantly waiting for God to layer wisdom and revelation into our hearts and souls.
Another common Biblical word in reference to wisdom is discernment, “to perceive by the sight or some other sense or intellect: see, recognize, or apprehend.” God is faithful to confirm His word and His lead in our lives. We are able to discern His directives through the Holy Spirit’s presence in every Christ follower. The Holy Spirit sees and knows what we do not and cannot. There is a war waging for our souls. We often will not have the words to utter the aid we need from God, but the Spirit translates our uttering to God! In the same way, the person of the Holy Spirit comforts, guides, and stands by us daily, at the ready to help us discern the wisdom of God. Truthfully, God promises when we seek Him, we will find Him. Connecting the dots we cannot see is the work of the Holy Spirit – the very power of God in every one of us.
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Perhaps that is what makes it so hard to listen. We cannot always see visibly or hear audibly what we are to know. Revelation is “something revealed.” Theologically, “God’s disclosure of Himself and His will …communication or disclosure.” He is faithful to show up in our lives in unmistakable ways. And when we cannot feel His presence, we can trust in who He says He is and know He is there. God is in control and does not change. Paul wrote to the Romans, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). Just keep listening. “Knowing things matters when it comes to deep change in our hearts,” Pastor John Piper explains, “God answers prayer through what he has given us to know.”
Paul prayed the Ephesians would be able to see the hope they had in Christ by discerning the wisdom and revelation God is faithful to provide. Hope, “has an objective quality of certainty, the NIV Study Bible explains, “It is the assurance of eternal life guaranteed by the present possession the Holy Spirit” (NIV). The unshakable truth of the Gospel anchors our hearts in the hope of eternal life. Paul wrote,
“And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us” (Romans 5:5).
Christ followers have been called, just as the Ephesians Paul wrote this prayer to learned to listen. As we do, each day we become more like Christ, Himself. Jesus is seated victoriously at the right hand of the Father in heaven. Defeater of death, Savior of the world, He will return to right all wrongs. Until that day, we have been given the rich wisdom of the Lord to navigate the throws of this life.
Paul wrote to the Philippians,
“I want to know Christ - yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death” (Philippians 3:10).
The more we know Christ, the more we desire to know about Him. He is with us always, we only need to learn to listen for His movement in our everyday lives. God is faithful. He is with us. We are His.
Source
NIV Study Bible, Copyright © 1985, 1995, 2002, 2008, 2011 by Zondervan.
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