We have seen that ‘to attend to My Words’ is the first requirement to hear God’s voice. Secondly, we have to bow down (or ‘incline’) our ear. We have to be humble and teachable. Many people read the Bible or pray to God with their own preconceptions. They believe they know what God should have said. They believe they know what God is going to say. And if God actually has said something different or does say something different, they’re simply unable to hear. They’re made deaf by their own preconceptions.
Most people who belong to any kind of denomination read the Bible with their own denominational slant. They think, “Well, if it’s not in my denomination’s teaching, it isn’t in the Bible.” Believe me, I don’t think there’s any denomination which has the complete truth. There are things in the Bible that we don’t hear many times in church, and if we only expect to hear from God what we’ve heard in church, we’re spiritually deaf; we’ll miss what God is saying to us. So, the first two requirements for hearing God were “attention” and “humility.”
The next two requirements are “time” and “quietness.” How remote those two words are from our contemporary culture. Two things that almost nobody has today: time and quietness. Yet this is stated so many times in the book of Psalms about hearing God. For instance, in Psalm 46:10, it says:
“Be still, and know that I am God…”
Out of stillness we hear God’s voice. An alternative translation of this same verse says this: Cease striving and know... (NASB) And the alternative version in the margin of that is, “Let go, relax and know that I am God.” Put those together: “Be still and know; cease striving and know; let go, relax and know.” What does that speak to you about? To me it speaks of quietness and relaxation, and this requires time. We hear from God many times when we take time to wait for God. God doesn’t always speak the first instant that we would like to hear. Psalm 62:1 says this.
“My soul waits in silence for God only.
These are tremendous words: “My soul waits in silence for God only.” You have to wait. You have to be silent, and your attention has to be focused on one person only: God. And then in Psalm 62:5, just four verses further on, David addresses his own soul and tells his soul how to wait.
“My soul, wait in silence for God only.”
Have you ever said that to your soul, “My soul, wait in silence for God only.” The emphasis is on waiting in silence for God, being in an attitude of attention, of reverence, of quietness, of relaxation, our hearts and minds focused on God.
Father, I realize how difficult it is for me to be still, and wait for You, to really take time for You. Help me, Lord, make my heart long for Your presence, help me to quiet my mind and spirit, to worship You and enter in Your presence, to humbly listen to Your voice. In Jesus’ Name, amen!
