The Heart That Hears God

Well, today I'm going to deal with four specific requirements for achieving this kind of sensitivity of heart. The first two requirements go closely together, and I would describe them as attention and humility. Let me just say those two words again: attention and humility.

These requirements are stated many times in the book of Proverbs. And we need to bear in mind that Proverbs was written by the man who had asked God for a hearing heart, by Solomon. Let me give you just three passages from the book of Proverbs where these two requirements are joined together.

“My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.”

The two requirements: attend, incline thine ear. To incline your ear means to bow down your head. To bow down your head is a mark of reverent, respectful humility. You're not arguing with God, you're not dictating to God, you're waiting to hear from God. The inclined ear is an essential part of hearing from God.

“My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding.”

Again, the same two conditions: attend and bow the ear. And then again in Proverbs 22:17:

“Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge.”

The implication of the first part of that verse, “bow down thine ear and hear the words of the wise,” is that if we don't bow down our ear, we won't hear. If we don't have the right attitude, the attitude of humility, respectfulness, reverence, then we will not hear. So it says, “bow down thine ear and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge.” You see, always it's the heart that hears the voice of God. And we have to apply our heart. We have to attend. We have to focus our attention.

Let me sum up those two requirements briefly. First of all, to hear God's voice, we must give him our undivided attention. Attend. Apply thine heart. Now that's totally contrary to contemporary culture, where most people are used to listening to at least two things at one time.

I remember when I had teenage children that were still in high school, I remember seeing one of my daughters sitting there at the kitchen counter, doing her homework and watching a television program at the same time. And my mind reeled. I've been a student, I've been a teacher, I've been a professor at a university, and I absolutely could never do that. If I'm watching television, I cannot focus on my homework. If I'm focusing on my homework, I could not intelligently watch television. Now, I'm not saying she didn't achieve any results. I'm sure she didn't achieve the maximum.

But that's typical of contemporary American culture, culture in the Western world. People are afraid of silence. You know that? They always want some noise going on, background music, something somehow to distract them. But if you want to hear God's voice, you can't afford to be distracted. You've got to focus both ears and all your mind on God. You have to cultivate attention. It's a gift or a quality that many people just don't possess today.

Secondly, as I've said, we have to bow down 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 of which that is completely true. 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 maybe 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. Let's look at the next two now for a while. I would say the next two requirements are time and quietness. Let me say that again: time and quietness. How remote those two words are from our contemporary culture. Two things that almost nobody has today are time to be quiet.

And yet this is stated so many times in the book of Psalms about hearing God. For instance, in Psalm 46 verse 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.” 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 very 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 verse 1 says this, they are the words of David:

“My soul waits in silence for God only.”

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 verse 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.