God Speaks, do You Listen? How do You Listen?

Here is a practical “how to” method of hearing God.

The point is to hear God so His Character is evident in my life. That is not the same as hearing God so I can get what I want. Too many people want to hear God in order to verify that God wants them to do something that just happens to be what they already want to do. 

This kind of “I heard God” cheapens the people who practice it.

There is a story of the young Christian who said to his spiritual advisor, “I was just talking with Jesus and He says that I should get a new car.” The spiritual advisor replies, “That’s odd. I was just talking with Jesus’ father and He says you ought to make do with the one you’ve got.”

Do you really want to hear God? Here is a simple process I learned from Mark Thibodeaux, a Jesuit priest who wrote a wonderful book I highly recommend, Armchair Mystic. The title isn't great, but it is a really great book. 

This process is very practical. Some will say, "That's it?!" And I will reply, "Yep." But if you'll do it you will notice a few things change about your prayer life. Read Thibodeaux's book becasue he has several other practical guides too.

While I’m relaxed, usually having a cup of coffee, I turn to the passage of scripture I want to pray over. Recently it was Luke 5:1-11, where the disciples catch so many fish they fill two boats.

I softly sing (sometimes I just sing it in my head because it is hard for me to be soft when I sing) a praise song I like. Sometimes I make one up. “Lebh Shomea, Lebh Shomea...” That’s Hebrew for “a heart that listens.” I just softly sing it over and over again to a simple tune I make up on the fly.

When it seems the right time I pick up my Bible and read the text a few times. I go slow and watch for words or lines that jump out at me. This day it was verse 7, “They signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink."

The image of two boats full of flopping fish and wide-eyed fisherman becomes clear in my mind. This is a really cool part for me ever since I've been on a boat on The Sea of Galilee. But even if you've not been there you've been on a boat or can imagine a scene like this. One guy is frantically waving his partners over for help. The shouts and hands on oars now emerges as an important part of the image.

Then I recognize one guy is Peter and the others must be Andrew, James, and John. In my imagination I am now in the scene with them. I try to smell the fish and feel the boat beneath me. And now Jesus looks at me. In my mind Jesus looks like Brian Deacon who played Him the film simply titled, Jesus.

God says, “Trust me. Work with your partners. Let them help you. I will fill your boats and then some.”

I sit in my chair and the boat and think about the promise from this text. I treat it as a Word from God. "Trust me. Work with your partners. Let them help you. I will bless you."

This Word from God gives me comfort and hope. God reminds me there are people in my life He wants me to partner with. I believe God. I believe what He has said to me is consistent with His Word elsewhere. God has never once told me to do anything inconsistent with what He has been telling people for ages. Yet His Word for me almost always has new insight for my life that very day, even that very hour.

I sit there for awhile and wonder about what God has said. 

I thank Him for speaking to me. Now I am no longer there with Jesus in the boat, I am sitting in my chair. I look at my coffee and wonder if it is too cold to enjoy. It almost always is and I usually go make another cup.