Are You A Careful Listener?
I had the vision to write godly blogs but I kept on struggling to consistently write. When I tried all that I knew, I went to one of my mentors to ask for help. He spoke to me and gave me an instruction on what to do. I still felt like nothing had changed until he asked me what he had instructed me. I repeated it to him and then he corrected me. He said “Sit down and write”, but even though I “heard” that, I didn’t really pay close attention to those words and instead processed it as just write the blogs. It’s no wonder I struggled for so long to write the blogs.
Listening versus Hearing! It’s not good enough to hear with our physical ears, we need to consciously take our time to actually listen. Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ is one we can learn from about listening carefully. When the angel Gabriel appeared to her and greeted her saying “Greetings, favoured woman! The Lord is with you” (Luke 1:28), I would have assumed that the appearance of the angel would have been the main concern of Mary but she was not a woman that was easily carried away. She was one who knew how to pick out important things by carefully listening. What puzzled her was the greeting by the angel and why he had said such (Luke 1:29). It’s no wonder that Mary was chosen by God to be the mom of Jesus Christ, because He was a unique child and such parent that would raise the King of Kings and Lord of Lords had to be a careful listener, in order to remember revelations spoken about Him.
What are those things that could distract you from being a careful listener? Is it your emotions? Moses allowed his emotion to prevent him from entering the Promised Land. When Moses and Aaron came to God concerning the complaints of the Israelites about a lack of water, God instructed Moses to take his rod, while Aaron gathers the people and Moses speaks to the rock, for freshwater to be provided for the people to drink. Sadly, because Moses was so upset with the people, he and Aaron did the first part of taking the rod and gathering the people but instead of speaking to the rock, Moses struck the rock twice and water came out for the people to drink. Even though water still came out for the people to drink, God was upset with Moses because he struck the rock instead of speaking to the rock. As a result, Moses was not allowed to see the Promised Land.
It takes a person that listens carefully, to be able to ask the right question (from the right person) and get the right answer. Mary was a careful listener and when the angel mentioned she was going to conceive a child, she was able to ask how that would happen since she was a virgin. She did not assume the child was going to be conceived through her union with Joseph, or from adoption but got the answer that it was going to be directly through the Holy Spirit.
Here are some practical steps to put in place as we strive towards being careful listeners:
1. Get rid of distractions: This could be getting a quiet place where you can be alone in God’s presence, placing your phones and other devices on airplane mode, silenced or completed turned off.
2. Be present in the moment: This takes a conscious effort in actually paying attention to what God is saying to you. Quieting your mind ensures that your mind isn’t wandering all over the place from thinking about what you will eat for lunch to the meeting you have the next day. By being present in the moment, both the mental and emotional aspect of your mind is put under control.
3. Take down notes: It’s very easy to forget or lose some substance of things spoken to us from God when it is not written down. In Jeremiah 30:2, the Lord instructed Jeremiah to write down all the words He has spoken to him in a book. This shows we value the words God speaks to us when we write it down and in turn, God shows us His favor (Isaiah 66:2). You can simply have a pen and notepad handy or even take notes on your phones or devices.
4. Ask questions: This allows you to clarify aspects of the revelation you got from God that you did not understand or need verification on the “How to”. One of my mentors once mentioned that it is very easy to have correctly heard from God but still make an error in the execution. By asking questions, this helps to eliminate assumptions and get real time validation from God. Sometimes you may get your questions answered immediately or later on. Remember, asking questions should be a continuous process.
5. Meditate: This is pondering on what you have heard from God. This allows the revelation to remain fresh in your mind. In Luke 2:19 and 51, we see that Mary pondered on what was spoken about Jesus Christ and kept all these things in her heart. Jacob was another example who kept the saying of Joseph’s dream in mind (Genesis 37:11).
6. Revisit: In order to ensure no aspect of the revelation is lost, it’s great to revisit what you have written down. This brings freshness and excitement to the revelation.
Today, we have access to the Holy Spirit, who teaches us all things (John 14:26). However, in order to grasp all from a teaching, we need to listen carefully to Him. The Holy Spirit wants to speak to you but you can't hear Him if you don’t have Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior. If you will like to make that decision today, please repeat this prayer:
“Lord Jesus Christ, I believe you are the Son of God and I believe You died for me on the cross of Calvary. I know I am a sinner and today, I come to You to forgive me of all my sins and to make me a brand new creation. I accept You as my personal Lord and Saviour. Thank you Lord for forgiving me and making me born again, in Jesus name, Amen”.
Congratulations!!!! You are now a born-again Christian (It simply means a new born baby in Christ and there is loads of celebration in heaven because of YOU! ☺)
If you made this decision, please leave a comment on this post or reach out to us at https://www.cccghq.org/contact/
By: Pastor Ibukun Adewusi