KEEP A LISTENING ATTITUDE Listening is an important key to hearing! Have you ever met someone who asks questions, but doesn’t listen to the answers? It is hard to talk to people who aren’t listening. I am confident that God doesn’t bother to speak to closed ears. If we are not going to listen to Him, God will find someone with a ready ear, someone who is listening for the sound of His voice. Hebrews 5:11 warns us that we will miss learning rich life principles if we don’t have a listening attitude: “Concerning this we have much to say which is hard to explain, since you have become dull in your [spiritual] hearing and sluggish [even slothful in achieving spiritual insight].” A listening attitude will keep us from becoming dull in hearing. We shouldn’t have the mentality of only listening for God’s instruction when we desperately need help. Of course we’re ready to hear from Him if we’re in trouble. But God wants to speak to us on a regular basis. We need to have a listening ear all the time. I sat down at my computer today and was ready to begin working on this book project when I sensed the Lord saying, “Take a few minutes and just wait on Me.” I waited very briefly, then started to make a phone call. The Lord gently said, “I didn’t tell you to make phone calls; I told you to wait on Me.” Our flesh is so full of energy it is difficult for us to just be still. We need to develop new habits in this all-important area. So I waited quietly for a period of time, and the Lord began to talk to me about angels—something I certainly was not expecting. He led me to look up several Scriptures, and I ended up receiving a mini Bible lesson on the power and presence of angels. God has reasons for everything He does, and I believe He wanted me to be more aware of His angels working on my behalf— something I honestly had not thought about for a long, long time. You might ask, “Joyce, how do you know for sure God was talking to you, that your mind was not just making it up?” The answer is that I had peace about what I was receiving. It felt right inside me. My spirit confirmed it as being truly from the Lord. We know things about God by the spirit, not necessarily by the head. We take information into our minds, but revelation comes to our spirits through the Holy Spirit. There have been other times when I have waited on God and heard a similar voice but intuitively knew it was not God’s. We must know God’s character in order to know what is from Him and what isn’t. As we will see, He is gentle, not harsh, hard, sharp, or pressing (see Matthew 11:28-30). For example, when I began to pick up the phone to make a call, God didn’t become angry and yell at me. His voice was gentle and kind. God understands our nature. He knew I was not purposely being disobedient but that my flesh just wanted to be busy “doing something.” Our flesh is so full of energy it is difficult for us to just be still. There are many facets of God’s character, and each one of them seems to be more wonderful than the next. He is faithful, true, loving, kind, long-suffering, just, and honest —among many other wonderful attributes. If I thought I heard God tell me to give up on something just because it was difficult for me, I would question whether that message was from Him, because I know His character is to be faithful. His Word says that even when we are faithless, He remains faithful (see 2 Timothy 2:13); therefore, it is unlikely He would tell me to give up quickly. If I went shopping and came home with an extra item in my package that I didn’t pay for and thought God was telling me that it was His way of blessing me, I would know the voice was not God’s because He is always honest. He would not keep something He did not pay for, and we should not do so either. I recently purchased two pairs of shoes and the purse that matched one pair. When I returned home I found that the clerk had given me two pairs of shoes and purses to match both pairs, but had only charged me for one purse. It was an effort to return the purse—it actually cost me time and gas money to be honest—but I knew honesty was God’s way. The clerk was so impressed that as I was leaving I saw him telling others he could not believe I had returned the purse. People need to see God in action and He wants to work through His children. Don’t let Satan deceive you in this area of hearing from God. Know God, know His character, and you will be able to discern the voices that come to you, whether they are His, yours, or the enemy’s. Jesus said that people have ears to hear, but they hear not; and eyes to see, but they see not (see Matthew 13:9-16). He wasn’t talking about our physical ears; He was talking about the spiritual ears we are given when we are born into the kingdom of God. Our spiritual ears are tuned in to God’s voice. We need to have a quiet, expectant attitude to be able to hear Him. An example of a listening attitude is what happens in natural circumstance when Dave and I make tentative plans for the weekend. If what we want to do requires good weather, we start listening for the weekend forecast. When we don’t have a desire to go anywhere, we don’t really care about the weather forecast. When we need information, we keep a listening ear tuned for the answers we need. We may not know exactly what time the weather report will be given, so we turn on our radio, hoping to catch the weather broadcast. We can get busy doing things around our house, but because we are determined to keep one ear listening for the weather report, we are quick to separate ourselves from what we are doing as soon we hear anything said about the weather. We need to listen for God with this same kind of anticipation, as if we know He is about to give us important information that will influence the plans we are making. When people come to the altar for prayer, I have learned not only to listen to them with my physical ears, but also with my spiritual ears. I listen to hear if God is telling me something to pray for them. Many times what people tell me is not the whole story, and they don’t even know it. Maintaining a listening ear takes practice. God knows the whole story, and that’s why He wants us to train ourselves to have an attitude of listening to Him. Maintaining a listening ear takes practice because it is not something that comes naturally. We need to create an atmosphere of expectancy that says, “I am listening, God. If You don’t like what I am doing, please let me know. I am listening.” During our conferences, it is obvious that our worship leaders and musicians are listening to the Lord, because they frequently choose songs that perfectly complement the message God tells me to share. Many times it is impossible to coordinate song selections ahead of time, so I am grateful to work with people who listen to God and are led of His Spirit. When God confirms His message in many people at the same time, it builds faith in us to know that we really do recognize and discern His voice. [ever]