Yes, it’s me again. I’ve been absent from this blog for a while but I’m back. Today, I want to share the idea of listening.
Every day sound bombards our ears—traffic, radio, television, kids, work, school, church. Almost everything comes with sound. Many times, it becomes white noise. Something that’s always there, sounds we no longer distinguish as being music or voice. We adjust and adapt. Or we block it out.
But sometimes we need solitude and silence. We need places where we can sit and listen. These places don’t happen by default. They are conscious, intentional decisions we make.
A listening place is a location where we can do focused and purposeful listening. Sometimes, our focus might be on listening to music to calm us or to help us meditate. When I’m wanting to hear from God, I find instrumental praise and worship music most helpful. If the music has lyrics, it distracts me because I start listening to the words instead of to God. Your experience may differ. Options are available on just about every streaming music service.
And God wants quiet time with us. He hears our prayers all day long, but there are times when he wants to speak directly to us. He desires a relationship with us. And relationships require communication. And communication requires spending time with the other person to talk and, more importantly, to listen. How do we provide it to him? How do we make ourselves available to listen to him?
When we had kids at home, my wife and I waited until the children settled into their quiet time in the evening. When they were young, it was when they were asleep. As they grew, it became the time they did homework. My wife and I would squirrel away in our bedroom and talk about things that required serious conversation without distractions. And sometimes we sent the kids outside to play to get some time alone. This was back in the day when you could do that and not have Protective Services banging on your door.
In a marriage or any relationship that’s important to us, we do it by design and on purpose. If we wait for the opportunity to come, it never will. To paraphrase Jack London, we have to go after listening time with a club and then protect it. And it will be different for each of us.
My wife and I are both retired now. Our kids are grown now and scattered across the country. We’ve grown into a routine. We begin each day in a quiet time of personal devotions. Then we come together, listen to a daily bible reading—yes, we listen. We’ve found that when we listen to someone else read, we hear things we didn’t pick up on in our personal reading. This leads to interesting discussions and, sometimes, further research.
We also talk about our relationship and how we can keep it strong. We discuss our dreams and plans. And we try to figure the best way to get through the day facing us and not lose touch with each other during the busyness.
My quiet time with God has grown over the years from none to a time of prayer and meditation, and journaling. Now, I make the conscious effort to listen to him.
I urge you to find your listening spot and time. It’s like writing. Many people say to me, “I can’t find the time to write.” My response is, “We’ll never find the time to write or to listen. We make the time.” Examine your schedule and your living environment. Is there a time and place you can reserve for time with our Father? If it doesn’t look like it, become aggressive. Make adjustments and carve out time and a place to sit and listen to God. Then protect that time and preserve it for him and you.
Here’s a practical way to begin. Go to your quiet place. Sit in a comfortable chair. Set a timer for five minutes. When the time starts counting down, ask. “Heavenly Father, what do you want to say to me today?” Then be still and listen for the rest of the time.
It may feel awkward the first time you do it. I was. But keep at it. The practice works. In fact, I use it several times a day to keep in hear God and seek his wisdom when there’s a challenging situation or a decision needs to be made.
I pray you find this helpful. Let me know your thoughts and experiences in the comment section.
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