DO YOU HAVE AN EAR TO HEAR?

   Years ago I heard someone say, “Be quiet and listen. You already know everything you know.” Since then, I’ve tried to listen more than I speak. The Scriptures also emphasize the importance of hearing and listening:

“Walk prudently when you go to the house of God; and draw near to hear rather than to give the sacrifice of fools. . .” (Eccles. 5:1, NKJV).

“If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear. . . Take heed what you hear.”  (Mk. 4:23, 24, NKJV).

“. . . let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath” (Jas. 1:19, NKJV).

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. . .” (Rev. 2:7, NKJV).

God Knows More Than You do.

   Since God knows more than we do, we ought to let Him do most of the talking when we pray. He’s smarter than we are. He sees things we don’t see. He can do what we can’t do. We position ourselves to receive when we take time to listen to Him.

   Every believer has a right to hear directly from the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:14-15).  Any believer can hear the Holy Spirit if they are willing to listen.

   The Spirit in us will guide us and show us things in the future that we don’t know (Jn. 16:13). As new creations in Christ we are designed to hear His voice. By listening to Him, we can be prepared and ready to move with God as He directs us.

How To Improve Your Spiritual Hearing

   Here are six ways we can improve our ability to hear what the Holy Spirit is saying.

1. Practice being quiet and peaceful in our heart and mind. We must guard what we continually think about.
2. Meditate (think, mutter) on the Word of God. The Spirit always speaks in line with the written Word.
3. Develop a consciousness of the Holy Spirit in us at all times. Since He lives in us, the voice of God is never very far away.
4. Pray in the Spirit in other tongues as much as possible. This keeps us sensitive to the Spirit and keeps our ears tuned to His voice.
5. Listen quietly when we first wake up or just before we go to sleep. Our mind is quieter In these moments and we can more easily hear the voice of the Spirit.
6. Obey the Holy Spirit when He tells us to do something. Our obedience positions us to hear more from the Spirit for the next steps in our life.

Summary

   We live in a time when we must have ears to hear what the Spirit of Truth is saying. This helps us stand against the deception of the enemy and the influence of the world, and enables us to rise up into all God has planned for us.