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Knowing God's Will, sermon #4 -"How to Listen to God" Part 1
by The Rev. Clancy Nixon
May 1, 2005
Church of the Holy Spirit
Ashburn, Virginia
Lisa Pinkham told me a story about a recent conversation she had with her four
year old daughter, Sophia. The family had been out of town for a couple weeks, and
Sophia was telling her mom how badly she wanted to go back to church at Holy Spirit.
Lisa asked her why, and Sophia said, "I love it when we do the children's blessing." Lisa
pressed in with her daughter, and asked her what it is about the blessing that she liked so
much. Sophia said, "I just feel all warm inside when he touches me on the head." Lisa
asked, "So you like it when Pastor Clancy touches and blesses you?" Sophia looked at
her mother with that annoyed look that children sometimes get when their parents just
don't get it. "MOM - it's about GOD blessing me, not so much Pastor Clancy!"
This is the kind of thing that Jesus meant when he said we must have the faith of a
little child in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Little Sophia caught a glimpse of
Incarnational Reality - with her mind's eye, she saw the reality of the unseen world that
is behind and beyond the shadows that we call this life. She saw the spiritual reality
behind the physical act of blessing through the laying on of hands. She reminds me of St.
Patrick's Breastplate. AS we read it together, ask yourself: does this describe your
reality?
"Christ be with me, Christ within me, Christ behind me, Christ before me, Christ beside
me, Christ to win me, Christ to comfort and restore me. Christ beneath me, Christ above
me, Christ in quiet, Christ in danger, Christ in hearts of all that love me, Christ in mouth
of friend and stranger."
When I talk to folks in our church, and ask them how they are doing with
listening to God, I don't hear many say, "It's going great! I'm having an hour in Quiet
Time, hearing his voice daily, doing his will." Some of you are frustrated by the prospect
listening to God, because you have tried it, and it just hasn't happened for you yet. Some
of you are having a hard time slowing down to listen at all. Others hear occasionally, but
not often enough. Some are frustrated with their quiet times. Others are having a hard
time getting the habit of a daily quiet time into their schedule. Some of you do have a
regular listening relationship with God and it's a delight for you. If that describes you,
here is what you can do: share the blessing. Find someone in the congregation who is
struggling with this, and help them get what you have. Be a mentor. Share the spiritual
wealth, don't hoard it! If you need help, seek out someone to help you who listens to God
regularly.
Wouldn't it be great to have delight with God. To love God so much that you
can't think of anything you'd rather do. Amen? How do we get there? Larry Lea says
that delight in prayer comes first from desire, then discipline, before you get to delight.
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First, you need desire. Do you really desire to commune with God! Do you hunger and
thirst to run to Him? If so, great! If not, then I recommend that you pray for more desire.
If you're desperate, you can even pray to be willing to have a desire. Start where you are.
Even if your desire is great, desire itself is not enough. You must discipline that desire
into a habit. Tim Teague spoke at the Healing Service about a time in his life when he felt
depressed. To deal with his funk, he ran five miles every day in the heat, in the rain, in
the ice, he still ran outside every day. At first, it was hard to do. His desire was so great,
though, he kept it up. Soon, it became a habit, and it turned into a delight something he
looked forward to every day.
How do you go about listening to God? We're going to look at that question this
week and next; today we'll look at the first steps. The first thing to remember is that
listening to God is not a technique; it is not a series of steps; it is a walk with a person.
Listening is just one facet of a relationship with a person. Your ability to listen to God
will flow out of your relationship with Him. The best way to hear God's still small voice
is to get close to him; draw near to the Lord, and he will draw near to you. You may say,
that sounds nice, Clancy; but how do I do that? How do I draw close to God? This is a
journey, not a technique; but we are not trailblazing here. God has shown us the way in
the Scriptures. Not only that, but for 2,000 years, many faithful believers have trod this
path before, and they have left marks and blazes on the path so that we wouldn't stumble
as they did. We can learn from them. God's people have learned that some paths are more
reliable than others in every spiritual discipline, including the one we call listening to
God. What follows is some of that wisdom.
Last week, I said that one reason we don't hear God is that when we try to listen,
we are not really ready to hear him; our Spirits are not receptive enough to hear him
because we have not been in his presence long enough, we have not slowed down our
RPMs enough, we are still pegging that needle into the red zone. So here are some
positive suggestions for slowing down, and getting into a receptive place to hear God.
First, before you do anything else in the morning, before you get out of bed,
commit your day to God in prayer. Wake up with God on your lips and in your mind, if
only for two minutes. I've been doing this lately, and it really helps me stay in a prayerful
place all day. It sets the tone for the day.
Second, schedule a daily time of solitude, for you to be alone with God, and keep
your appointment. About 80% of people find that early morning is the best time of day
for them to do their quiet time. Jesus was a very busy man, mobbed by crowds and sick
people. Jesus needed to get up before dawn to have alone time with his Heavenly Father.
The end of the day works better for a few of you. Some people need to take a shower
first, or they will fall asleep when they try to pray! Prayer won't just happen: you must
make it happen, make room for God in your schedule. It's a discipline. What if you are
having a hard time making it a daily priority? Listen, here is your answer: be accountable
to someone else for having your quiet time. I need to report to my accountability partner
about that every week. It's too easy for me to be tempted to think that I have too much
work to spend an hour in quiet time every day. If you are not currently faithful in your
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quiet time, I implore you: Come out of denial, and admit you need help. You can admit
it! I just did. If you ask them, most Christians will tell you that they don't pray enough.
Most of us need help. Let's support each other on this one, and encourage one another on
to good deeds, OK?
Third, whenever you do begin your quiet time, do something that is often called
Centering Prayer. Do whatever it takes to focus on God. For some people, that means
listening to their favorite Christian music - Singing along to Michael W. Smith or to
Robin Mark or to Mozart. For others, it means taking deep breaths, and saying a prayer
over and over again, like the Jesus Prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a
sinner." It didn't work for me! The more I said that prayer, the worse I felt about myself,
and I was discouraged. What does work for me is to pray over and over, "Thank you,
Jesus. Thank you, Lord." My heart needs gratitude, not more reminders of how sinful I
am. Try breathing long, slow breaths in and out. You might think that sounds like an
Eastern Religion. I've got news for you. Jerusalem is in Asia. Christianity is an Eastern
Religion! Christians have done breathing prayer for centuries. Center yourself on God;
leave your desires aside; focus on him; come into his presence.
Fourth, read the Bible; write down what jumps out at you; and meditate on it.
Have a systematic plan to read it. What book are you reading now? ... If you need help,
pick up an "Encounter With God," and read through the book of Acts. Great reading for
Easter and Pentecost. Reading the Bible is the best way I know to prepare to listen to
God. There are many other reasons to read your Bible, but that is for another day. One
thing that Bible reading does for you is what Larry Lea calls "tuning your spirit." "Piano
tuners use a steel, two-pronged tuning fork. When struck, it vibrates at a fixed rate,
making a musical note at a certain pitch. Any piano keys that have gone out of tune can
be adjusted according to the true and unchanging pitch of the fork. The Word of God is
like a tuning fork; its pitch is constant." (The Hearing Ear, p. 73) As we study the Holy
Scriptures, our ears become attuned to God's music. When we hear a message that mixes
error with God's truth, it sounds off-key to us. If we neglect God's Word, we can become
tone deaf to the voice of God, and dull of hearing.
Fifth, Pray your prayers. This is your turn to talk to God. I often write my
prayers down. You might not like writing; you might prefer to just say your prayers.
Writing is a spiritual discipline. You use a different part of your brain when you write
than when you just talk. When you write, you have a record of your prayers - which helps
your remember when you see an answer that it came as a result of God's answer, not
dumb luck!
Sixth, listen to God. At that point in our quiet time, we are finally ready to listen
to God. I think the number one reason many of us don't hear God more frequently is that
we have not been willing to put the time in to get to a place where we are open and
receptive to listen. It just takes time, and usually it takes people up to a half hour to read a
few chapters in the Bible and to say their prayers. If you have not scheduled more time
than that you have just missed the privilege of receiving personal guidance from the most
powerful being in the universe. So we get up, and go about our day. Instead of waiting
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on God, God is left waiting on us. What are we thinking when we do that? You
wouldn't treat your physician like that. Imagine if you did.
Let's say you are ill, so you go see your doctor. You spend 30 minutes in the
waiting room, reading your Bible or Leanne Payne, or if you forgot it, an insipid
magazine. When you finally get in to see him, you spend another 15 minutes telling your
doctor about your sore throat, athlete's foot, and stiff knees, and even about your
husband's anxieties, and your mother's cancer. Your doctor listens attentively to your
tale of woe. Then when you stop talking, you get up, and quickly walk out the door. You
even stop to pay, thinking how wonderful it was to have a doctor that listens! What
would your doctor do? A great physician would run after you, saying, "Stop! I want to
help you! Don't you want to hear my diagnosis? Don't you want my prescription?"
Jesus is the great physician, and he has the power to heal you, not just to write a
prescription. Instead of waiting on God, we often leave God to wait on us. He is waiting
for us to slow down long enough to listen to what He has to say to us.
To sum up, wake up with prayer; keep your scheduled appointment with God;
center yourself on Him; read your Bible; say your prayers; and listen to Him.
Walk the well-trod path of the saints who have gone before. Do this, and like Patrick and
Sophia, you and you will see God all round you. Let's pray.
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