Listen Up

Listening is a lost art. In today’s society, we seem to be so preoccupied with ourselves that it leaves very little time for us to stop and truly listen to anyone else. 1 John 4:20 says, “If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?” Since this is the case, do you think the same is also true when it comes to listening? If we don’t even listen to people we can see, do we really listen to God, whom we cannot see?

True listening requires conscious effort and usually results in some kind of response. It is intentional and purposeful. Let me give you a few examples that immediately come to my mind.

Information

Sometimes we listen for information so we can gain more knowledge. Now, what we do with that knowledge completely depends on why we were listening for it in the first place. Are you listening so you can learn how to do something or gain a better understanding of something? Or, are you listening so you have something to gossip about? Your motives play a huge role in your outcomes.

Have you ever heard the saying, “knowledge is power?” Many of us could already have the things we’re praying about if we just had a little more knowledge. Maybe some of us have been waiting on God to give us supernatural power, when God may be waiting on us to use the power that could be found in the knowledge we haven’t been listening to.

Instruction

There are plenty of times when we should be actively listening for instruction. The purpose of listening for instruction should be for the intent to obey. Just like we expect our children to listen to our instructions and obey them, we need to actively listen for instruction from God, our employer, and anyone who’s in authority over us. We’re not listening for instruction just to pacify the speaker or just to say we heard it. We’re listening for the purpose of obeying that instruction and doing so in excellence. You will never be able to obey an instruction you never listened to in the first place.

Needs & Desires

When we talk to those in our sphere of influence, we should be actively listening for needs so we can help meet them. We should also be listening for desires so we can come alongside them in prayer. While we may not be able to meet every need ourselves, we may know someone who could help. We are all the answer to somebody’s prayer but you may never realize it if you don’t take the time to listen.

Negativity & Accusations

Believe it or not, many of us do actively listen, but we’re actively listening for the wrong things. Without even realizing it, some of us have made it a habit of actively listening for negativity. This makes it really easy for us to justify the pity parties we throw for ourselves. Sometimes, we’ll even listen for accusations. We’re just waiting for someone to accuse us of something because we come into certain conversations expecting to have to defend ourselves. This in itself proves we know how to actively listen. We just often times choose to use it for evil instead of using it for good.

I could continue to go on with different types of examples, but I think you get the point. We will always hear what we’re actively listening for. Be intentional with your listening. Listen so you can learn and grow. Listen so you can develop greater relationships and so you can help meet a need or heal a hurt. Listen so you can consistently obey God and be trusted to do even greater things in the Kingdom.

You may be saying, “Well, listening is something that I’ve never really been good at.” Just because you’ve never been doesn’t mean you can never be. Pray and ask God to give you ears to hear. Once you get to the point where you begin to hear what’s not even spoken, you’ll begin to see how something as simple as listening can cause you to change the world around you.

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