INTRODUCTION
Why is listening an important spiritual skill? Listening to God is the first step to obeying him. This information will not give you a specific formula that describes the prophetic call or how to hear the voice of God. For God’s methods are unique.
WHY?
- 1. Is in the Bible;
“And Moses called all Israel, and said to them: “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your hearing today, that you may learn them and be careful to observe them”. Deuteronomy 5:1 (1-5)
[Listen=Obey] (lift ears):
The root is distinguished in the Latin verb auscultāre, postulating the idea of inclining the ear, combining the Latin components auricŭla, interpreted as EAR, and the verb inclināre, understood as inclining.
- 2. Hearing God’s Voice May Require us to Listen Carefully.
1 King 19:12-13, “and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”.
It often falls to us to ask if we are in our place, and on the path of duty: Am I where I should be? Where is God calling me, where is my work, and where can I be of use? Elijah complains about the people and their stubbornness to sin; I’m the only one left – (The wind, the earthquake, the fire did not make him cover his face, but the soft and gentle whisper did) Contemplation.
- 3. Listening Spiritually Allows us to Learn from Others.
James 1:19-20, “So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God”.
1 Cor 12:1-3 “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant: …I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit”
“Spirit” represents something non-physical and normally invisible. We can conclude, except in the one case where “spirit,” ruach, or pneuma describes a being that has revealed itself, that spirit is never seen. (Discernment)
a. “Pneumatikos” – Spirituals, or Spiritual Things (Reference to the tire, filled with air and when in use it works, and when not in use it deflates)
b. God does not want us ignorant of spiritual things or things concerning our relationship to spiritual things.
By Mick Gonzalez, Previously written for Ephrata UZ Church website
