Learning to Listen

Listening for the voice of God requires learning to live in the silence.  The silence is not one emptied of external sounds and distractions, though, it is a good thing to create as much external silence as possible if we are serious about hearing a Voice that often speaks very softly.  When we come to the moment of entering into the presence of the Holy One, turning off televisions, music, and hand held devices is a good practice.  Of course, the external distractions are not limited to such modern technological devices for even in the day of Jesus we hear Him saying, "...whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you."  (Matthew 6:6)     

Obviously, creating a place where silence prevails over the external noise is a good start in experiencing the silence needed to hear the voice of the Lord, but the real place where the silence must prevail is the inner places of the heart and mind and spirit.  All of us have drawn aside into some quiet place only to have our mind filled with the concerns of the day, some nagging question for which there seems to be no answer, or even some catchy jingle which has gotten hung up in our mind.  Stilling the inner self and its voices can often be more difficult than turning off the noisemakers of the day.   

It is in those moments of stilling the inner noises that the learning curve is huge for many of us.  Learning to live in the inner silence is not as easy as turning off a switch.  One suggestion is to ask the Spirit for help.  Those things we cannot do alone, He is always ready to provide help.  Another is to be prepared to recite quietly some simple spiritual mantra like "Jesus is Lord, Jesus is Lord," as a tool to help us find our center once again.  Learning is a key word as we seek to live with inner silence.  Like any discipline, it takes practice in order for it to become a natural part of our life.