The Listening Question

Most of us know about praying.  It is something we do.  But, it often seems that our praying is too much about us.  We spend all our time saying and doing what we want to do.  We may follow a formula that leads us to praise, confession, and intercession, but once we get to the end of how we pray, the "Amen" quickly follows.  We may think of praying as talking with God, but it could more appropriately be regarded as talking at God.  We talk.  He listens.  At least, we hope He is listening.  There is seldom, if any, time for Him to talk and us to listen.

 

Even though we pray with a great deal of faithfulness and even though we may pray for an extended amount of time, our prayers do not usually provide a time for us to listen.  Maybe we have no place for listening because we do not expect Him to be saying anything to us.  The boy Samuel came to a place of listening.  It was not a quick journey, but he finally got there and said, "Lord, speak for Your servant is listening."  (I Samuel 3:9)  As we seek to grow into a deeper prayer experience, we, too, need a place for listening to whatever it is that God might want to say to us.

How do we get there?  Perhaps, the first step is to take a moment and either pray the words of Samuel, or ask, "Lord, is there anything You want to say to me?"  While this may sound off the wall to some, it is a way of entering into a moment of expectant listening.  However, as we come to a moment of asking God to speak, we must also be willing to enter into a time of waiting that is both expectant and silent.  We cannot hear what God would say if we are constantly talking.  There must be a moment of intentionally listening for His Voice.  As we move into this time, we can expect it to feel uncomfortable, but then God really has no vested interest in making us comfortable.