EARS TO HEAR!

Prayer is a reflection of one's dependence on God. (Rad Andrews)

Ask self, am I prepared to listen as I kneel or bow my head before his throne of grace or am I prompt to petition? When sharing with friends, am I the one doing all the "sharing?" Be "quick to listen" and "slow to speak"  as it says in James 1:19. Listening ears are ears that truly hear from God and others.

T.H.O.T. notes (cropped) from a recent (5/19/24) Pace Mckee Harvest sermon took listening to a whole new level.Do you think the Lord is trying to get my attention?

Expositional listening leads to action NOW….not tomorrow!

 

Listen carefully-- Luke 8:16-21

1)          Pews are for taking in but truth is for giving out! Listen evangelistically. Empty the pews for the glory of God & good of the church

2)          In pew…..Listen for introspection (secrets of your heart will come into light, you can’t hide from God) and repentance V.17 God’s character will not bend.

3)          Caution (“Heed”) and diligence in listening.. Don’t be ever hearing & not understanding. Listening carefully cannot leave you unchanged. Do you just want your ears tickled! Take heed. v.18 Take care how you listen! Listening is NOT passivity but activity. A heedful hearer. Listen as a church. Be in the pews gathered…..not virtual It’s not an individual activity---church, baptized believers listening to sermons together in pews keep us accountable. Plural (us)---preaching for y’all! Kids too. Consider how to spur one another to good deeds. Pray before, after and during your hearing.

4)          Obedience is a part of expositional listening ---relationship with Him. V.21 Hear it and do it. Apply it! 

Pace would probably ask, "Do I hear an Amen?"

Do you hear an AMEN in your heart? You might if you have ears to hear!

LISTEN!

Listen---"my one word" for 2020. Hmmmm!

I must need a refresher course. Yesterday I saw two H2H friends at Snapdragon Floral and I became a chatterbox. I did apologize, after the fact. Both graciously accepted.

That very morning, "get into the habit of hearkening" was my journal notation. How quickly I forgot.

 Contextually it was intentionally and continually hearkening to the Lord about everything. I think it was a reminder----after listening to God, "listen" to others. Listening is a way of honoring/respecting/putting others first. (Philippians 2:3b-4) May I hearken to others today!

LEAP DAY LOVE NOTE

Some things "bother me".  Having no devotional on February 29 is one of those.

Don't misunderstand me, I had my morning quiet time BUT the first devotional book I chose did NOT have a 2/29 entry. As I checked the copy right date I noticed it was not published in a leap year, so maybe that was the reason for the omission.  

As a somewhat OCD female, I like order and structure. So...... the absence of a day's devotional in my "2nd choice book" labeled, A Year of Devotionals had me a little off-kilter. Plus, it was published during 2012, a leap year, no less. In another of that author's books, he had stated, "There's Nothing wrong with devotional books, ---Ive written some myself---but they are to be supplements to our spiritual diet, NOT the main course." (Morgan p.60) I sense his absence of a 2/29 entry emphasizes that.

But God, who knows me well....had me look up and right on the table in front of me was my old favorite, Jesus Calling DayBrightener. As I flipped the card to today's devotional, there was February 29. How special for an OCD soul.

Plus, I was affirmed as Sarah Young's entry spoke right to my heart because earlier this morning, I had prayed for others to find the right pathway to love......and "My One Word" for the year is LISTEN. "Listen more to Me" leapt right off the page and into my heart. 

My today's love note reminder from the Lord.

"DO YOU HEAR WHAT I HEAR?" A REPRISE

For me, once I start looking for the Lord, I see His hand all over the place.

This week, I've focused on Listening for the Lord and I have "heard" his "song" everywhere!

My Sunday morning cuppa included time scanning the "funnies"which many households refer to as the comics.

Then, I "heard" an affirmation from the Lord---loud & clear. I just love "Family Circus". So real and it always makes me laugh. This morning's Sunday School lesson, quoted Ann Voskamp. 

"Oxygenated grace is laughter." Something most of us need more of. 

As I began typing this entry, the melody of "Do You Hear What I hear" drifted in from the den.

Hubby was watching Tennessee Crossroads on PBS featuring a visit to "Sunny Side Lights" in Brentwood, TN. 

He was watching......

I was listening to the melody but the lyrics spoke inside my head..........

Do you hear what I hear

A song, a song

High above the trees

With a voice as big as the sea.

.....and I heard my "spiritual" song as my week ended. (James 4:8) A song from the Lord.

CHOOSE: LISTENING

At our home, the "S" word is not allowed---never has been since the children were old enough to talk. "Shut-up" is our "S" word. "We" don't see it as a kind word. So...we don't say it. That's the Liles' rule!

However, we acknowledge that there are times when all of us need to close our mouths in order to listen. When silence is necessary to get another's attention, we say HUSH!

Somedays I need to tell the world to "HUSH!" so that I can "hear" from the Lord. (Proverbs 19:29) Yet, sometimes even when I close out the world and am alone, I still have "noises" in my mind that whirr and drown out God's still small voice. Then, I need to open my Bible and tell my mind to "hush." His word is His voice---and it's the best way to listen to Him. Then, I need to heed what I hear.

"Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD." (Psalm 34:11)

More often, listening as to hear  and heed is more of a heart problem than an ear problem.

Choosing to listen needs to become the antecedent for choosing "heartfelt" action.

CHOOSE: STILLNESS

This snapshot says it all.

My plan for today's quiet time. To sit before the Lord and allow Him to guide my thoughts.

In stillness. With an open Bible and an open heart. 

Speak (LORD) for your servant is listening. (1 Samuel 3:10)

If I can't be still and listen with my heart, how else will I know Him?

W.A.I.T.

Prayer is two way! 

We cry-out, petition, plead, etc. God listens.

God speaks....but do we listen? Have we forgotten it is a conversation? Have we forgotten how to "take turns" in our prayer life.

For many prayer is "one-way". We talk and then we talk some more. (James 1:19)

We shoot those arrows in the air and then go about our way, not reading His word or staying still long enough to hear His answer. (Psalm 46:10)

In this morning's prayer time, Carolyn W. shared a great acronym, W.A.I.T. to keep us mindful of the wisdom of controlling our words. 

  W--Why

  A---am

I----I

         T---Talking

Practice listening more, with both God and others, might be a good resolution for most folks. Wait your turn to talk....but remember to listen as you wait.

Mys-TEA-ry of Prayer

My sheep listen to my voice; (John 10:27, NIV)

It's been said that the only way to really get to know some one is to "shut-up and listen." At our house "shut-up" is considered an "S" word, so we say "hush" or in this context, "Be quiet and listen." 

I think that bodes well for our prayer times as well. God already knows us---inside and out. But, if we want to really know Him, maybe we need to say less and listen more.

Prayertime isn't just some grocery list where we go thru the quick check with our items---cross them off our list and hurry on to "our" real agenda. 

God's children have ears to hear---the question is, "Will they use those ears to hear the voice (Word) of God? (Amos 8:11-12)

Listening requires one to "tune in" to Him, which for me means "tuning out" the audible distractions of the world (“Take heed what ye hear.”--Mark 4:24-25) & even the whirring thoughts that can creep into my thinking. Thus an open Bible--a tool used to keep me focused on His word as I meditate and pray. 

Meditation helps this sheep stayed "tuned in" to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, who will enable me to hear the very, and often exact, word I need to help get through my day. Mysterious, I know......but when God's Spirit speaks, we need to be still and "tuned in" in order to truly listen.

Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17)

As I sip my cuppa, filled with the beauty and mys-TEA-ry of prayer, I pray “give me, thy servant a hearing heart,” just as Solomon prayed.* (1 Kings 3:9)

*In the Hebrew, "understanding heart" is literally translated as "a hearing heart."

"Selectivi-TEA"

For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. (2 Timothy 4:3, NIV)

Many a couple struggles with selective hearing "chosen" by their spouse, though most often men get the blame. Mention the opera or a conversation with a friend and he is tuned out but mention football stats or golf scores and "he" is all ears! It goes both ways---but for either, it's an action when one chooses to focus his/her attention on a specific source of a sound (think...spouse vs TV) or the spoken words themselves.
Selective hearing is a euphemism for listening to only what one wants to hear.

Some of us sip from this cuppa of selectivi-TEA when we read our Bibles. Even being aware that ALL scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable.....(2 Timothy, 3:16, emphasis mine), one can still pick and choose the truths he/she wants to heed. Some even hop from church to church or tele-evangelist to tele-evangelist til they find the prosperi-TEA gospel they want to hear. In our culture, there's always a "teacher/preacher" ready to tickle your ears so that you "feel good"----because they say what you want to hear.

The selective hearer only ever hears within their own frame of reference.

Ask yourself, "Am I hearing what God is saying and wants me to hear....or is self my frame of reference?"

Selectivi-TEA of truth is a choice each must make on his own.

lis-TEA-ning

And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: (Mark 4:24, KJV)

Yesterday's Commercial Appeal comic strip was so "right on" for my recent ponderings. 

ZITS COMICS

When it comes to listening, whose voice am I choosing? Where is my aural focus? God or self?

When God speaks, am I hearing as to heed or am I only 1/2 listening----hearing the parts I like?? That's similar to Jeremy, the 15 yr old Zits' character, who will only listen to those things he wants to hear.

So many voices in life's cuppas....choosing the right cuppa lis-TEA-ning is important.

NO SERVICE is "SWEET!"

8/15/13 The phone read "no service." Likewise, the computer.

Occasionally the BEST service is NO service.

Sounds like a "Heart to Heart" lesson taking root.

Disconnection with the world can enrich connection with the One who truly desires connecting with us. Be still and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10)

"NO SERVICE" RESULTS: Silence, Solitude, Quietness of Soul, Serenity of Spirit, Listening Opportunities, Simplicity of Agenda---just to mention a few!!

 In His Presence is fulness of Joy. (Psalm 16:11)
SWEET SERVICE!

ANAGRAM ANALOGY

11/16/12 Game icons on my iPad are few---and only 1 of the 6 is mine, and I don't even play it very often. My friend, Ann Martin, introduced me to Whirly Word---an APP for a puzzle game that starts with 6 letters for the player to make as many words from those letters as you can. Accepted words appear as they are entered. Nothing high tech. I don't even keep the sound on. One can play it alone---or with a friend looking over your shoulder, not one out in cyberspace. When you're stuck, you can press whirl and the letters change positions. Sometimes with that simple change of perspective, clarity comes.

 In this game, the first word I saw was "Shug."  In an Urban Dictionary, shug is short for sugar. My Daddy's nickname for me was Sugar so that's exactly why my "grands" call me "Shug." Whirly Word wouldn't accept it.

A recent revelation came from a "new" similar game. The letters were
e t  s  l  n i. 
There were five 6-letter words listed as possibilities on that grid. "Listen" came easily. Enlist. Inlets. I needed to whirl.
A "whirl" could give me a new perspective.

I moved those letters around. SILENT jumped out at me. Silent---the adjective that describes a person on one side of a conversation. If I indeed listen attentively, with the purpose of hearing, during my prayer conversations with the Lord, I need to be silent.

Anne Graham Lotz said it well when describing how we "hear" God's voice. "We "silently" listen with our eyes open on the page of our Bible." (my paraphrase)

MEETING GOD????

11/2/12 In his book, Meeting God in Quiet Places, F. LaGard Smith tells of meeting God on his daily meanderings through the footpaths of the Cotswolds. It’s in these quiet places that Smith found refreshment for his soul and insight into the very heart of God.

Where do you meet God?

Is there a place that draws you to Him?

Scripture reminds us that if we draw near to Him, He draws near to us. (James 4:8)

In the summer months, my red Adirondack chairs beckon me. Two chairs side-by- side. I call them the “Thy and my” chairs---because I seek to hear from Him there---through prayers, reading and meditating upon scripture, and by simply being still. Listening and waiting upon Him---hard to do at times because, for me, even the quiet can get LOUD! Yet, it’s during those times of being still that I most often receive clear impressions of a message the Lord might be trying to teach me.

Be still, and know that I am God. (Psalm 46-10a)

In the colder months, my prayer chair beckons me. Again it’s a place that draws me to stop and get to know Him better. It hasn’t always been that way---even though said chair was in a very visible place. My heart was not as attuned to Him. 

I was “caught up short” on this week’s neighborhood walk when I saw two Adirondack chairs that could have once been used as "Thee and Me" chairs---but no longer. They looked as if all human contact had deserted them. It was a telling, gripping tableau for me. When we draw near to God, He is always there BUT when we don’t show up, signs of destruction are everywhere.

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. (James 4:8)

Don’t let your space for meeting with God get shoved aside. Such a space for peaceful intimacy with God is crucial for facing the onslaught of one’s busy lifestyle.

Abandoned. Dusty. Falling apart. Overgrown with weeds that block the beauty.

Where do you meet for quiet connection with God?. Your answer to this question speaks volumes about your spiritual life.

Quiet Words

6/7/10 The days I had at the beach were glorious and “quiet.” The water roared sometimes, the waves crashed, thunder clapped, rain came, wind blew and whistled through the deck door but still there was a quietness. I was still; I could hear. It was easier to hear Him as the relentless clattering of the world was put on hold. God speaks quietly. God Calling (June 5 entry) reminded me to listen because He speaks quietly. It’s His voice I need to hear. As I listen, “anxious thoughts and tired nerves will become rested.”

And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. (II Kings 19:11-12)

Ah-h-h the still small voice of the Lord---it brings rest to my soul and joy to my weary bones. According to the prophet, Isaiah, hearing from the Lord brings life. Today be still, meditate on His word and listen for His still small voice. Then live in light of those quiet words that you hear.

Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; (Isaiah 55:3)