Published by admin on 19 Nov 2021 at 01:27 pm
WHY DON’T I HEAR GOD?
I often tell people how easy it is to hear God, and they ask “How do you do that?” Well, maybe it’s kind of like Thomas Edison discovering over 900 ways NOT to invent a light bulb. We need to take inventory of our life and find out WHY we have trouble hearing God. It’s a process of elimination, really.
Let’s do a countdown of reasons we may not be hearing from God. The number one reason would have to be we really aren’t listening in the first place. Oh, you may go to church when you don’t have something better to do, you know, like when the fish aren’t biting at the lake, or when you don’t have a sporting event to go to, or something like that.
Hearing from God starts at home. God isn’t going to speak to you if you aren’t actively listening for Him. I mean, why SHOULD He? If you’re not listening, you’re not going to obey anything He tells you to do, so why bother? Jesus talked about us having “ears to hear”. He wasn’t talking about hearing in general, but rather specifically, having hears to hear GOD. A good place to start is by regular reading of your Bible. If you aren’t reading your Bible on a daily basis, you really aren’t interested in hearing God. There, I said it, like it or not, that’s the truth. So if you aren’t making time to be in the Word, you’ve already locked yourself out of hearing God.
I ask people, How is your day going? Nine out of ten tell me, BUSY! Well, then I’d rank that as a number two reason you don’t hear from God. Believe it or not, God really wants to commune with you. Jesus told us about Martha and Mary, two sisters that knew Jesus. There’s an account in Luke 10:38-42 about them.
38 Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.
39 And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word.
40 But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.
41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:
42 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.
Notice here, both sisters were there. Mary sat down to hear what Jesus had to say, and Martha was upset because Mary wasn’t helping her serve the people at her house. Jesus wasn’t there to be served, but to be listened to, and Mary chose to do that. Actually, Jesus COULD have just said the word, and everyone would have had food and drink, but food and drink wasn’t what was important. Mary chose the important thing. So often, we look at the circumstances and deem the wrong thing important. Hearing God is the MOST IMPORTANT thing there is, period. Anything other isn’t going to get you into His Kingdom, so everything else must be moved down the list. I promise you this; God knows what you need, and will provide it, providing you are seeking HIS KINGDOM FIRST. Matthew 6:24-33 says,
24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
You see, Mary chose to hear God. Martha, bless her heart, was more concerned with the comfort of the guests, but she was missing out on what Jesus was saying. And she THOUGHT she was doing God’s will by working so hard to serve the guests. We so often miss God’s best by doing that. Not pointing any fingers here, just trying to raise your awareness of how slick the devil works against us. He sneaks in distractions to keep us off-focus. We ALL have to deal with distractions daily. People driving and texting can have wrecks, because they’re distracted from the main job of driving. We end up wrecked when we allow worldly distractions to take our attention off of God.
Another reason we don’t hear God: Unprepared hearts. God prepared the heart of Samuel to hear His voice. We can read about it in 1 Samuel 3:1-11,
1 And the child Samuel ministered unto the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was precious in those days; there was no open vision.
2 And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see;
3 And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep;
4 That the LORD called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I.
5 And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down.
6 And the LORD called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again.
7 Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, neither was the word of the LORD yet revealed unto him.
8 And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the LORD had called the child.
9 Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, LORD; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10 And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth.
11 And the LORD said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle.
Once God had Samuel’s attention, He could speak to Samuel, and He did for the entire rest of his life, and Samuel became a mighty prophet for God. Now, God never changes, and He would like to establish a line of communication with YOU, if you will pay attention. You have no clue how great of things God could do through you if He had your full time attention, like He did Samuel’s. Many say they want to be used by God, well this is how it’s done: you need “ears to hear”, like Jesus spoke of.
God speaks to us when we “cultivate our ground”, removing everything that distracts our attention from God, so we can receive His seed, and His presence. We won’t need to go looking for God when we worship and put our attention upon Him, HE WILL FIND US!!
Every conversation goes two ways, one talks, the other listens, then they switch roles. When you pray, are you doing all the talking? Or are you taking the time to get quiet and let God respond to YOU? Many people just pray their prayers and get up and leave. Imagine you sitting at a table talking to a friend, and you state whatever is on your mind, and immediately get up and leave. I can just see the other person getting ready to reply, and you get up and you’re gone. Well, that’s pretty much what we do to God, isn’t it? Here, God has wonderful things for you, but it’s like, “Sorry I’m busy, gotta get back to whatever I was doing, bye!”
It isn’t like God is going to tie you down and make you listen, because He won’t. He will speak to the one who is LISTENING! So if you aren’t hearing from God, it isn’t because He isn’t talking, it’s because you aren’t listening. Like a radio station that is broadcasting, you must tune in to receive what is being broadcasted. If you’re sitting at a traffic light and you hear your favorite song coming from the car next to you, and you roll down your window and ask that person what station they’re listening to, and they tell you. Then you will need to tune your radio to that station. Or will you call that station and tell them their transmitter is broken, because you’re not picking up their station? No, you must TUNE IN to that station.
It’s the same with hearing from God. Tune in to His Word. Tune OUT the distractions. LISTEN for His voice. You’ll hear Him. It’s really that easy.