LISTEN, LISTEN, LISTEN
BREAD
1 Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. 2 Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. 3 As a dream comes when there are many cares, so the speech of a fool when there are many words. Ecclesiastes 5:1-3 (NIV)
19 This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Deuteronomy 30:19-20 (NIV)
24 Teach me, and I will be quiet; show me where I have been wrong. Job 6:24 (NIV)
5 Let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance– Proverbs 1:5 (NIV)
7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. Proverbs 1:7 (NIV)
8 Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. 9 They will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck. Proverbs 1:8-9 (NIV)
4 “The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says.’ 5 And whether they listen or fail to listen–for they are a rebellious house–they will know that a prophet has been among them. 6 And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious house. 7 You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious. 8 But you, son of man, listen to what I say to you. Do not rebel like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you.” Ezekiel 2:4-8 (NIV)
7 Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” Mark 9:7 (NIV)
27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. John 10:27 (NIV)
19 My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. 21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. 22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it–he will be blessed in what he does. James 1:19-25 (NIV)
BUTTER
“Of all today’s miracles the greatest is this: to know that I find Thee best when I work listening…Thank Thee, too, that the habit of constant conversation grows easier each day. I really do believe all thought can be conversations with Thee.” Frank Laubach
“Jesus said that we are to seek first the things of God and that God would respond by taking care of our needs. How can you be assured that you are praying for God’s will, and not your own to be done? Immerse yourself in the Word of God. The more you know the mind of God, the more you will begin to understand what He wants for your life. As you pray for specific requests, always check them against Scripture. You can be sure God’s desires for you will never go against His Word. As you read God’s Word and study it, ask the Lord to give you a greater awareness of specific promises that He wants you to pray about and believe. We must pray with praise on our lips, a confession of our sin, and a petition that God will act in the way that accomplishes His purposes and brings Him glory. Then, we must listen very closely to what God may lead us to say or do. God uses individual people to accomplish His purposes. Be willing to be used.” Michael Youssef
“The voice of God is a friendly voice. No one need fear to listen to it unless he has already made up his mind to resist it.” A.W. Tozer
“It is no small thing to be on terms of friendship with God.” Cowman
“‘Do you think God’s calling our name too — and we’re just not listening?’ That we are waiting for someone else to call our name — when God’s already called us? That nothing is lost by sacrifice and everything is lost when you’re sitting down when you should be stepping up? That when you’re waiting for an answer and it seems like life is silent – God is actually calling? That who answers God’s call loses nothing, but a life deaf to God’s call loses everything?” Ann Voskamp
“To listen is very hard, because it asks of us so much interior stability that we no longer need to prove ourselves by speeches, arguments, statements, or declarations. True listeners no longer have an inner need to make their presence known. They are free to receive, to welcome, to accept. Listening is much more than allowing another to talk while waiting for a chance to respond. Listening is paying full attention to others and welcoming them into our very beings. The beauty of listening is that, those who are listened to start feeling accepted, start taking their words more seriously and discovering their own true selves. Listening is a form of spiritual hospitality by which you invite strangers to become friends, to get to know their inner selves more fully, and even to dare to be silent with you.” Henri Nouwen
“Though salvation is not by the works of the law, yet the blessings which are promised to obedience are not denied to the faithful servants of God. The curses our Lord took away when He was made a curse for us, but no clause of blessing has been abrogated. We are to note and listen to the revealed will of the Lord, giving our attention not to portions of it but to ‘all these words.’ There must be no picking and choosing but an impartial respect to all that God has commanded. This is the road of blessedness for the Father and for His children. The Lord’s blessing is upon His chosen to the third and fourth generation. If they walk uprightly before Him, He will make all men know that they are a seed which the Lord has blessed.” Charles H. Spurgeon
“A heart drop is when a person, either directly or in a cryptic way, gives you a tiny glimpse into their heart…Hearing a heart drop is a way of listening between the lines, gaining a glimpse into another soul’s longings…Hearing a heart drop is an art we can intentionally cultivate. It can lead to the most wonderful times of encouragement as we make it our habit to listen and to love…But Jesus is calling us to stop and notice. To live alert. To give a special touch that may heal a heart or cheer a weary soul…I once heard it said that Jesus’ real ministry was the person He found standing in front of Him…Who is that for you today?” Karen Ehman
“I am listening, Lord, for Thee; what hast Thou to say to me?” Frances Havergal
HEART SAVOR
• I am to pray not only with listening ears but with a listening heart.
• True hearing requires heeding.
• There is a need for true listeners not just yappers of our own agendas and opinions not matter how lofty we may think they are.
Beth Yoe's Sharing Bread 