Listening
to God's Voice
.
by Clare Bick
There was a story in New Covenant magazine in
1981 that I read as a young Christian and which
has stayed with me. It describes a time at the
end of a conference on a hot day in Rome in 1975
when God spoke through a prophecy: ‘Because
I love you, I want to show you what I am doing
in the world today. I want to prepare you for
what is to come. Days of darkness are coming
on the world, days of tribulation....’ The
writer of the article describes the different
reactions of the people around her when this
word was given:
People to my left didn’t even seem to
hear the word. They chattered through the
prophecy, wondering what time it was, where they
would eat, how they would ever get out of the
crowd. I sympathized and understood. Then to my
right I noticed an elderly French man. His face
was wet with tears and he was struggling in the
tight crowd to kneel down. There he stayed with
his head bowed to the end of the service. I saw
clearly in a matter of moments how all the
trivial understandable things can distract us
from hearing God’s word... (quote from Sr. Ann
Therese Shields, New Covenant, May 1981)
The response of that elderly French man has stayed
in my heart for years and continues to speak to me
about not missing God’s word when it comes, but
heeding and revering it.
My sheep hear my voice
Today God continues to speak his word powerfully
to all who will listen to his call – to be his
friend, his disciple, a follower of Jesus, the
good Shepherd who said: ‘My sheep listen
to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I
give them eternal life...’ John 10: 27
This is Jesus’ promise to his disciples and if we
are to have a relationship with God that is in any
sense personal, we are open to the possibility
that God sometimes will speak to us directly.
Listening to God’s voice is not reserved for the
elite, for leaders or missionaries, for people
more holy or spiritual than you. John Ortberg in a
book about the spiritual disciplines called ‘The
Life You’ve Always Wanted,’, remembers a line in a
play called The Search for Signs of
Intelligent Life in the universe when one of
the characters says: ‘Why is it that when we
speak to God we are said to be praying, but when
God speaks to us we are said to be
schizophrenic?’ John Ortberg then asks: why
does God’s end of the line only have a receiver
and no mouth-piece?
Christians throughout the centuries have given
different names to how we hear from God. In his
journal, George Fox describes how the Lord
‘opened’ a truth to his mind. John Calvin
witnessed to the ‘inner testimony’ of the Holy
Spirit. And Ignatius of Loyola recognized
‘movements’ of the soul, thoughts and inspirations
given by God to move us closer to him.
These promptings may take different forms:
convictions of sin, assurance of God’s love, a
call to a service or to mission, but they are part
of a Spirit-led life. God is always
speaking, but we’re not always listening.
When the disciples had their glory moment on a
mountain when they saw Jesus transfigured, what
did the voice from heaven say? “This is
my Son, whom I love...Listen to him.” Matthew
17: 5 We must learn to listen to God’s voice.
Take a minute or two and reflect... think back
over the last week, month, even year. When was the
last time when you heard God’s voice? How did it
come to you? Have a think...
How do we hear God’s voice?
I’m sure God has spoken to us in various
ways... for some of us it was very clear, perhaps
a word of direction; for others it was a peace
about a way forward, a word through Scripture or
though another Christian, a word through God’s
creation, a door opening (or closing) or something
more unusual like a dream. If we are open to him
and eager for his word, God will sometimes
surprise us and speak to us at unlikely times as
well as during a personal prayer time.
A personal example of God
speaking to me
I want to share one way in which he has spoken to
me. When I was around 21, I did a GAP year
traveling around different communities with a
rucksack on my back and little money, and
traveling by bus. When I came back to the UK, I
was planning to go to Liverpool to do a post
graduate teacher's degree. I decided to spend the
weekend in London with the Antioch community
(which was just beginning at that time).
During that weekend God spoke very clearly to me
about giving up my plans for Liverpool. His word
to me was very clear and direct. God spoke to my
heart and he spoke through other people as well.
When I went to church on Sunday God spoke to me
through the Gospel reading about not looking back
when Jesus calls. I heard that word as a direct
confirmation that I should not delay my response
to the Lord's call for me. So in place of
Liverpool God opened up for me a place to live in
community with Antioch in London. And that is
where I have remained to this day.
That decision was a very strong experience and
took place over the space of a weekend when I was
young and flexible with my plans. But I find
now-a-days, that I'm not easily open to making
drastic changes like that. But the Lord is still
teaching me, often through discipline, to listen
to his word and to trust him when he speaks to me.
As we journey with the Lord, we can be confident
that the Good Shepherd will help us grow in
listening to his word for us.
Learning to listen to God
Jesus says: He who has ears to
hear, let him hear. And if we want to speak
God’s word; we have to learn to listen to it.
. When Jesus was tempted by Satan in the
desert and offered bread, his response was to
quote the words of Moses: Man does not
live by bread alone, but by every word that
comes from the mouth of God. Matthew 4:
4. In a book called ‘the Rest of God’, the
author Mark Buchanon writes: We have to
be people who listen day and night to God. Our
utterances ought to be as Jesus’ were: an
echoing of the Father, an imitation of him... a
holy ventriloquism
Making space to hear God
But he goes on to note that there are so many
voices and so little time to truly listen. A
biographer of Abraham Lincoln wrote this about his
childhood: In wilderness loneliness he
companioned with trees, with the faces of open
sky....Silence found him for her own. In the
making of him, the element of silence was
immense...
What makes and shapes us? Most of us have
little silence in our lives and live connected to
noise. This can make it harder to hear God’s
voice. We need to make space in our lives to make
sure that the Voice that speaks truth in love,
that wounds in order to heal, that gives sound
guidance amidst life’s temptations, can be truly
heard and heeded.
The sword of God’s word
In Hebrews 4: 12-13, God’s word is described
as a sword that can cut finely and uncover and
reveal the secret emotions and thoughts of our
hearts: it can wound to heal. A few years
ago I took a time of sabbatical from my normal
life and service and there was space and silence
for God to speak in this way, to uncover my heart
and prune me of unhelpful attitudes. It was very
freeing. Lent or the 40 days before Easter is a
great time to try and make space to listen to God,
to perhaps take some retreat time, even part of a
day, or to carve some space and silence in our
daily routine.
This all the more important to do when our lives
are are full and busy, even if they are busy in
Christian service. I want to reflect on the story
of the prophet Samuel in the Old Testament and the
story of Mary and Martha in Luke’s gospel to
illustrate this.
Samuel
In the Old Testament a thousand years before Jesus
there was a man called Samuel who became very
famous for his leadership and prophetic gifting,
but first he had to learn to hear from the Lord
and there is an important incident where he did
this as a young man. He was the son of Hannah, who
had been barren and had promised to dedicate her
firstborn to priestly service if God answered her
prayer to conceive. God honored Hannah’s request
and Hannah honored her promise and as soon as
Samuel was weaned, he was presented to the priest
Eli to be brought up for priestly duties. So he
grew up studying all that was required, very busy
in God’s service, growing in stature and favor
with God and men,...but he didn’t yet know God.
Eli hadn’t tutored him in hearing God’s voice.
But God intended to remedy this and Samuel hears
God’s voice for the first time in a story that
many of us grow up hearing in Sunday school (brief
recounting). Finally Eli figures out what’s
happening... it is the Lord coming to the house of
the Lord (surprise!) and Eli teaches Samuel how to
respond when he next hears the voice: ‘Speak
Lord, your servant is listening’ 1 Samuel 3:
9
Speak Lord, your servant is
listening....
And God speaks and speaks and speaks... Samuel has
had all that training in priestly duties, but now
has knowledge of God and his word, which
continues. We read at the end of 1 Samuel 3 (v
19): The Lord was with Samuel as he grew
up, and he let none of his words fall to the
ground... and Samuel’s word came to all Israel
1 Samuel 4:1
God guards, guides, and empowers Samuel’s words
because Samuel hears, heeds and obeys God's word.
It is the same for us too: we can be very busy in
the service of God, but like Samuel need to always
be saying: ‘Speak Lord, your servant is
listening’ and to hear and heed the God that
we are serving.
Mary and Martha
This is a story about listening too:
As Jesus and his disciples were
on their way, he came to a village where a
woman named Martha opened her home to him. She
had a sister called Mary, who sat at the
Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But
Martha was distracted by all the preparations
that had to be made. She came to him and
asked, ‘Lord, don’t you care that my sister
has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell
her to help me!’
- Luke 10: 38 – 40
Poor Martha gets a bad press in this story and
many of us would sympathize with her. There she is
doing all the work to welcome Jesus, while Mary
just gets to sit there with Jesus... and then gets
all the brownie points. It seems hardly fair!!
Notice where Mary sat: she sat at Jesus’ feet, the
ancient postures of a disciple. To sit at the feet
of your teacher is to sit in a humble place. In
Acts we read that Paul sits at the feet of the
rabbi Gamaliel to be trained in the Jewish Torah
and here Mary sits at Jesus’ feet as his disciple,
signifying her readiness to hear his word and
submission to its guidance. The Message
translation describes Mary hanging on every word
he said.
Martha distracted by the
preparations...
Now Martha was driven by wanting to
be a good hostess to Jesus, distracted by all
the preparations that had to be made. The
Greek word translated as distracted, penispato,
literally means “to draw from around’.
Martha’s attention, instead of being centered on
Jesus, was drawn from around him in many different
directions. She was anxious to give Jesus a
hospitable reception, and was upset by her
sister’s contemplative humility which looked to
her like laziness. She came to Jesus not to join
Mary in listening to him, but to complain about
her and to demand that Jesus make her do her bit
to help out. In the end it was Mary rather than
Martha who truly hosted Christ in her home.
I’m Martha a lot of the time. In theory I should
be like Mary as my main work is Christian work and
my children aren’t little, so I really could be
sitting at Jesus’ feet. Instead I am often
distracted by the preparations, by the busyness of
my work. I come to Jesus not to linger and listen
but to beg Him to help me with my agenda and to
deal with someone who I might find trying.
Martha, Martha...one things is
needed...
Look at what the Lord says to Martha after her
frustrated outburst:
Martha, Martha… you are worried
and upset about many things, but only one
thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is
better, and it will not be taken away from
her.
- Luke 10 v.41 – 42.
Notice the way Jesus repeats Martha’s name here,
adding tenderness to the rebuke. The only other
time this happens is with Peter and Saul on the
way to Damascus. Jesus knew Martha’s heart to do
the right thing and loved her.
I know that when I get weary and burdened, it is
because I have my focus and pre-occupation on the
many things, rather than the one thing needed,
listening to Jesus, which will sustain me for all
the other things.
Mary chose what is better, to sit at his feet as a
disciple and listen to Jesus. To choose to stay
close to Jesus and listen is a choice that we
make: it is up to us. It is not to do with how
much time we have available but what we choose to
do with the time we have. We will make time for
the things that we want to do.
In our busy lives we are too often balancing many
things, but for us who love Jesus, one thing is
needed, to come to him, to sit at his feet as his
disciples and to listen to what he says. One
thing I ask of the Lord, says David,
this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the
house of the Lord all the days of my life and to
seek him in his temple. Psalm 27:4
Even in the midst of being engaged with the
demands of life, we can remain open to the
promptings of the Holy Spirit. If we face a
significant decision, we can stop and pray for
wisdom; if we have some unexpected free time, we
can pause and check with God if there is anything
he would have us do with it; as we interact and
listen to people, we can listen also to anything
the Holy Spirit might say to them through us.
Some questions to ponder...
- ‘My sheep listen to my voice... When
did you last hear the voice of the Shepherd?
What is he saying to you today?
- What is making and shaping you at this time?
How can you make space to hear God’s voice?
- In the midst of your busyness, what will
help you choose the better portion and sit at
the feet of Jesus to listen to him?
Let’s be like that old French man and not miss
God’s word, but revere it and heed it in our
lives. Speak Lord, your servant is listening!
Clare Bick is
senior women leader in Antioch
Community, London,
UK. She and her husband Tom are the parents
of 3 children.
See
previous article by Clare > Surpassing
Love:
Sabbatical Reflections |
