“God. Are You listening?” Do we wonder at times? However, in our desire and expectation for God to listen to us as we pray, what marks our willingness to listen to Him? Could there be the reality that God is asking us, “Are you listening?”
During the days of the prophet Zechariah, though God had revealed His Will for how the nation was to live and interact with one another (Zechariah 7:8-10), we read. . .
“(11) But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear. (12) They made their hearts diamond-hard lest they should hear the law and the words that the Lord of hosts had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore great anger came from the Lord of hosts. (13) “As I called, and they would not hear, so they called, and I would not hear,” says the Lord of hosts, (14) “and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations that they had not known. Thus the land they left was desolate, so that no one went to and fro, and the pleasant land was made desolate.”” (Zechariah 7:11-14 ESV)
This makes me think about how if I ignore my wife and she ignores me, the silence can be quite deafening. That would be so because the relationship would not be as it should. That was the case with God’s people at the time of Zechariah; the relationship was not as it ought to have been. In fact, it appears a bit one sided as if expecting of God what they did not expect of themselves. It was not that God was unaware. Nothing is hidden from His sight, but completely laid bare before Him. (Hebrews 4:13) However, because they would not hear, God withheld His listening ear.
How about us? What marks our willingness to listen; take to heart what God has said. Do we have a greater expectation of God than we do of ourselves? If we turn a deaf ear to His Will, why should we not expect God to turn a deaf ear to our desires? The Scriptures encourage us in our asking that He hears us, but that is to be asking in accordance with His Will. (1 John 5:14) Included in that Divine Will is our willingness to listen to Him and put into practice what He has said. As Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Matthew 11:15; 13:9; also 13:43), may we continue giving God our listening ears and so trust that He hears us!
Have a great day HEARING AND BEING HEARD!
Carl
