LISTEN!!!
By Kim Schiemann
Cultivating Hearts Intercessory Prayer Leader

“Listen! Is everyone listening?” shouted my eight year old, waiting to read the devotion at dinner table. Our home is full of voices that want to be heard. With four children, listening can be a challenge.

Listening is a discipline. It requires great strength and wisdom. Solomon the wisest of all men, said “let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance-for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise.” Prov. 1:5

As I reflect on my years since I began to follow the Lord, I can honestly say listening was not something I did or was taught. My prayer time was more about lists than listening. I didn’t know His voice, because I was the one doing all the talking. I had ears, but never hearing because I was always talking.

My sheep listen to my voice, I know them, and they follow me. John 10:27

Jesus not only used these words, He lived it. Throughout the gospels, when Jesus would begin to teach, he would begin with “listen”. Jesus knew how important listening is to obey and to know him. If we don’t listen, we will not recognize His voice when we hear all the other voices of man and the lies of the enemy. In our culture today, our blessings are our biggest curse. We are over stimulated with noise and can retrieve information at the touch of a button, within seconds. We are entertained with counterfeits and fascinated with the secular world. The enemy has saturated our minds and hearts with distractions, so we are unable to discern His voice.

My relationship with the Lord has matured and I do more listening than talking in my quiet time. There is a reason I call it “quiet time”, it reminds me of the proper position I need to be in. The example the Lord showed us during His years of his ministry, reflect how important it is to withdraw to a quiet place and pray. I imagine He listened more than he talked. How about you?