Session 3: Listening to God

We often speak about prayer as though prayer were primarily about talking to God. We bring our needs, our fears, our questions and our hopes. We tell God what is happening in our lives. And there is nothing wrong with that.

But a relationship in which only one person speaks is hardly a relationship.

A healthy relationship with God requires us to learn how to listen.

The difficulty is that God rarely speaks in the ways we expect. We may look for a dramatic voice from heaven, while God may be speaking quietly through Scripture, through another person, through an unexpected moment, or through that deep inner awareness that something is drawing us towards truth, love or grace.

Elijah discovered this on the mountain. He expected God in the great and dramatic manifestations—the wind, the earthquake and the fire. Yet God was not found there. Then came what Scripture describes as a “gentle whisper.” And Elijah recognised that God was present.

Perhaps one of our greatest spiritual problems is not that God is silent, but that we are too noisy to hear. 

Our lives are filled with voices. The news speaks. Social media speaks. Other people speak. Our anxieties speak. Our ambitions speak. Even our own thoughts can become so loud that the quiet voice of God is easily drowned out.

Listening therefore requires something more than hearing. It requires attention.

Jesus repeatedly said, “Let anyone who has ears to hear, listen.” He was speaking about spiritual attentiveness—the capacity to become quiet enough, open enough and humble enough to recognise what God may be saying.

This is where Scripture becomes so important. We do not listen for some private revelation that contradicts the character of God revealed in Christ. We listen with Scripture open before us, allowing God’s Word to question us, challenge us, comfort us and reshape us.

But there is another dimension to listening: silence.

Silence can initially feel uncomfortable. We discover how accustomed we are to filling every empty space. Yet silence creates room. It gives the soul an opportunity to breathe. And sometimes, when we stop trying to make God speak, we discover that God has been speaking all along.

Listening to God also means being prepared to obey. There is little value in asking, “Lord, what are you saying?” if we have already decided that we will not do it.

Perhaps the deepest prayer we can pray is not, “Lord, give me what I want,” but:

“Lord, help me to hear what you are saying—and give me the courage to respond.”

A healthy relationship with God is not simply knowing about Him. It is not even simply talking to Him.

It is becoming sufficiently still, attentive and receptive to hear His voice—and then walk in the direction He points.