Discovering How to Truly Listen to God Through Matthew 11

Now ask yourself, “Have I ever done that?” The correct answer is yes. We all have, at some point in our lives, to our schoolteachers, to our friends and loved ones, and to a preacher. We may hear something and begin to decide what we think applies to us and block out what we think does not. If you say that you have never done that, then you lie to yourself and to God. No doubt many people do this to God’s Word. Some will listen to all the good things of God’s Word but when it is time to hear about sin, they turn their ears off. Do we have spiritual selective hearing and only listen to what we want to hear from the Word of God?

Faulty Hearing is having a condition that affects your ability to hear. It could be that the ears have a constant ringing sound in them, so it causes a person not to hear well. Or it could be that the ears are damaged in some way that the person now has hearing loss and cannot hear clearly. What if it is simply that a person is in an area that is so noisy that he cannot hear another person speaking? Maybe there is damage to the ear that prevents the person from hearing. That all revolves around the physical aspects, but what about the spiritual aspects of faulty hearing? Is there something that is preventing us from hearing from the Lord?

Spiritual Deafness means that a person cannot hear God’s voice. This could be caused by a disturbing event, a life-changing situation, or something as simple as being separated from God. The person has turned their ears off to God. They do not hear, nor do they listen either intentionally or unintentionally. If the spiritual deafness was caused by something unintentional, it might be that that person is looking for some answer to their situation, and with the help of spiritually-minded Christians, they find themselves back where they need to be with the Lord.

However, if it was something intentional, let us say with an “itching ears” issue, it may be more difficult to reach them. (2 Timothy 4:3-4) These are people that would choose to follow those who told them what they liked, rather than what was true and valid from godly teachers. A substantial number do that today, and a considerable amount of them are Christians or ones that are pronounced to be Christians.

These are individuals who seek out ministers who declare a message or regulation that excuses their way of life. They dismiss or fall, expressly by avoiding reality. They do not pay attention to sound principles (doctrine).

They meet individuals they like, those with the capacity to redirect others to a different path than the truth. These people go left when the truth (Holy Spirit) instructs them to go right. They will not even listen to the truth or live by it. Instead of responding to reason and conviction, they deny it.

We should always be actively listening for the Lord to speak to us. But sometimes we may need to get in a place of solitude, quiet ourselves down, remove all the outside obstacles, and fix our eyes and ears upon the Lord. If solitude was a significant need for Jesus (Matthew 14:13), do you not think that we need that same solitude? 

We need to remove anything that is distracting us from hearing the Lord (phone, tablet, laptop, TV, etc.). We need to stop what we are doing and pay attention to God's words in whatever form He chooses.

Our attitude may need to change. By that, I mean, is our heart right with God? Are we truly where we need to be with our walk with the Lord? If we are continually walking beside Him, then we should be able to hear Him. And when we hear Him, we should listen.

Photo Credit: 

Chris Swanson answered the call into the ministry over 20 years ago. He has served as a Sunday School teacher, a youth director along with his wife, a music director, an associate pastor, and an interim pastor. He is a retired Navy Chief Hospital Corpsman with over 30 years of combined active and reserve service. You can contact Chris here, and check out his work here.