Stop! ... Look! ... Listen!

For a Christian, one of the main principles involved in reaching a decision is this: Don’t start trying to reason it out, or talking it over with others-pray! God likes for us to give Him a little honour. Prayer is not just getting down on your knees and speaking your piece, but more importantly, letting God speak His. If you’ll do that, He’ll tell you what you’re supposed to do. I don’t see how anyone can hear from the Lord unless they get quiet and really listen. I told some folks one time, “You remind me of the child prophet Samuel in reverse. When Samuel heard the Lord in the quiet of the night, he said, ‘Speak, for Your servant hears.’ But the way you pray is ‘Hear, Lord, for Your servant speaks’” (1 Samuel 3:2-10).

Many Christians today seem to be more concerned in having God hear what they have to say than they are in hearing what God has to say. They’re trying to put their program across on God and get Him to sign His name to it. The question they should be asking themselves is not, “Can I present my program to God for His signature?” or even, “Am I willing to be presented with God’s program for my signature?” but, “Am I willing to sign a blank sheet of paper and let God fill it in without my even knowing what His program is going to be?” It doesn’t matter how well you know the Bible or how many spiritual gifts you have, if you don’t know how to pray or don’t keep in touch with the Lord all the time, you’re in trouble.

Christians who don’t take time to listen to the Lord remind me of the story of the little girl who had a kitten. One day she heard it purring in its sleep and exclaimed, “Oh, Mama, the kitty’s gone to sleep and left its engine running!” You may run around and appear to be busy, but still be asleep spiritually and not be getting anywhere, “as one who beats the air” (1 Corinthians 9:26). Unless you get quiet and try to seek the Lord, how are you ever going to hear what the Lord has to say? I love to be alone with the Lord because then I can hear Him so clearly. I’m convinced that I have heard more from Him when alone, quiet, and in a position to listen, than any other way. He can talk to us when we’re alone and we can give Him our full attention and the reverence due Him. The Lord speaks in a still, small, but very definite, very firm, very loving voice. But if we’re too noisy, we’re not going to hear it.

You can be your own worst distraction. Anybody can make a racket, but it takes real effort to be quiet. If you’re praying so loud and making so much noise that you can’t even hear God, if you’re not getting quiet and listening, then there’s really not much point in praying. God’s not deaf. You have to wait awhile and see if He’s going to speak to you in some way. Stop and be quiet, and wait for the answer.

The only way you can hear the Lord clearly is to get quiet yourself. If you really want to hear the Lord, He’ll talk to you,but He doesn’t usually scream. By the time God has to yell over your racket in order to be heard, you’re probably headed for trouble. That’s why God sometimes allows people to have an accident or suffer illness or bereavement: He wants them to stop long enough to listen to Him. A funeral is about the only time a lot of people ever stop their feverish daily activities long enough to think about and listen to the Lord. Lord help us to get quiet before Him and listen! We all need quiet times with the Lord, to receive inspiration and instruction from Him. Personally, I find that I hear from the Lord most clearly alone in the quiet of the night, when everything is still and there are no distractions. If I wake up in the middle of the night and can’t go back to sleep, I assume that it’s because the Lord wants me to pray. As soon as I get prayed up, I go right back to sleep. If you really want to hear the Lord, He will talk to you. But in order to hear, you’re going to have to get quiet by yourself, somewhere, somehow, sometime. He says, “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).

How much have you learned about being quiet before the Lord? How many “quiet times” do you have? “In quietness and confidence shall be your strength” (Isaiah 30:15). Do you know what “confidence” means? Confidence is faith! The very fact that you keep quiet shows you have faith. It shows you’re expecting God to do something and not trying to do it yourself.

If you don’t know what to do, stop everything! Get quiet and wait for God to do something. The worst thing in the world you can do is to keep on going when you don’t know what to do. That was King Saul’s mistake. He kept right on going, even after he didn’t know what to do; he figured he had to keep busy and keep going no matter what-and it lost him the kingdom (1 Samuel 13:7-14).

Getting quiet before the Lord shows you have faith that God is going to handle the situation, that He’s going to take care of things. It shows you trust the Lord. “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You” (Isaiah 26:3). If you’re not trusting, you’re going to be in confusion all the time. Have a merry Christmas all of you -from us to you!