Listening to God

Another piece of advice by Rick Warren

June 1, 2009
Tell God You Love Him by Listening to Him
by Rick Warren
"I am the Good Shepherd; I know My own sheep, and they know Me . . . They will listen to My voice" (John 10:14, 16 NLT).

One way to worship God is to listen to Him.

Listening is one of the greatest gifts you can give to somebody. When you listen to someone, you're saying, "You matter to me." When I listen to my children, when I listen to my wife, when I listen to anyone, I'm saying, "I value what you have to say. I value your opinion. You're important to me." When I don't listen to somebody, I'm basically saying, "You don't matter to me. You're not important to me. I don't value what you have to say."

The same is true with God. Every time you listen to God, you're saying, "God, you matter to me. I value what you have to say." Listening is the most misunderstood and overlooked part of prayer. Most of us think that prayer is just talking to God. That's only fifty percent of prayer. The other fifty percent of prayer is getting quiet and letting God speak to us.

Usually we're in too much of a hurry to do this. What we do is say, "Hi, God, it's me. I've got ten things I need from You. Thank you. Over and out. Goodbye." We don't wait and listen. We don't say, "God, do You have a few things to say to me?"

Did you know that the Bible says hearing God's voice is a test of whether you're a true believer—whether you're in God's family—whether you're headed for heaven or not? In John 10, Jesus essentially says, "I am the Good Shepherd; I know My own sheep, they know Me, and they listen to My voice."

How often do you pause to listen to God each day? Do you pause and say, "God, is there anything You want to say about this?" When you're trying to make a decision, or you're getting ready to go to an event, or you're about to talk to somebody about something important, do you pause and say, "God, is there anything You want to say about this?"

Evaluate yourself on that. God wants you to hear Him, and by listening, you worship Him.