“Quietly Listen to God”

John 8:47 (NIV)

47 Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”

Sometimes God speaks loudly and clearly. Most of the time God speaks with a quiet voice. This is why it is important to carve out some quiet time each day to study His Word and sense His direction. This same method worked for Jesus when He was with His disciples. Jesus would make time to get away from the crowd and spend some time with The Father.

This is where we need to be patient and slow down. James tells us that the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

James 5:16 (NIV)

The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

Now we need to have a quiet heart and listen for God’s answer. When I need that reminder, I take comfort in this story from 1 Kings. After Elijah defeated the prophets of Baal, he sought rest and truth from the Lord:

“The LORD said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by. ‘Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper” (1 Kings 19:11-12, NIV).

The Lord told Elijah to stand on the mountain in His presence, but He didn’t come in the ways Elijah (or we) would have expected: in a wind, earthquake or even a fire. He came in a gentle whisper.

We need to quiet our heart and listen to God.

Message in Chinese

约翰福音 8:47（新译本/NIV）

47 “属于神的人听神的话。你们不听，是因为你们不属于神。”

有时候神说话洪亮而清晰，但大多数时候祂以微小的声音说话。因此，每天抽出一段安静的时间来研读祂的话语，聆听祂的带领，是非常重要的。当耶稣与门徒在一起时，祂也是用同样的方法。耶稣会抽时间离开群众，与天父独处。

这正是我们需要耐心、放慢脚步的时候。雅各告诉我们，义人的祈祷是大有功效的。

雅各书 5:16（NIV）

“义人祈祷所发的力量是大有功效的。”

现在我们需要有一颗安静的心，聆听神的回答。当我需要提醒自己这一点时，我常常从《列王纪上》中的这个故事得到安慰：在以利亚战胜巴力先知之后，他向主寻求休息和真理：

“耶和华说：‘你出来站在山上，在耶和华面前。因为耶和华将要从那里经过。’在耶和华面前，有烈风大作，崩山碎石，耶和华却不在风中；风后有地震，耶和华却不在其中；地震后有火，耶和华也不在火中；火后有微小的声音。”（列王纪上 19:11-12，NIV）

主叫以利亚在祂面前站在山上，但祂并没有以我们（或以利亚）所期待的方式出现——不是在风中，不是在地震中，也不是在火中，而是在微小的声音里。

我们需要安静我们的心，聆听神。

Listen to God