My husband and I had been sitting in our living room for an hour and neither of us had said a word. He was watching a game on TV, though, so it was understandable. As I looked across the room at him, I thought about our lives together. We have worked hard in our careers. We are raising our grandsons together. We have tried to live our lives for the Lord. And yes…we are getting older.

So, I looked toward him lovingly, as he sat there on the couch holding the remote, and I said tenderly, “I am proud of you.” He seemed a little shocked, but after a moment, he looked at me and responded, “I am tired of you, too.”

(Okay, this was a joke. Hopefully, my husband will forgive me for it.)

Sometimes, we do not hear what we think we hear.
Sometimes, we do not even attempt to hear.
Sometimes, we do not hear at all.
We need to listen.

The words, “They have ears, but cannot hear,” seem to be applicable and are in the gospels at least seven times. Apparently they needed to be repeated.

The word ‘hear’ is in the Bible 347 times, so it must also be a word that bears repeating.

Once while teaching a children’s Sunday School class, I told them how when I was just a young girl, that I had heard God speaking to my heart that I needed to accept Jesus Christ as my Savior. A child blurted out, “How did you hear God?”

Good question from a six year old. Hopefully, I muddled through with a good answer.

How do we hear God? Here are some of my favorite ways:

*Through His Word. Isaiah 30:21 says that our ears will hear a word behind us saying, “This is the way. Walk in it.” God’s Word is alive – it is not just a book. It is God-breathed – given by the inspiration of God, according to 2 Timothy 3:16. It still speaks to our hearts today.

*Through prayer. As we pray, God hears us and we hear God. It is not how we pray, but it is that we pray. It is our direct link to God. Psalm 66:19 says that God has heard me. He has attended to the voice of my prayer. To ‘attend to’ means to be present, to listen to, to give attention to. God attends to us!

*Through nature. When we look up at the sky, over at the trees, or around to see what God has made, Psalm 46:10 comes alive, and we can hear God’s Voice speak to our spirit saying, “Be still and know that I am God.”

*Through others. Our children, family, friends, strangers, teachers, pastors – are some of those who warn, encourage, bless, guide, and send us confirmation of what God is speaking to us, as they help us hear God.

*Through our circumstance. The circumstances – that ‘drive us’ crazy – are also the circumstances that ‘drive us’ to hearing the voice of God. A circumstance is an event or fact that causes something to happen. Bad or good – our life changers – our circumstances – are where we hear God. Proverbs 8:34 says that the man who hears God is blessed, so no matter our circumstance, we are blessed because we hear God.

*****Whether in the church – or on the couch – of our everyday lives – God wants communion and communication with us. God hears us – and we hear Him. We just need to listen.

Ann is a speaker and teacher. Contact her at annfarabee@gmail.com or annfarabee.com