Grace Community Church

The Gift of Listening

Sub-title: Individual's Often Speak In Modern Parable's

*The article below is was written/taught by Kiha Pimental at New Hope O'ahu for the School of Church Planters Class. (Notes transcribed by Trevor L Drinen)

Develop Listening

Listening doesn’t come as standard equipment. It’s got to be developed. We don’t always go to classes that teach us how to listen correctly. It’s got to be developed, and it can get dulled if we don’t keep it clean and distinct. The Bible not only tells us of not having ears, but also having ears that hear.

“So take care how you listen; for whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has shall be taken away from him” (Luke 8:18).

He is saying that much of the abundance of your life, the fruit of success, your innovation and your ability to work with people will be determined by how you listen. God gave us two ears and only one mouth to remind us that we should listen twice as much as we speak. It’s how we listen, because often, we listen selectively, don’t we? God says to take care how you listen, because if you have wrong things inside, you’re going to hear wrong things from the outside.

We can have ears and not hear correctly. Or, the things that should be obvious are not. A lot of times, things will come to us, but not in the way we want to hear them. They will be couched, they’ll be silent and we have to be able to hear the message coming through.

Develop the Gift of “Ears That Hear”

1) Ask God for His Help

Start learning to listen by going God-ward—listening to God—because God is going to teach us how to listen to Him. Then, we’ll be able to sense the hurts and hear what’s going on through people and with people.

“Open my eyes, that I may behold wonderful things from Your law” (Psalm 119:18).

Behold wonderful things from the law of God, the Bible. He is saying that one of the best prayers to pray when you open the Bible is, “Lord, open my eyes. I need Your help so that I can hear what You’re saying and see what You’re saying.”

2) Look to Get to Know Jesus

As you read the Bible, you get to know more and more about the heart of God, the heart of Jesus.

“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about me” (John 5:39).

They more you get to know someone, if you hear something that doesn’t sound right because of the context of their heart, you’re able to interpret them correctly. If you don’t know somebody, it’s so easy to go off, wars take place, and you misinterpret and miscommunicate. The Lord is saying, “If you know My heart and you read a Scripture that’s a little tough to understand, you won’t come to some weird conclusion because you know My heart.”

3) Live Differently Because of What You Hear

This means that what God says starts to show results in our lives and starts to work its way into the very fabric of that which we are and our personalities start to change, little by little. In other words, God is changing us from glory to glory to His image. That’s the first hint that we’re starting to learn to become good listeners — when we start to live differently because of what we hear and what God has been saying as we sit at His feet.