“Call to Me and I will answer you.” Jeremiah 33:3 (MSG)

Have you ever had an entire conversation with someone but you didn’t really listen to what they said? It’s called distracted listening. I can’t tell you how many times I have agreed to something my kids have asked for or wanted to do, then realized if I had truly listened to their request I would have never said yes in the first place.

We are surrounded by so much clamour on a daily basis that we can become “ear blind”. We can tune out when others are sharing their feelings, or we can half way listen when someone is going on a tirade that isn’t kind or compassionate. Our lack of active listening can cause us to miss opportunities to speak life or even loving correction to other people.

Our disengaged listening can affect how we hear the Lord; with so much sound polution in our lives, the voice of God can be stiffled. When that happens we can not hear His instruction, His admonition and His encouragement. If we can change how we listen to God, then He can change what we are hearing regarding our lives.

Recap: The scripture says Call on me and I WILL answer. God can be ready to answer us because He is constantly in tune with us and He is ACTIVELY listening to our prayers. Let’s model ourselves after Him, so we can hear Him clearly and listen with open ears and hearts to others.

Challenge: Try to eliminate the excess noise in your life for a week. Do a “sound fast” don’t fill the silence with music or the TV or other chatter. Just be quiet and listen.

Xoxo, Gena