“How do you hear?” That was the question my ten-year-old granddaughter asked me. “Amma,” she said, “how do you hear the voice of God?” The follow up question, “Have you ever heard God’s voice?” What marvelous questions! How many of us wonder these very same questions? My granddaughter sincerely yearns to hear God’s voice.
I have a wonder of my own. “How do you hear God’s voice amid the vying cultural voices which often boom so loudly through peers, neighbors, nations, advertising, cultural expectations, financial power, and news reports?” Discernment of God’s voice amid cultural chaos is imperative.
The Scripture
John is writing to a community that has many completing voices for the believer’s attention in the Gospel of John. There are numerous false voices, or prophets which proclaim themselves to be the best, the right, the only solution for the struggling people. Within this Gospel, Jesus tells of people who are like lost sheep. These folks are so burdened with fear, anxiety, and stress from daily life that they are looking for anyone that has an easy fix.
In today’s Scripture John 10:22-30, Jesus turns the question around. The wonder becomes how are we listening for God’s voice? Jesus says in response to those that are trying to entrap him, “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.” (Verses 27-28)
Today’s Prayer Practice
Listening beyond the surface is an imperative skil if we long to hear God’s voice. What does it mean to listen beyond the surface? It is listening to the interior heart of the one speaking. The interior posture of one speaking is noticing not just the words spoken, but the non-verbal cues. I can say I am really interested in what you are saying, and yet if I am scrolling through the phone while listening to you, what impression of my listening does that give you?
God is speaking all the time. The question is, are we attentively listening? Do we have strict restrictive rules as to how God can speak? Do we have in mind the ways we want to hear God? Is our heart open and receptive to creative and new perspectives which God may inspire within our thoughts, imagination, or conversations with others?
The prayer practice for today is opening space within our interior heart to listen and wait with expectant certainty that God yearns to speak to us. Today you are invited to take a contemplative walk, stroll, or roll outside.
Before you begin your sojourn outside consider:
- How will you prepare your heart and ears to listen for the voice of God? Will you ask God to attune your heart to hear God’s voice, or perhaps read Scripture, listen to music, or sit in silence so that your brain can have time to disengage from the day’s tasks?
- Examen what listening filters you bring to the time of your walk. Do you really, truly expect to hear from God or is hearing from God something only other people are able to do?
- How will you dedicate your time of ambling with God in a companionable way for your walk?
Truly you are precious in God’s heart. Just like my little granddaughter, God yearns to speak to you. Today is your opportunity to intentional and attentive listening.
Enjoy praying.
