Listening To God

WONDERFUL TEACHER, when you lived on earth and trained your followers, you frequently started your lessons by saying, “Listen!” You used stories to make your point and applied those stories to your followers’ lives. At times, you concluded by saying, “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”

Throughout the course of my life you have been speaking to me, too. Sometimes it’s been through circumstances, sometimes through people, and always through your Word. You have been showing me how your ways are better and higher than mine. Occasionally, my ears have been slow to hear and you have used pain to get my attention. Other times, your Spirit has opened my heart by gently guiding me—showing me how to improve, giving me hope for the future, and even helping me laugh at myself. Thank you for teaching me your ways without ever giving up on me. Thank you for your Word and your Spirit to instruct, confront, and comfort me. May I be quick to hear, slow to speak, and eager to learn—an attentive listener.