How can I better listen to God?

Psalm 4:3You can be sure of this: The Lord set apart the godly for himself. The Lord will answer when I call to him.

Psalm 5:3Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.

We can better listen to God by spending time with him regularly. After talking to God, we should stop and listen for a while. God always answers prayer, but he answers clearest when we take the time to listen.

Psalm 46:10“Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.”

Matthew 6:5-6“When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.”

Luke 5:16Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer.

Being quiet prepares us to better hear God’s voice. We need to find times and places with less noise, without competing voices. Then we simply must take the time to be still and to listen.

1 Kings 19:12After the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper.

It can be helpful to listen to God by listening for his whispers. God often speaks to us in quiet moments and places. As we are quiet before God, our hearts may begin to nudge our thoughts in a certain direction. We should ask if this whisper is from God. If we are sincerely seeking God, he will make clear what he wants us to know.

Luke 8:18“So pay attention to how you hear. To those who listen to my [Jesus’] teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what they think they understand will be taken away from them.”

When we think we have heard something from God, we should pay attention. We should pursue opportunities to receive a word from him. The more we listen to God, the more we will hear him speaking to us. If we close our ears and heart to God, we won’t receive his wisdom and truth.