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Writer's pictureDebbie Salter Goodwin

Open Listening


Is it possible that when we don’t hear from God it is because we expect to hear what He isn’t saying?

Think about it.

How many times do we ask God for something that seems logical to us, but we get no response.

Is it possible that we are tuned to listen for the answers we want?

Listening requires open hearing, not selective.

Listening to God presupposes that whatever God says is better than what we could think. Remember what God said?

My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts . . .

and my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.

Isaiah 55:8, NLT

When we believe this as bedrock truth without exception, open listening is what we give God. We refuse to prejudice our listening with introspective thoughts or short-sighted aanalysis.

Open listening refuses to box God into a certain way to answer. Open listening does not expect God to meet a self-generated deadline. Open listening values the communication with God even when silence describes it.

I’m not talking about giving ourselves to God as a door mat where what I think doesn’t matter. I can always tell God what I think. However, I understand that I think is not enou

gh. I’m talking about a core belief that what God thinks matters more.

This kind of listening comes from the quiet circle I draw around my heart and mind. I may not be able to silence every thought, but I know what to do with them. I lay them before God, so I can listen to what He wants to tell me. I would not trade what comes from these times of open listening. What God proposes always makes a bigger difference than what I thought I wanted at the time.

What do you think? Are we so self-consumed when we pray that we aren't able to listen to what He wants to say? I'd love to hear your thoughts about it.


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