Learn to Listen to God

I just heard a sermon given by Charles Stanley. God has used this man of God to teach me many things in my spiritual journey and to help me grow in my walk with the Lord. He explained that listening to God is essential to walking with God.

How do we listen to God?
Are we purposeful listeners? Or Are we passive listeners?

God matures our faith when we listen and are serious about learning, remembering, and growing in our understanding of scriptures and God’s will for our lives. Every believer and everyone searching for truth should take spiritual growth very seriously. We are all mind, body, and spirit. We must keep every part of our being healthy. Our spirits have to be fed purposely, not passively. We must seek to listen to God through His word. We feed our spirits by reading the Bible, listening to Scripture based sermons, and hearing God through songs, circumstances, other believers, and literature. We should pray for wisdom and discernment so that we know that we are hearing the truth.

When we want to grow in our faith and we want to listen for God’s promises and instructions in our lives, we must be purposeful listeners. The following are listed by Charles Stanley as requirements for listening to God:
1- read and meditate on the Word (delight in the Word of God)
2- be prayerful
3- have a submissive spirit (come to hear and obey)
4- be purposeful (disciplined)
5- come expectantly (expect to hear from God)
6- come intensely (be intense and serious)
7- come carefully (don’t be careless or haphazard in your intent)
8- be patient

How do you spend your time? We spend our time on things which we value the most.
Think about your priorities. Spend time growing and feeding your spirit. Your life will be more balanced when you care for your mind, body, and spirit.

Walking with God gives us peace, confidence, security, joy, increased faith, truth, intimacy with God, fellowship with God, knowledge of God’s will in our lives, the power and work of The Holy Spirit in our lives, awareness of God’s presence, cheerful obedience to God, continuous surrender, agreement with God, a life that revolves around following Jesus’ example in our own lives, a life of separation , a life that makes an impact on others, continual growth in a progressive journey, and a Godly life.