LISTEN,
LISTEN, LISTEN
BREAD
1 Guard
your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to
offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. 2 Do not be quick with your
mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in
heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. 3 As a dream comes when there
are many cares, so the speech of a fool when there are many words. Ecclesiastes 5:1-3 (NIV)
19 This
day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you
life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your
children may live 20 and
that you may love the Lord your
God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the
land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Deuteronomy 30:19-20 (NIV)
24 Teach
me, and I will be quiet; show me where I have been wrong. Job 6:24 (NIV)
5 Let
the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get
guidance-- Proverbs 1:5 (NIV)
7 The
fear of the Lord is the beginning
of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. Proverbs 1:7 (NIV)
8 Listen,
my son, to your father's instruction and do not forsake your mother's teaching.
9 They
will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck. Proverbs 1:8-9 (NIV)
4 “The
people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn. Say to them, ‘This
is what the Sovereign Lord says.’ 5 And whether they listen or
fail to listen--for they are a rebellious house--they will know that a prophet
has been among them. 6 And
you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid,
though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do
not be afraid of what they say or terrified by them, though they are a
rebellious house. 7 You
must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are
rebellious. 8 But
you, son of man, listen to what I say to you. Do not rebel like that rebellious
house; open your mouth and eat what I give you.” Ezekiel 2:4-8 (NIV)
7 Then a
cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my
Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” Mark
9:7 (NIV)
27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. John 10:27 (NIV)
19 My
dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to
speak and slow to become angry, 20 for man's anger does not bring about the righteous
life that God desires. 21 Therefore,
get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept
the word planted in you, which can save you. 22 Do not merely listen to the word,
and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word
but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself,
goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But the man who looks intently
into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not
forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he
does. James 1:19-25 (NIV)
BUTTER
“Of
all today’s miracles the greatest is this:
to know that I find Thee best when I work listening…Thank Thee, too,
that the habit of constant conversation grows easier each day. I really do believe all thought can be
conversations with Thee.” Frank Laubach
“Jesus said that we are to seek first the things of God and
that God would respond by taking care of our needs. How can you be
assured that you are praying for God's will, and not your own to be
done? Immerse yourself in the Word of
God. The more you know the mind of God, the more you will begin to understand
what He wants for your life. As you pray for specific requests, always check
them against Scripture. You can be sure God's desires for you will never go
against His Word. As you read God's Word and study it, ask the Lord to give you
a greater awareness of specific promises that He wants you to pray about and
believe. We must pray with praise on our lips, a confession of our sin, and a
petition that God will act in the way that accomplishes His purposes and brings
Him glory. Then, we must listen very closely to what God may lead us to say or
do. God uses individual people to accomplish His purposes. Be willing to be
used.” Michael Youssef
“The
voice of God is a friendly voice. No one
need fear to listen to it unless he has already made up his mind to resist it.” A.W.
Tozer
“It is no small thing to be on terms
of friendship with God.” Cowman
“‘Do
you think God’s calling our name too — and we’re just not listening?’ That we are waiting for someone else
to call our name — when God’s already called us? That nothing is lost by sacrifice and
everything is lost when you’re sitting down when you should be stepping up? That when you’re waiting for an
answer and it seems like life is silent - God is actually calling? That who answers God’s call loses nothing, but a life deaf to God’s
call loses everything?” Ann Voskamp
“Though
salvation is not by the works of the law, yet the blessings which are promised
to obedience are not denied to the faithful servants of God. The curses our Lord took away when He was
made a curse for us, but no clause of blessing has been abrogated. We are to note and listen to the revealed
will of the Lord, giving our attention not to portions of it but to ‘all these
words.’ There must be no picking and
choosing but an impartial respect to all that God has commanded. This is the road of blessedness for the
Father and for His children. The Lord’s
blessing is upon His chosen to the third and fourth generation. If they walk uprightly before Him, He will
make all men know that they are a seed which the Lord has blessed.” Charles H. Spurgeon
“I
am listening, Lord, for Thee; what hast Thou to say to me?” Frances Havergal
HEART
SAVOR
- · I am to pray not only with listening ears but with a listening heart.
- · True hearing requires heeding.
- · There is a need for true listeners not just yappers of our own agendas and opinions not matter how lofty we may think they are.
