Friday Fight 79 - Spiritual Listening Loss

Every Friday, when I wake and pray, God places something on my heart to help me fight darkness beginning in our minds. Today is FF79.

How often do we talk to others and pray to God for an immediate answer to a problem we are dealing with or a directional, awareness, or specific decision? Instead, we pray, wait, and maybe feel as though God is not speaking to our hearts because we can't hear Him.

Spiritual Listening Loss:
How often do we sit in church and listen to the pastor reference something that speaks directly to a conversation we had the night before? Maybe we're praying for answers when a distant friend randomly sends you a YouTube video speaking directly to the situation. Listening and discerning the voice of the Holy Spirit over our thoughts is something we all struggle with and is what people question most. A spiritual process is helpful, and perhaps we need gentle reminders.

As Christians, our heart seeks to gain spiritual growth in our continuous endeavor to walk with the characters of Christ. We spiritually mature through God's goodness and our healing, surrender, repentance, and obedience. Our journey to the cross involves building our prayer life, attending church, reading the Bible, or even joining a small group. Maybe you are a podcast person like me or enjoy books on audible. Whatever the case, consuming as much of God as possible in our lives increases our general listening skills. The more we read, pray and hear about God, the more we will be able to discern specific guidance and leading from the Holy Spirit.

You may wonder what this has to do with God speaking to a specific situation or answering a particular prayer; stay with me. The more time we spend generally listening, the more we will be able to listen specifically. General listening enables specific listening, increasing accuracy and confirming what God is trying to reveal to our hearts. God will then use those things we hear during sermons, a random podcast, or even someone's prayer to speak to us specifically or confirm something we have lifted in prayer.

Nothing is more exciting than watching God move by confirming a prayer request through a sermon, worship song, or podcast. A compelling example of this was a confirmation that I would be traveling to Africa for missions. My daughter and I did not receive the money required to travel by the deadline. I was so disappointed and took this shortage to be my answer. We both sat in the mission meeting of our church, prepared to tell the coordinator after much effort; we were still $1,000 short. We learned at that meeting that someone had anonymously donated $500 to each of us three days prior. We could hardly believe it! God confirmed a private prayer; no one knew about our financial shortage or that I had been praying for another confirmation. Absolutely incredible!

How does darkness work against general and specific listening? First, Satan will busy our schedule to keep us from prayer, church, reading the Word, or anything else that increases our general listening skills. Next, he will try to consume us with anything but God. Later, as we struggle to discern the voice of the Holy Spirit, he will lie and tell us that we are too broken to have our prayers answered.

This lesson is to bring awareness to the importance of general listening to understand specific listening better. But, as with any meaningful conversation, the setting truly matters. In multiple verses, Jesus teaches us this, referencing His withdrawal to private places to pray. So, the more we increase our general listening, the more precise our specific listening will be. It doesn't mean we will always get things right, but we will be in a more attentive position. So let's tune in on what the Holy Spirit is revealing and tune out the lies of the enemy of our souls.

Pastor Shannon
New Life Calvert