The Devotion Of Hearing

Samuel answered, ’Speak, for Your servant hears’ —1 Samuel 3:10

Just because I have listened carefully and intently to one thing from God does not mean that I will listen to everything He says. I show God my lack of love and respect for Him by the insensitivity of my heart and mind toward what He says. If I love my friend, I will instinctively understand what he wants. And Jesus said, “You are My friends . . .” (John 15:14). Have I disobeyed some command of my Lord’s this week? If I had realized that it was a command of Jesus, I would not have deliberately disobeyed it. But most of us show incredible disrespect to God because we don’t even hear Him. He might as well never have spoken to us.

The goal of my spiritual life is such close identification with Jesus Christ that I will always hear God and know that God always hears me (see John 11:41). If I am united with Jesus Christ, I hear God all the time through the devotion of hearing. A flower, a tree, or a servant of God may convey God’s message to me. What hinders me from hearing is my attention to other things. It is not that I don’t want to hear God, but I am not devoted in the right areas of my life. I am devoted to things and even to service and my own convictions. God may say whatever He wants, but I just don’t hear Him. The attitude of a child of God should always be, “Speak, for Your servant hears.” If I have not developed and nurtured this devotion of hearing, I can only hear God’s voice at certain times. At other times I become deaf to Him because my attention is to other things— things which I think I must do. This is not living the life of a child of God. Have you heard God’s voice today?

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專一的聽

請說，僕人敬聽。 （撒上三10）

我在某一件事上專一聽神，並不表示我凡事都聽從他。我的靈與心志對他的話反應遲鈍，正表示我不愛神，也不尊敬他。若我愛朋友，自然體察他的需要。耶穌說：[你們是我的朋友。 ]這一周裡，我有沒有違背主的命令呢？我若明白那是主的命令，就不會故意違背了。但我們多數蔑視神，根本不聽神在說什麼，似乎神從未說過話一般。

屬靈生活的極峰，就是達到與耶穌基督合而為一，常常聽神說話。神也時常聽我（約十一4），若我與耶穌基督聯合，就會隨時隨地專心聽他。一朵百合花、一棵樹、一位神的僕人，都可以帶來神的信息。叫我聽不到神的，是纏累我的其他事物。我不肯聽他，是我心有外鶩，不在適當的事上專心。我只專注在事物上、事奉上、信念上、神只管說：我卻置若罔聞。嬰孩的態度始終是：[主啊，請說，僕人敬聽。 ]要是沒有培養好這種專心聆聽的習慣，就只能在某些時刻聽到神的聲音，其他時間卻被世務纏身，無法擺脫。於是我向神就是聾了耳，沒有孩子的樣式。我今日聽見神的聲音沒有？

祈禱◆噢，主啊，我要稱頌你聲音的語調和能力，你的語調帶著溫柔和滿有恩典的愛；你的語調亦帶有自然界強大風暴的能力。主啊，讓你榮耀的聲音在這地方被聽聞，亦讓我的靈得以聽見。