Hearing God’s Voice – 5
“Communicating with God”
Luke 8:5-8
One of the major differences between Christianity and other religions is that God is alive and He wants to have a relationship with us. In fact our salvation is based on the relationship we have with God. But you cannot have a relationship with someone without communication. In order to have a relationship with someone you must speak to them, you must listen to them and they must speak and listen to you. Denise and I can be married, but I guarantee you, without communication, we will not have much of a relationship. It takes communication to get to know one another and to have a successful, happy relationship. Without communication, it makes for a life of turmoil, confusion, trying to figure one another out. Good relationships don’t work that way.
Do you remember the story in the Old Testament about the Tower of Babel? Do you remember why the work stopped on that tower? The work stopped because there was a break down in communication. The people wanted to be greater than God. So God gave the people various languages. This caused a break down in communication. God knew that they could no longer be productive and successful if they couldn’t communicate. There became a break down in communication because they could no longer understand one another. And when they could no longer communicate with one another they could no longer be productive. The work came to a halt. Here is a timeless truth found in that story.
➢ In order to be productive you must be able to COMMUNICATE.
This truth is true for families, for business partnerships, for any relationship you have with others, as well as your relationship with God. When there is a breakdown in communication you will cease to be productive.
This morning I want to look at how we are to communicate with God. How do we listen to God’s voice? Our text for today is found in Luke chapter 8. Follow along with me as I read.
Luke 8:5-8, “5A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. 6 Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. 8 But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold.” When He had said these things He cried,“He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
Notice the last phrase in this passage. “He who has ears let him hear.” This is a parable that Jesus uses to help His disciples know the importance of hearing God.
In fact Luke 8:11-18 is Jesus’ explanation of the parable.
11 “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. 13 But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. 14 Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. 15 But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience. 16 “No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but sit on a lampstand, that those who enter may see the light. 17 For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light.18 Therefore take heed how you hear.”
Notice what Jesus says in verse 18: “Therefore take heed how you hear."
Twice in the first 18 verses of Luke 8 Jesus tells the people to listen. Listening is important in communication. If you don’t hear what another person is saying you will not communicate with them.
I find in this parable that there are four ways that people listen. This morning and next Sunday morning we are going to go over those four ways to see what category each of us fit into. Let’s look at four ways people listen. We are going to dissect this parable to find out what these four ways are.
I. SOME PEOPLE DON’T LISTEN AT ALL
Luke 8:5, “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it.”
The Message Bible, “A farmer went out to sow his seed. Some of it fell on the road; it was tramped down and the birds ate it.”
This is planting on pavement. These are the people that don’t listen at all.
I heard a story about Franklin D. Roosevelt. When he was president he got tired of saying the usual things all the time at those White House receptions. So one evening he decided to find out if anybody was paying any attention to what he was saying. As each person came up to him and shook his hand he would smile and say, “I murdered my grandmother this morning.” Person after person greeted him and would respond with, “How lovely." or "That’s nice.” Roosevelt realized that no one was listening to him. Finally a foreign diplomat shook his hand. Roosevelt said, “I murdered my grandmother this morning.” The foreign diplomat looked a little shocked but leaned in to the president and said softly, “I’m sure she had it coming to her.”
Some people don’t listen at all. Have you ever met someone like that? Some of you live with them so you know what I am talking about. Why is it that people don’t listen? There are several reasons.
1. Some people are just so busy and their mind is so full that they have a hard time stopping to listen.
We have a son like that. His name is Austin. He is not rebellious at all. He wants to listen, he is just so busy and his mind is working so fast that he has a hard time slowing down to really pay attention. This is true with many of us at times.
We want to hear from God, we want to listen, but our minds are just so filled with other things that we have a hard time focusing. We have so many things on our agenda that we have a hard time stopping to pay attention. Sometimes, we just have to stop and listen to what God is trying to say.
I shared this story with you once already. I will be brief. There was one time that I will never forget. Right after I bought my Grand Prix, (I had wanted this car for quite some time) I arrived home late one afternoon and was excited to get into the house and see my wife and kids. I drove in my yard and I had a quiet thought that said, “You really should back your car in.” I totally ignored the thought and went inside. 2 hours later Denise headed out to a ladies meeting and minutes after leaving she came inside almost in tears. She had put a big dent in my car. She ran into our basketball hoop that we had just bought. The reason she ran into it is because while she was backing up she didn’t pay attention to the front and in turning the car ran into the hoop. I learned a valuable lesson that day that I would have never learned had I backed the car in. A lot of times, God’s voice comes in the still small voice or thought. If we choose to pay attention to that still, small voice, it can save us from a lot of trouble. That was the start of my quest of hearing God’s voice more clearly. I had other things on my mind. I was in a hurry, when I should have just stopped and listened. But I didn’t and the dent is still there to remind me of that.
God is still speaking today! We just have to stop and listen. So some people don’t listen because they are too busy
2. Some don’t listen because our minds are close and our hearts are hardened.
God wants to speak to us, but if we are not open to His voice, then He can’t. Some of us are unwilling to listen. We just don’t want to hear what God says because we know that we might have to change our agenda a little or we might have to make some changes to our actions and we are just not open to that. What causes us to have a closed mind? Let me give you three common reasons people have a closed mind and cannot be open to listening to God’s voice.
A. PRIDE
When we think, “I don’t need God. I can do it on my own. I know enough or I know it all. I can handle it myself. I can resolve it. I can fix it.” All of these are statements of pride and they can keep us from hearing God. God can’t speak in an atmosphere like that. There comes a point where you have to give it over to God and allow Him to lead your life. Remember, His way is always the best way.
B. BITTERNESS
Whenever we get hurt we have a choice. We can become bitter or better. Some people have chosen bitterness and when a person is bitter, they stop listening. When we get hurt we build walls, we hide in a shell and we can say, “Nobody will ever hurt me again.” We can even start blaming God and stop listening to Him. Bitterness does not make us better.
C. LACK OF UNDERSTANDING
Some people don’t listen because they don’t know that God wants them to listen. They don’t realize that God wants to speak to them. He wants your attention. He wants you to talk with Him and He wants to talk to you. God wants to communicate with you. A big part of communication is listening.
Psalm 25:9, “The humble He guides in justice, and the humble He teaches His way.”
How does He guide and teach the humble? By speaking to them. Being humble means being teachable. The only way we are teachable is by listening to the teacher. He who has ears let him hear.
I encourage you to be the one that God can speak to. He is not going to speak to the deaf ear. Don’t get so busy in life that you forget what is really important. Sometimes we just need to quiet ourselves and listen. Be a listener and a doer of the Word. God wants what is best for you and He is looking for people who will listen when He speaks.
