The sense of hearing is a sense which you have which is designed to get your attention.
You can be in a crowded place, or at a location where there are lots of conversations going on.
Maybe you are at a shopping centre.
Or it could be after church at morning tea.
In these situations there are many conversations going on. But you can … r most of us can … block out those conversations and focus on the small group of people you are talking to.
But the moment that you hear your name you will naturally divert your attention to the location where your name has been spoken.
Even if it is there is a mother on the other side of the shop calling for her own child.
If she is calling your name you will still look.
There is actually a technical term for this - it is called “The Cocktail Party Effect”.
We identify and tune in when something gets our attention and we tune into our names.
You see the same thing happening on the train when people get a facebook notification, or there is a tone to indicate you have a message.
Watch how many people will pull out their own phone to see if it was a message for them.
We tune into specific sounds, specific tunes, specific names, specific voices.
If you want to have real fun go to a golf course.
Just stand there and yell “fore”
Everyone will duck and cover and protect themselves because “fore” means the ball is going to hit you.
Hearing - it is designed to get our attention.
The wonderful truth is that, because God hears, we are able to get God’s attention and God gives us his attention.
2 “This is what the LORD says, he who made the earth, the LORD who formed it and established it—the LORD is his name (just so you are clear this is the LORD, his name is repeated three times): 3 ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’
Jeremiah 33:2-3
This is a promise that God listens.
The constant reminder of the Scripture is that God inclines his ear to us and he hears.
In all sorts of contexts he responds to those who call out to him.
There is a story in Genesis 21 about Hagar and Ishmael who are sent away from the household of Abraham and Sarah because Sarah doesn’t want them in her house anymore.
So Hagar and Ishmael end up in the desert and she has got any water left.
17 God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there.” (Genesis 21:17).
Ismael is crying out because he is thirsty. The cry isn’t necessarily even directed to God.
But God hears.
God resonates with the needs of the child and he responds to his needs.
That is our God - he is a God who responds to us in all sorts of circumstances.
Which is a great comfort to us - because knowing that we have the attention of God in all circumstances gives us hope.
You might be in a circumstance where you are going through a time of darkness and despair.
The key struggle that we have in the times of darkness and despair is the mind games. That place where your mind tells you that everything is so terrible … and you are hopeless … and you are not worth anything. And you go down into this spiral.
The blessed hope is that, even though this is a mind game, God hears it.
And God responds.
Psalm 6:6-9
6 I am worn out from my groaning. All night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears (that is someone in deep darkness isn’t it). 7 My eyes grow weak with sorrow; they fail because of all my foes. 8 Away from me, all you who do evil, for the Lord has heard my weeping. 9 The Lord has heard my cry for mercy; the Lord accepts my prayer.
Here I am in the deepest darkest place and God listens - that is the promise of the Scripture.
God listens at other times as well.
Those times when we are in the wilderness. The wilderness is that place where we wonder if God exists.
Does God care for me?
Is God on my side?
Can I have a place in his plan?
Do I have a purpose?
It is the spiritual wilderness.
In that wilderness we can cry out to God.
Psalm 130:1-2
1 Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord; 2 Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.
God hears in all sorts of circumstances.
Maybe it is the circumstance where we are so busy but we just put God on hold.
We go from day-to-day, week-to-week, month-to-month.
We know God is there and we do love God; but we get up at 6:00am and we are off.
And we do our job, and we look after family, and we run around for our kids, and we have church stuff, and we need to shop, and we study and we find a place to eat.
By 9:00pm we are exhausted and we fall into bed to sleep for the next day … just to do the same.
Life is like that. And when life is like that sometimes we can get into the routine of forgetting that God is there for us.
God kind of gets put on hold.
Remember Luke 18:9-14 about the Pharisee and the Tax Collector.
These men come to the temple to pray.
The Pharisee doesn’t even realise how uselessly pious he is.
But the tax-collector is very aware of his situation. He realises that he has been putting God on hold. So he comes to God and he says to God “Have mercy on me a sinner.”
Which prayer does God hear? The prayer of the tax-collector.
I’ve been out of focus with you God. I’ve been doing my own thing.
And God hears that as well
This is what we need to understand about God.
Because sometimes we treat God as if he doesn’t understand what we are doing.
That we fall into a difficult situation, or a place of darkness, or into the wilderness. And we think that one we are there we shouldn’t be allowed to cry out to God because it is our fault and we deserve not to be heard.
Or we become so busy that we get to a point where we say, “I haven’t really be dealing fairly with God so I don’t really have the right to call out to him.” So to make up for what they have done they think, “I need to be more faithful and act more faithfully and when I have made up for what I have done - then I can come to God in prayer”.
I know people who think like this. That somehow you can only come in prayer when you have a certain spiritual standard. But that is rubbish. We can come to God at any time … in all circumstances … in all situations … with all types of difficulties … in any spiritual situation.
Even when we are the enemies of God and we come to God in prayer, God listens.
So I don’t know what you are going through at the moment.
I don’t know if it is a time of business … or a time of desperation … or a wilderness time … or a questioning time.
I don’t know your situation. But God does. And God hears.
The prayers that you bring to him are prayers that he is listening to.
And he is not looking for a certain standard, or the right words, or the right formula.
He is looking for a heart which is responding to him.
And the wonderful truth that we can hold onto is this.
If we can trust that God hears us when we are less connected tom him, then home much more can we trust that God hears us when we are deliberate about communicating with him.
We need to understand this in our spiritual life that prayer is so important.
Taking the time to read the Scripture and then explore our heart and say to God, “What are the prayers that you want. What are the prayers we need to pray for the people and the world around us.”
What are the prayers for this church, and my family and the people I love.
What are the prayers for our local not-yet-believing community, our street, our suburb, or city.
What do we pray knowing that God hears and God responds and because we have the attention of God we can bring to him all that is on our heart.
At this point I want to read out a prayer that was written out and prayed this week in one of our Bible Studies. The prayer resonated with my soul at the time, and I want you to listen to this prayer.
This is a prayer that God put onto someone’s heart in our congregation.
Our God the Father and the Lord Jesus who gave us life everlasting and everlasting peace and love.
Lord because of your sacrifice and resurrection you chose for yourself a church who are called to be saints that we would be your living vessels and your living word to give praise and glory to God and to be a witness to your grace and saving power.
Lord we know that there are still some whose names are in the book of life who have not yet received salvation.
Lord give to this church of your fellowship the blessing to be able to meet these souls and by your grace and blessing to bring them to know that you are dear to them; that you are the door to life and you Lord are the truth and the life - no-one has eternal life but through you.
By you Lord we ask this, not in our own strength, but by the strength that comes to us through the Holy Spirit who lives in us. For the Spirit, by his power will testify of the forgiveness and eternal life which is found in Jesus.
Lord we know that you will return on a cloud just as you did when you ascended to your kingdom. At that time salvation will be full and it will cease. So those who have not sought salvation will receive condemnation and separation from God. At that time Lord all the Old Testament saints and all those who die under the law will have the Gospel of life preached to them. They, together with all those who have confessed Christ will be raised up and caught up to meet Jesus and will forever be with him for all eternity.
So Lord by your grace and Holy Spirit embolden us as we are led by the Spirit to be bold and share the word of salvation with those who cross our path. That this would be done for your glory and for your purpose.
We ask in the saving and glorious name of Jesus.
Amen.
… …
Amen.
I read this prayer … not to lift up the person who wrote it. But because it is a prayer which resonated with my soul. This is obviously a prayer that God doesn’t just want one person to pray, but for all of us to be blessed by.
As you think about that prayer, and the blessing of the prayer, we also should think about the question - “How is it that we can pray like this?”.
What is that that puts us in a that space where we can know that these are the things which God wants us to pray?
Isn’t true that such a prayer comes to those who stop to listen to the Word of God.
We can get God’s attention because he is a hearing God. But he is also getting our attention.
He wants us to hear his voice.
The more we stop and listen the more we are able to express our heart to the Lord.
Which means that, what you are listening to, and what you allow to get your attention, makes all the difference in your spiritual life.
A Native American and his friend were walking near Times Square in Manhattan. It was lunch time and the streets were filled with people. Cars were honking their horns, taxis were squealing around corners, sirens were wailing … the sounds of the city were almost deafening.
Suddenly, the Native American said, "I hear a cricket."
His friend said, "What? You couldn't possibly hear a cricket in all of this noise!"
"No, I'm sure of it," the Native American said, "I heard a cricket."
"That's crazy," said the friend.
The Native American listened carefully for a moment, and then walked across the street to a big cement planter where some shrubs were growing. He looked into the bushes, beneath the branches, and sure enough, he located a small cricket. "That's incredible," said his friend. "You must have super-human ears!"
"No," said the Native American. "My ears are no different from yours. It all depends on what you're listening for."
"But that can't be!" said the friend. "I could never hear a cricket in this noise."
"Yes, it's true," came the reply, "It just depends on what is really important to you. Here, let me show you."
He reached into his pocket, pulled out a few coins, and discreetly dropped them on the sidewalk. And then, with the noise of the crowded street still blaring in their ears, they noticed every head within 10 meters turn and look to see if the money that tinkled on the pavement was theirs. "See what I mean?" asked the Native American. "It all depends on what's important to you."
We all hear … we all get our attention taken.
Are we taking the time to listen to God?
To give time to listen to the Word and allow the Scripture to speak.
It is not just a book.
It is the living Word.
Yes God can speak in all sorts of ways.
Through Creation. Through Song. Through the words of others. In the still small voice.
But the clearest way He speaks is in the Scripture.
God has taken the time to be attentive to us … to let us know his plans and his purpose.
Are we attentive to Him? Allowing His word so shape us.
And doing this is not just for our benefit. It is so important that we are listening so that those who are not hearing at the moment may have a chance to hear about God’s love.
Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ (Romans 10:17).
God has been getting our attention.
God then promises that we have his attention.
God then asks us to help him get the attention of others.
That is the importance of sense of hearing.
Prayer
