Being involved with several other Christians in professional networks, I’ve come to realize that so many of us struggle with hearing God. There are hindrances to hearing God.

The Word of God is given to us not just for reading but to listen to what God speaks through Scripture.  The problem is  reading  God’s word becomes  daily obligation or a spiritual ritual so that God can be assuaged or pleased by our efforts. Secondly, we read in order to gather  biblical information. It’s a rather  intellectual  approach, where we process biblical truths and arrive at some interesting cognitive conclusions. For  eg. I may have analyzed  about Simon the Sorcerer’s bitterness of heart in Acts. But would I hear God speaking to me about my own bitterness locked in my heart.

Some of us read the word of God but are not able to listen / understand what God speaks through those verses.  Bible talks about circumcision of ears (Act 7:51), which indicates our preparation to listen to God’s voice in our heart and mind.   When Paul was speaking, the heart of Lydia is opened up to receive the message. (Acts 16:14)

After making known  our prayers and supplication to God, even before we listen to Him and record the action items (Habbakuk 2:1),  we sometimes hasten for action. This leads to a situation where we are just going by instinct  that God will take care instead of receiving the authentic message of God’s guidance. We tend to merely quote the verse with our legalistic  mindset rather than to apply the revealed wisdom of God on a given  situation.

When Saul was not looking for kingship, God spoke through Samuel and he was anointed as king and thereafter whenever Saul looked for God’s direction, he got the answer. But when he disobeyed (I Sam 28:6), God did not respond even when Saul inquired of  God earnestly.

 Our Father, please remove every obstacle from my life which is stopping me to hear you.  Please grant me an  opened heart and ears to hear you every time you speak to me.

CCF acknowledges with Thanks to CIM (Christian Institute of Management) for allowing to republish this article by CCF core team member, which originally was published in Management Devotional of CIM.