Take Time to Listen
I was talking to someone on the phone the other day and she was upset to the point
of being hysterical and crying. I told her, “I can’t hear you in the emotional state
you’re in right now.” She said, “I just want to rest.” I responded, “Okay, call me
back when you calm down.” I didn’t feel she would be receptive to prayer at that
point, and I also needed to calm down before I continued the conversation. When
she called back, I listened to her as she poured out her heart as to what was
bothering her. Then, I prayed for the areas that God had led me to. God knows
more about what others need than we do. There are times when they themselves
don’t even know what they want or need, but God reveals it and HE answers
prayer.
She shared that I was the first family member to hear her without interfering and
being judgmental. God gave us two ears to listen and only one mouth to speak. In
order to be a blessing to others we need to listen without trying to overtalk the
individual. They don’t always want to hear our viewpoints and what we think
things should be; sometimes they just need an ear.
There are so many people today who are hurting and need to be heard. They are
going through different things in their lives, tragic occurrences that have no color
or shape, no educational or financial status. There are wounds they’ve experienced
in their childhoods that have affected them as adults; so many who are walking-
wounded. It’s not an accident when someone opens up to us. They are sharing
intimate parts of their life, their pain and brokenness. As believers, it is vital to be
sensitive to hear those needs. God has us on the spot to listen, to minister, and to
pray for them.
Listening is an art that needs to be cultivated in the body of Christ. It may simply
be described as the ability to pay attention to sounds but is more the ability to
comprehend verbally communicated information in order to provide appropriate
feedback. Listening is a natural activity; however, it is something you consciously
choose to do. Listening requires concentration so that your brain processes
meanings from words and sentences. It leads to learning what is going on in the
lives of others. Listening is seeing the problem the way the speaker sees it—which
means empathy, which is experiencing with them.
“The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the LORD hath made even both of them”
(Prov 20:12 KJV).
of being hysterical and crying. I told her, “I can’t hear you in the emotional state
you’re in right now.” She said, “I just want to rest.” I responded, “Okay, call me
back when you calm down.” I didn’t feel she would be receptive to prayer at that
point, and I also needed to calm down before I continued the conversation. When
she called back, I listened to her as she poured out her heart as to what was
bothering her. Then, I prayed for the areas that God had led me to. God knows
more about what others need than we do. There are times when they themselves
don’t even know what they want or need, but God reveals it and HE answers
prayer.
She shared that I was the first family member to hear her without interfering and
being judgmental. God gave us two ears to listen and only one mouth to speak. In
order to be a blessing to others we need to listen without trying to overtalk the
individual. They don’t always want to hear our viewpoints and what we think
things should be; sometimes they just need an ear.
There are so many people today who are hurting and need to be heard. They are
going through different things in their lives, tragic occurrences that have no color
or shape, no educational or financial status. There are wounds they’ve experienced
in their childhoods that have affected them as adults; so many who are walking-
wounded. It’s not an accident when someone opens up to us. They are sharing
intimate parts of their life, their pain and brokenness. As believers, it is vital to be
sensitive to hear those needs. God has us on the spot to listen, to minister, and to
pray for them.
Listening is an art that needs to be cultivated in the body of Christ. It may simply
be described as the ability to pay attention to sounds but is more the ability to
comprehend verbally communicated information in order to provide appropriate
feedback. Listening is a natural activity; however, it is something you consciously
choose to do. Listening requires concentration so that your brain processes
meanings from words and sentences. It leads to learning what is going on in the
lives of others. Listening is seeing the problem the way the speaker sees it—which
means empathy, which is experiencing with them.
“The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the LORD hath made even both of them”
(Prov 20:12 KJV).