Lesson 11. Five Levels of Hearing God and People. The “How to Hear God” School was held at Father’s Blessing Church. Author: John Paul Jackson. Teacher: Dmitriy Leo
1. Ignoring
– when God wakes us at 3 a.m. to pray, but we turn over and go back to sleep, we are ignoring God.
– when we are unwilling to take the time to listen to someone, we are ignoring that person.
Jonah 1:1–4 “The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: ‘Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.’ But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.”
Many of us have lost a great deal of money because we ignored the voice of God.
Many of us have lost the anointing because we ignored the voice of God when He told us what we should or should not do.
Crisis hotlines have saved thousands of lives. Someone simply listened to these people and offered advice. If we ignore people and do not listen to them, we will also ignore the voice of God.
2. Hypocritical Listening
– when we listen to God or a preacher’s message, and it touches on our situation or us personally, but after the call to repentance we remain where we are—we are being hypocritical before people and God.
– when we listen to someone but, at the same time, have our head in the clouds, thinking about our own concerns—we are being hypocritical before that person and before God.
Mark 12:13 “Then they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch Him in His words.”
Sometimes counselors fall asleep while listening to people who have come to them for help. It’s true.
3. Selective Listening
– when we listen to God, read Scripture, or listen to a sermon while filtering out what benefits us. Or we accept only the part of a prophecy that benefits us.
In recent times, people will choose churches where they hear what they like and where difficult issues are not addressed.
2 Timothy 4:3–4 “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, they will gather around themselves teachers who will tell them what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”
Romans 16:18 “For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery, they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting.”
– when we listen to someone only as long as it benefits or interests us, and then simply stop listening and merely pretend to do so.
Achan accepted that Jericho had to be captured and destroyed, but ignored the second part:
Josh. 6:17,18 “But beware of the accursed thing, lest you become accursed when you take something from the accursed thing, and make the camp of the [children of] Israel accursed and bring trouble upon it; but all the silver and gold, and vessels of bronze and iron, shall be holy to the Lord; they shall come into the treasury of the Lord.”
This selective listening cost Achan his life.
4. Sympathetic (attentive) listening
– when you listen to God, you are inspired, it touches you, you agree, you accept it 100%—but you do not do what God says.
Some only testify that God revealed the truth to them and that they know what to do now. But in the end, they do nothing and remain living in darkness. These people always have a testimony, but no fruit or change.
– when we listen to someone very attentively and are ready to help them, we already have the answers and are only waiting for an opportunity to start advising or preaching to them.
Thus, we listen to a person not out of compassion for them, but in order to fulfill our ministry and give them all the answers as quickly as possible. The sooner I give advice, the sooner it will all be over and I can go home.
Signs of sympathetic listening:
– filtering everything the other person tells us through our personal experience.– giving lots of advice about how they should think, live, speak, and act.
– sharing our opinion about the situation: “If I were you, I would…”, “Something similar once happened to me, and I…”
5. Empathetic (compassionate) listening
Sympathy is when we empathize with a person in their situation. (We listen with our eyes.)
Empathy is when we empathize with a person in their situation, understanding them. (We listen with our eyes and heart.)
Job’s friends listened to him sympathetically, and therefore they gave him the wrong advice.
Job 42:7 “And it came to pass after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, that the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite: My wrath is kindled against you and your two friends, because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.”
When people open up to us about their problems, they want to see that we are listening to them, understanding them, and empathizing with them. Then they open up completely.
Romans 12:15 “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.”
1 Corinthians 12:26 “And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.”
Signs of empathetic listening:
– We must listen in order to deeply understand what the person actually wanted to tell us. At times, this is more and deeper than what their lips have said.
– When we listen to people, we must show them what it would be like if God Himself were listening to them through us.
– Our goal is to convey God’s compassion and attention to the person.
– Our goal is to hear what God is actually revealing to us through this person’s story.
– The goal of empathetic listening is to restore a person’s hope.
– If people feel that we truly understand and empathize with them, it will be easier for them to discuss with us the problems they keep “secret.”
Summary
The way we listen to people is the way we listen to God.
When we examine ourselves, we will understand what level of listening to the Lord we are at.
We must develop the ability to hear God within ourselves, and this will come through listening to His people.
It is not about God or people, but about whether we know how to listen!
End of lesson.
Father’s Blessing Church
Author – John Paul Jackson
Teacher – Dmitriy Leo
