Listening to God, Part 3 What Determines What We Hear?

What do you think this sparrow thought of me as I held him in my hand this past summer? Was I mean or oppressive? Did I intend to hurt the him? Not at all! I took this picture this summer after I rescued this bird from having enthusiasticly eaten his way inside of a bird feeder. While I had I had this sparrow gently tucked in my hand for a moment, he may have thought of me as his opressor, but actually I was his savior from his own errors. I use this as an analogy because a lot of what we think of God, and thus hear from him, depends on our perspective of him and our relationship with him. Charles Stanley, in his series Listening to God, outlines what determines what we hear when we do listen to him.

What Determines What We Hear?
Psalm 81:7-16

Three primary things:

1. Our relationship with Him. (Example: A lost person will hear God speak to salvation issues.)

The relationship is twofold:

a. Salvation: true salvation is once and for all
b. Identification: my daily, ongoing relationship

2. Our understanding of who He is:

When we go to God, what type of father do we hear?

a. A loving father genuinely interested
b. A demanding father with too high of standards who is ashamed of you?

What kind of friend do we hear?

a. Intimate friend
b. Distant friend

What kind of teacher?

a. Patient teacher
b. Criticizing, condemning, uncompromising, scolding.

What kind of guide?

a. Gentile guide
b. Strict, intolerant

What kind of counselor?

a. Understanding, listening, accepting, loving, unconditional
b. Condemnation, guilt, rejection

What type of provider?

a. Generous, takes delight in prospering his children, wants to bless.
b. Reluctant, stingy, calculating.

What type of supporter?

a. Faithful til the end, reliable, dependable, consistent
b. Inconsistent

3. Our attitude toward him?

a. Wrong: Proud, egotistical, arrogant? We wont hear him.
b. Right:

i. Submissive to his will regardless.
ii. Trusting when these three things are right, we will hear the truth.