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Opening Your Spiritual Ears

What to do when you feel like you’re not hearing from God

Isaiah 55:3a (NLT) Come to Me with your ears wide open. Listen, and you will find life.

Psalm 22:1-2 (NIV) My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest.

1. Check your condition.

Lamentations 3:40 (NIV) Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD.

Psalm 139:23 (NLT) Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.

Physical

Ezekiel 20:12 (NLT) And I gave them my Sabbath days of rest as a sign between them and me. It was to remind them that I am the LORD, who had set them apart to be holy.

Emotional

Luke 10:41-42 (NLT) But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Relational

Mark 11:25 (NLT) “But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.”

Spiritual

Acts 3:19 (NASB) Repent therefore and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;

2. Change your perspective.

Psalm 29:1-4, 9 (NIV) 1Ascribe to the LORD, O mighty ones, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. 2Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness. 3The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD thunders over the mighty waters. 4The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is majestic. … 9The voice of the LORD twists the oaks and strips the forests bare. And in his temple all cry, "Glory!"

To hear God’s voice:

I need to ascribe.

I need to worship.

Psalm 29:10 (NIV) The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD is enthroned as King forever.

3. Look to God’s promises.

Psalm 145:13b (NLT) The LORD always keeps his promises; he is gracious in all he does.

2 Peter 1:4 (NLT) And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

Know God’s promises.

Isaiah 28:12 (CEV) He promised you perfect peace and rest, but you refused to listen.

Matthew 7:24 (NJB) “Therefore, everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on rock.”

Trust God’s promises.

Psalm 130:5 (CEV) With all my heart, I am waiting, LORD, for you! I trust your promises.

2 Corinthians 1:20 (NIV) For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ.

Growing Deeper Together

Use these points throughout the week as part of your quiet time, in your small group, or over coffee with a friend to help you apply what you learned in today’s message.

Which of the three main points hit home with you? Because you feel you’re on track? Because you feel you’re missing the mark? Because you’ve not really considered it? What steps will you take to better hear what God is saying to you?

• Make time this week to spend time with God and Psalm 22. As you begin with verses 1-5, take note of how David expresses his anguish and distress at receiving no relief to his pain or answer to his prayers. Many of us feel this during different seasons and trials in our lives.
  • Do you turn from distress (v.1-2) to faith and worship as quickly as David did in verses 3-5 (“Yet. . .”)?
  • How does Tom’s call today to check your spiritual condition and spend time in worship mirror what you see in David’s words? How will you do the same in times of trouble?
  • It’s said that “What we repeat in times of ease we recall in times of hardship.” Are you memorizing scripture and “hiding it in your heart” today so that you can recall God’s promises in times of hardship?
  • As you read, remember to ask the questions we learned in our Transformed study: What does this teach me about God? What does this teach me about myself? What might God be encouraging me to do based on this reading?
  • After you’ve spent time in repetitive reading, meditation, and prayer, you might use tools like gotquestions.com, blueletterbible.com. or biblehub.comto find additional information and study questions. We’re praying for you as you grow!