Listen More Than You Talk

August 11, 2014

 

 

Listen More Than You Talk

 

 

Read:  Proverbs 17:20-27

He who has knowledge spares his words, and a man of understanding has a cool spirit.  - Proverbs 17:27

 

Audio:  Proverbs 17

 

Bible in One Year: Psalms 81-83; Romans 11:19-36

 

We have said in this devotional that in our quest to hear from God we must train ourselves to listen. Sometimes we are talking so much that we simply cannot hear what God wants to say. We can also miss the important things people say to us because we are not listening.

 

If we learn the discipline of keeping ourselves calm and quiet, we will hear the things that God wants to say to us. My daughter, Sandra, said that recently, after she prayed, she just sat for a minute and asked God if He had anything He wanted to say to her before she began her day. She felt in her heart that He simply said, "Go; I am with you!"

 

She was comforted by that thought, but it especially comforted her over the next few days when she found herself needing to deal with some unexpected bad news. The word God had given her increased her faith and kept her stable and calm as she faced her trials.

 

If we don't listen, we won't hear. Give God an opportunity on a regular basis to speak to you. When you pray, you don't have to do all the talking. You can spare your words and be considered a wise man or woman of God.

 

God's word for you today: You have one mouth and two ears, so that means God wants you to listen twice as much as you talk.

 

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Jeannette

"People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.
If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough.  Give your best anyway.
For you see, in the end, it is between you and God.
It was never between you and them anyway." ~ Mother Teresa