Draw Near to Listen

"Guard your steps when you go to the house of God.

Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools,

who do not know that they do wrong.

Do not be quick with your mouth,

do not be hasty in your heart

to utter anything before God.

God is in heaven

and you are on earth,

so let your words be few."

Ecclesiastes 5:1-2

"What are your prayers as you walk through your neighborhood?"  The question came during a Bible study where the leader wanted to know my petitions to God for the community in which we lived and served.  It struck me at that moment that the talking is not the important part of prayer.  In hindsight, maybe he was asking the wrong question.  Perhaps there's more to communing with God than the words I say.

Be still.  I've been having a conversations lately with other believers about what it means to be still before God (Psalm 37:7).  It's easy to get the idea that it means sitting idly in a quiet spot, almost like the picture of meditation that comes out of eastern religions.  Most I talk to balk at the idea, saying "Whose got time to sit around when there's so much to be done!  I've got too much energy to just be still."

It seems this "resting in the Lord" is more about the state of my heart than the position of my body.  In fact, the Hebrew for "rest" literally means "to be silent, still, grow dumb."  So when I come before the Lord in prayer, it is with a spirit of anticipation, expecting to hear more than to speak.  Most of the time I focus on bringing my petitions before the Lord, letting Him know my needs, pouring out my hurts.  While these are all good things, I must also be prepared to listen, to still my mind and incline my heart toward Him so that I am willing to hear all He may say.  It's also vital that I keep open to God, sensitive to my Shepherd's voice so that I can respond in obedience.  If I spend so much time talking, I'll never give Him a chance to speak to me.

When I draw near to God it is important that I still my mind and heart so that I can listen to what He has to say.

Near.  It's easy to get the idea that I'm not worthy to talk to God. My heart broke to hear this sentiment from an elderly man whom I was encouraging in his relationship with God.  As I urged him to bring his requests before the Lord, he responded by saying, "It might be okay for you to talk to God, but I'm just not the kind of person He will listen to."  Despite my assurances of God's love for him and His eagerness to enter into such intimacy with him, the gentleman could believe such a thing about himself.

In Christ all can boldly come before God's throne of grace without shame or insecurity, as a well-loved child.  Jesus makes it possible for the worst of sinners to be reconciled to God through His blood, making it perfectly permissible to come before God with the confidence of one who belongs (2 Corinthians 5:18).  It is by His righteousness that I come, not by my own (Romans 3:22).  It is through His invitation that I come, not through my own presumptuousness (Hebrews 4:14-16).  It is due to His work on the cross, not due to my own offerings and best efforts that appear as filthy rags before such a holy God (Ephesians 2:8, Isaiah 64:6).

I can draw near to God with the confidence of one who is loved and welcomed into His presence.

Receive.  There is the tendency to want to pay back God for all He has done for me.  Is there anything God needs from me?  Is He touched by my offerings?  Is He lacking in any way, dependent upon me to give Him what He needs (Isaiah 1:10-15)?  

The answer is a resounding "No."  He is self-sufficient, the great "I Am" who has no limitations, never grows weary, cannot fail (Exodus 3:14, Isaiah 40:28).  He owns the earth and all that is in it and there is nothing I can give Him that is not already His (Psalm 24:1).  What He desires from me instead is my heart (1 Samuel 15:22, 16:7).  He wants me to want Him more than all the world has to offer.  He wants me to see Him as my all in all.  He wants me to depend on Him for every good thing, for all my strength, for each need (2 Corinthians 9:8, 2 Corinthians 12:9,Matthew 6:31-32).  Therefore, when I come to Him it must be with a humble anticipation of all that He will give to me.  Without His gracious gifts bestowed upon me, I'd have nothing to give to others (James 1:17).

Instead of expecting to give to God, I must draw near to Him with the spirit of anticipation, ready to receive all He has to give.

I sometimes get the idea that I'm meant to go to God so that I can give.  In reality, it's more about what He gives to me.  Therefore, I must be still, ready to listen to what He has to say, realizing I belong in His presence through faith in Christ, and with open hands to receive all He has to give.  In these ways, I'll be drawing near to listen more than to speak.  This is prayer at its essence.

As I begin this day it is my prayer that I can be quiet and listen to God's voice.

When do I wrongly think I can pay back God for all He has done for me?

How do you avoid God out of a feeling of inadequacy, forgetting that it is by grace that you have been ushered into His kingdom?