Discipleship means listening to God – but how?
Series: Follow me | Bible text: James 1:19; Psalm 139:14; Psalm 62:2
Listening to God is a basic requirement for a follower of Jesus Christ. But how do we listen to God? Three good ways to hear God are prayer, Bible reading and silence. These alone do not guarantee that we hear God, but there is a good chance that I will perceive, recognise and feel God’s impulses for my life. In many cases, listening to God also means first of all saying yes to your own story, your own life with all its natural limitations. Although listening and doing belong together, many things also begin with being before God, especially being still before God.
Before my wife and I got married, we lived in shared flats and therefore didn’t have many household items of our own. That’s why we decided to buy a Thermomix. We are absolute Thermomix enthusiasts. Once you have a recipe, everything is clear from A to Z – I just have to stick to the instructions. It may sound a bit monotonous, but I manage to do things that I wouldn’t otherwise be able to do. I just have to stick strictly to the instructions. How nice it would be if the life of faith of followers of Jesus worked like this. You just have to stick to the exact sequence of certain things: Reading at least 5 verses in the Bible per day, praying three times for 1 ½ minutes and then listening to God for another 4 minutes. If I do this, then I will surely hear God. But unfortunately this is not the case.
I’ve always loved cooking, but I’ve given baking a wide berth. But since I’ve been married, I’ve taken up baking a little. In the process, I have learnt about a miracle cure: baking powder. Baking powder is an ingenious ingredient. It alone does not guarantee that things will turn out well, but the probability that the desired effect will occur is all the greater. Even if the desire to hear God is great, we cannot make God available to us. But there are a few baking powders of faith. If I follow these, it is likely that I will hear God. I want to explore three of them in more depth in today’s sermon: Bible reading, prayer and silence. There is more, such as listening to a sermon, but today I am focussing on the other three. This is nothing new, but perhaps I can give you a new impetus.
Listening and doing belong together
The title of the sermon is «Discipleship means listening to God». But is this the case? Is this the desire of every follower? On the one hand, yes. It is often the case that we do not listen to God even though we ask him. On the one hand, no. Sometimes it would be clear what to do, but we find excuses and perhaps deliberately do not want to listen to God. In last Sunday’s sermon, we heard that listen and obey are the same word in Greek. Discipleship also goes back to the same root word.
Listening is a basic requirement for a follower of Jesus Christ. «Dear friends, be quick to listen, but take your time before you speak or get angry» (James 1:19 NLB). That hearing and doing belong together is also shown here a few verses further on. «But it’s not enough to just listen to the message – you also have to act on it! Otherwise you are only deceiving yourselves» (James 1:22 NLB). In today’s sermon, I also want to try to bring listening and doing together. Perhaps a little unusual, but I would like to invite you to get involved in this. Because a baking powder of listening to God is to read God’s word and listen to what it has to say to me. That’s why I would like to read the biblical passage out loud together with you. «Happy is the man who does not listen to the advice of the wicked, who does not take the lives of sinners as an example and does not associate with mockers. He delights in doing the will of the LORD and meditates on his law day and night. He is like a tree that takes root by the riverbank and bears abundant fruit year after year. His leaves do not wither, and everything he does succeeds» (Psalm 1:1–3 NLB). Now let’s take a moment to think about what this Bible passage has to say to me.
Saying yes to your own history
Listening to God starts with getting a yes to your own story. This may be a specific point, but I am convinced that it is a very important one. Because in following Jesus Christ, everyone has different requirements. Discipleship is personal and encompasses me as a whole person. My whole being, my actions, my behaviour, in other words everything that defines me, plays a part. While we like to emphasise our own history, our very own nature and behaviour when it sets us apart from others in a positive way, we find it more difficult when it sets us boundaries. Peter Scazzero writes in his book «emotionally healthy discipleship» about two types. We need to ask ourselves two questions: «What limits do I have to Acceptfind a joyful yes to them and see them as God’s invitation to trust him? Where does God ask me to set boundaries in faith? exceedso that others can get to know him or so that I can become the person he imagined?» (Peter Scazzero). When I have recognised and internalised the first, then I can pray with the psalmist with full conviction and say: «I thank you that you have made me so marvellous and excellent! Your works are marvellous, I know that well» (Psalm 139:14 NLB).
Asking God for his will does not necessarily mean that I want to listen. It is particularly challenging when something in my life contradicts God’s word. Then there are two ways I can behave. Firstly, I can adopt an attitude of «God must listen to me». Then I continue to live as before because God has not yet clearly shown me what is right. The other attitude is that of «I listen to God». Then it may be that I make a decision against something with a heavy heart or I renounce something – because I know that this is what God wants. Another baking powder that is helpful in such situations is prayer. We want to recite the displayed prayer together and then there is another short time of personal prayer in a quiet place. «God, give me the serenity to accept things that I cannot change, the courage to change things that I can change and the wisdom to distinguish one from the other» (Reinhold Niebuhr).
As I said, listening to God also has a lot to do with my personality. Therefore, in addition to the three baking powders of faith, I would like to briefly share with you how I hear God. I have experienced this in many different ways so far. One way God speaks to me is through open doors. I often pray to God, read the Bible and come before him but don’t hear directly what I should do. This is especially the case with decisions. That’s why I follow the open door strategy there. I boldly go forward in the knowledge that the Holy Spirit is in me and in trust and prayer until a door closes or a new one opens. Another kind is a deep impulse within me that I know I have to follow. I have been dating women on and off for a few years, but nothing has come of it. I always wondered whether Christian dating sites would be something – but I didn’t think I was that desperate yet. Until one day I woke up and just knew that I had to sign up. After almost a year, I finally met my wife that way. And the first date with her was the only time I had ever heard God speak clearly. We went out for dinner together that evening and as we sat there chatting, I heard a voice telling me «That’s your wife». It took me a few more dates, but eventually we got married and started our family. Another way I hear God is through an inner prompting of the Holy Spirit. I would like to expand on this in an oral history.
Listening starts with being
Listening to God is not easy, especially when my circumstances are anything but promising. Last Sunday we already heard a sermon about Abraham as the prototype of a follower. Today I would also like to look at this point using the life of Abraham and his wife Sarah. The story takes place at a time when both of them were still called Abram and Sarai. When Abram and Sarai set out from their familiar land, they trusted God and the promise of a child of their own. «A great nation will descend from you. I will bless you and you will be known throughout the world. I will make you a blessing to others» (Genesis 12:2 NLB). However, the two of them did not have any children for a very long time. Although the promise was made to Abram several times (Genesis 12:2; Genesis 15:4ff). Abram received as clear a promise from God as we could wish for, yet he still had doubts. «But Abram replied, «O LORD Almighty, what will you give me if I am childless? Since you have given me no children, my steward Elijah of Damascus will inherit me. Then the LORD said to him, «No, your steward will not inherit you. You will have a son who will be your heir» » (Genesis 15:3–4 NLB). But Abram and Sarai could not bear to wait for God. So Abram fathered a child himself with a slave girl (Genesis 16). But this was not the son of the promise, so God again promises that he will have descendants (Genesis 17:19; Genesis 18). On top of this, God makes another promise to Abram. He changes the name from Abram, which means «exalted father», to Abraham, which means «father of many» (Genesis 17:1ff). Abraham was 75 when he left, at 99 he received the new name and at 100 he became a father. 25 years after the exodus and the first promise.
I am convinced that listening to God begins with being before God. Doing follows from this, but not the other way round. However, we are characterised differently today. We define ourselves more by doing than by being. But Abraham lived out of being, out of trusting God. «Abram took this promise seriously. He put all his trust in the Lord, and so he found God’s approval» (Genesis 15:6 HFA). Another baking powder of faith is therefore silence. It is being still before God, trusting that he knows what I need. This is how the psalmist puts it «My soul waits quietly only for God; from him comes my salvation» (Psalm 62:2 SLT). So let’s end this sermon not with music for once, but with silence. I will end this silence after three minutes with a prayer. Don’t be alarmed, these three minutes may seem very long to you. Try to be quiet before God and listen to what is next for you after this sermon.
Possible questions for the small group
Read Bible texts: James 1:19; Psalm 139:14; Psalm 62:2
- Do you understand the connection between listening and doing? How do you listen to God?
- Read through a Bible passage together. For example, Psalm 1:1–3. Afterwards, first ask yourselves personally what this Bible passage means for each individual and what it says about discipleship. Then discuss this in the group.
- Do you understand the connection between saying yes to your own story and listening to God? Do you say yes to your limits? Can you accept them as God’s invitation to trust him? Pray the Serenity Prayer together «God, give me the serenity to accept things that I cannot change, the courage to change things that I can change and the wisdom to distinguish one from the other» (Reinhold Niebuhr). What is acceptable? What needs to be changed?
- What about silence in your relationship with God? What do you find most difficult about being quiet? Try to be quiet together as a group for a defined time and listen to God? What could help you not to be distracted?
