Listen With Your Heart

Sometimes it’s difficult to hear God’s voice when there are many other voices around us. One of the worst feelings is longing for God’s answer in a particular situation, but not seeming to receive one. I’ve found myself trapped in this cycle throughout my walk with Christ. When a problem arose, I’d turn to Christ. I would bring my problem to Jesus, but He wasn’t giving me an answer. Hadn’t I done all I needed to do? 

There’s a danger that I may be turning to Christ out of custom instead of belief in His power. I’ve grown up doing this. I’ve been told repeatedly to pray. Naturally, it’s become my first option, but I had to take a minute to think about this routine. 

Although I was making Jesus my first choice in adversity, I wasn’t making Him my only choice. After praying for an answer, I would use logic to try and answer it myself. If that didn’t suffice, I would seek other people’s perspectives, secretly hoping to hear a voice that appealed to me. I would ask Him for divine wisdom, but instead of letting Him answer, I would quickly turn away. I wasn’t seeking God’s will wholeheartedly. 

Have you ever found yourself doing this? Maybe you’re struggling to search for God wholeheartedly in the same way I did. It’s a good place to be if you’ve acknowledged this. Here are three steps that God invites us to take in order to sincerely seek His will. 

The first step is an invitation to surrender. Matthew 11:28 says, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” I don’t know about you, but choosing between decisions makes me feel burdened. It overtakes my thoughts, and as a result, it distracts me from the rest of my life. 

God doesn’t want us to feel overwhelmed by problems. He asks us to surrender those issues by giving them over to Him completely! God wants to work in our lives, but we need to let go of the problem entirely to let Him take control entirely. 

The second step is an invitation to patience. In the college culture, it seems that we are constantly starting something as we’re still finishing another. We’re so used to the rush, but God asks us to slow down. Romans 12:12 says, “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.”

When we hit a problem, it can be our wish to move past it as soon as possible. But by inviting us to have patience, God is asking us to learn to trust His timing. Receiving God’s answer can take as little as a second or as long as many decades. As we practice patience in our trials, we will learn that God is answering our prayers in the best possible way at the best possible time. 

Finally, in the third step, God invites us to rest. 2 Corinthians 4:16 says, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” The unknown can cause many people to worry. This is why God longs to give us knowledge that will provide us with rest. The world wants to give us answers to our problems, but it will not give us the rest God promises. Accept His invitation today by resting in His word. 

In order to hear God’s voice, we must allow our will to die and His plan to live within us. We must seek Him with our whole heart by giving up our problems, patiently waiting for His response and resting in His knowledge. 

Dear friend, God wants to answer your questions. He wants to lead you to the right path. He wants to help you make the right decision. He only requires one thing: that you seek Him with your whole heart.

Written by: Emily Rojas