Hearing vs. Loving God

So after the poll I took on loving vs hearing God, its fairly obvious most of you feel that hearing God is harder than loving God. I am still learning how to do both of these things. Loving God can be hard due to not seeing Him. I feel like it can also be hard if it is also to hear Him. But we get to know Him and consequently love and hear Him through scripture. I am still learning what it means to do both and finding new ways to love Him and ways to get myself to replace noise with hearing His voice.

But after really thinking about it, I think they go hand-in-hand. How do I love God if I am not spending time with Him and listening to Him. It is like hearing about somebody who did great things, and you might be in very much respect for that person. For me, I have also had a great deal of respect for Tecumseh, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, and Mother Theresa. All of these people thought more than just about themselves. And it is easy for people to see what they did and generate a great deal of respect for people such as these. But God is MUCH greater than that.

God not only deserves our respect and awe but Love. He is our father, our brother, and even our lover. When we spend time in prayer, do we give him time to speak back? Do we just rant and demand that he fixes things or do we really allow him to work in our heart and soul and mind. To the point where he has consumed us. This is how we love God I think. We ask God to help us to love him. We need his help to love him, to change our heart from our earthly desires to heavenly desires. Unless we (myself included) can come to the point where we let God speak to us in the Word and in times of prayer, what is the point?

I am still learning how to hear God and truly understand what he is saying to me. But this is what I have found out so far. He speaks in a whisper. We need to let go of the noise and distraction. Maybe drive to work without the radio. Or instead of watching that 30 min episode of T.V. spending time just in silence. I am guilty of letting myself being distracted by my computer, or phone or t.v. all too often. One thing I started doing is attempting to not get on my computer all weekend. I have realized that this is actually easier than I initially thought. When I get on the computer I just find more stuff to do which can be done during the week. Another thing I have found is that if I let Him, he will speak to me as I try and figure things out. This usually happens when I am writing a post or writing out a campaigner lesson. God helps me organize my thoughts when I am intentional and let Him do so. Another thing is that God speaks to me in a way that is usually subtle but is not routine, it is rather in a seemingly random thought. This thought is not random, it is God. I feel that I hear God the most when I let go of my personal desires and firmly focus on the image on Christ and what he has done for me. One important thing is that we must realize that we can not hear Him unless we know what his voice sounds like. By letting go of what is going on in my life and focusing on his character and his perfect love and will, I can hear him better. In fact this maybe the only way to truly know that it is Him that is speaking and not ourselves.

As a final note, however, I know that by loving Him, it is easier to hear him. I feel this way because if you don't love him then how are you to be able to even care if God is speaking? Praying that God will change your heart to love him more and be in tune with his will is probably the best and maybe the only thing that we can do other than really making a point to spend time and love Him more.

prideful heart

Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written:
" 'I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you.' I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it. - Matthew 11:9-12 (NIV)

This passage can be confusing at first, but this is an excerpt from a commentary:

"Because such greatness is not dependent on us but on the roles God has assigned us, we must do his will humbly, seeking his honor alone. The least in the kingdom is greater than John in the sense that anyone in the kingdom has a fuller message than those who spoke beforehand. In another sense of the phrase, the least in the kingdom may also be the greatest in the kingdom, because God will evaluate us according to our faithfulness in deferring all honor to him rather than to ourselves (18:1-4)." IVP New Testament Commentary

I have been thinking about this a lot lately and recently came across this piece of scripture. I feel sometimes that I seek to be a "righteous" man for my own sake. Like for instance, usually if we pray as a leadership I don't want to say anything out loud. This is because I don't want to say anything just to say something. I would not want to just pray for the reason that other people hear me. The Holy Spirit should be the only way and reason that I am praying. Which is why I consistently ask God to make me less and Jesus more. If I allowed more of Jesus to come through me and make him more evident and me less, I would not be as prideful or seek my personal interests. I would be more in sync with the Holy Spirit and thus, the will of God.

Like in this passage, I must come to a place where I no longer am seeking righteousness for my advancement or to change me, but for the kingdom of God to be changed. I must seek his honor and his only. There should be no motive in our hearts to satisfy others more than our motive to fulfill God's mission and to bring his kingdom. The last sentence in the excerpt above is really humbling. To know that God will evaluate us according to how we give honor. Do we give it to God alone, or do we still try and seek our own honor?