Learning To Hear from God

In review of Habakkuk 2:1 it says, “I will climb up to my watchtower and stand at my guard post. There I will wait to see what the LORD says and how he will answer.”

Bottom Line:

I will climb my watchtower now and wait to see what answer God will give to my complaint.

What this means to me:

I will get alone and wait to see what the Lord will tell me and what answer he will give to my question.

What I’m learning is that hearing from God all starts with a desire. I have want to hear from Him.

Habakkuk 2:1 says, “I will climb up to my watchtower and stand at my guard post. There I will wait to see what the LORD says and how he will answer” (NLT).

Habakkuk begins with these words: “I will.” In other words, he’s saying that he is deciding to listen to God. It’s a choice.

I’ll never hear God unless I want to hear Him. God will speak to those who decide in advance that they’re going to do whatever God tells them to do before he even tells them. He does not play games. He wants me to desire communication with him and for me to say, “God, tell me what to do, and more importantly that I’ll do it.”

Once I decide I want to hear from God, I need to withdraw to a quiet place. Habakkuk 2:1 says, “I will climb up to my watchtower,” which is a Hebrew expression that means to get alone.

I won’t hear God’s voice if I’m surrounded by noise. It’s essential to find a quiet place. It’s tough to find a quiet place in today’s world? Everywhere I go there is something distracting, even at home, my wife always has on the TV as background noise.

Jesus provides some very specific advice in Matthew 6:6: “Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace” (MSG).

There are two words that will help motivate my decision to withdraw and get away with the Lord: God cares. God cares about what I’m going through. If I don’t realize that he cares, why would I want to spend any time with him? However, once I realize how much he cares, how much grace he has to give me, then I can more readily make the decision to withdraw and be with him.

As I reflect on my own life, I include in my prayers in the morning the desire to hear from him, anything he wants me to know or think about. I spend time in the early morning before the TV gets turned on, so that I can talk and listen. I think I do need to spend more time (not just in the morning before leaving for work - where I’m on a schedule), but at other times of the day, just listening.