I’ve often spoken about how to develop good listening skills, because they are essential for our success in every area of our lives..

For years I’ve been consciously working at becoming a better listener, because I’m not a naturally good listener—I’m a talker!  But by putting some simple disciplines in place, I’m a better listener than I used to be. There are simple things we can all do to become better listeners, and believe me, you will reap wonderful benefits from that. People love people who listen.

But how about listening to God? Do you ever think about what you need to do to hear God’s voice? If you feel like, “God, I can’t hear you,” maybe it’s because you haven’t learned how to listen to God. In Psalm 81:13-14 we read:

If my people would but listen to me, if Israel would follow my ways, how quickly would I subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes! 

In Psalm 85:8 the Psalmist says, “I will listen to what God the Lord says; he promises peace to his people, his faithful servants—but let them not turn to folly.”

So, listening to God is first of all a choice we make. The Psalmist said, “I will listen to what God the Lord will say.” God doesn’t usually speak to us until we have ears to hear. But how does God speak to us?

Hebrews 1:1-2: In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways,  but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.

2 Timothy 3:16 – 17: All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Mostly God speaks to us through the written Word. That means we have to make time in our lives to read the Word for the sole purpose of hearing God speak to us personally. Sometimes I find myself reading the Bible just because I’m supposed to. That doesn’t do much good. But if you read it for the sole purpose of hearing God speak to you, God will speak to you through his Word.

I’ve often spoken about how to develop good listening skills, because they are essential for our success in every area of our lives.. For years I’ve been consciously working at becoming a better listener, because I’m not a naturally good...

If God wanted to speak to you today, what barrier would he have to overcome? When you feel that you just can’t connect with God, you can be sure of one thing: It isn’t God’s fault. He hasn’t moved. He waits with anticipation to have fellowship with you. So, when barriers come between you and God, it’s because you’ve allowed them to be there.

We talked about how the busyness of our lives is one of our main problems. Another one is that we are often just too self-absorbed. Life is all about us. Our thoughts center on us; we are the center of our world, and so God just can’t penetrate that barrier.

We’ve been led to believe that all we need to live a fulfilling life is to have good self-esteem, but what I’ve come to learn is that self is not my solution; self is my problem! True, I need to see my worth in Christ and appreciate who I am in him but striving for more good self-esteem or self-confidence just makes me self-focused, and that inevitably takes me down the wrong path.

If you want to listen to God—really hear what he wants to say to you—you have to take yourself off the throne of your heart and let God be God again. I find that almost daily I have to remember to make God the highest priority in my life; to actually go through my daily activities with the conscious awareness that it’s not all about me, it’s all about God. It’s so easy to become self-absorbed, so you have to stand guard against it all the time.

Jesus gave us principles that seem contradictory to our self-focused minds, like, if you want to save your life, you have to lose it, and if you want to be first, you have to willing to be last, and if you will humble yourself, he will exalt you. But, you see, the weird thing is that when you do it Jesus’ way—the backwards way, if you please—you discover that it works. Your burdens are lighter, your joy is greater, your peace is secure when you get yourself out of the way so that you can hear the voice of God.

If God wanted to speak to you today, would he have to break through your barrier of being so self-focused that you can’t hear him? I challenge you to determine to get through one day without talking about yourself; make a conscious effort not to think about yourself, your problems, your concerns, whatever. Just ask God to make you aware of how self-absorbed you are, and to deliver you. I think you’ll be amazed at what you discover, and you’ll also find that when God breaks through that barrier, his voice will strengthen and sustain you like nothing else.

If God wanted to speak to you today, what barrier would he have to overcome? When you feel that you just can’t connect with God, you can be sure of one thing: It isn’t God’s fault. He hasn’t moved. He...

If you’ve ever felt like you just can’t connect with God—that you can’t hear his voice—I encourage you to continue because I want to talk about what interferes with our God-connection. Let me ask you this question: If God wanted...

If you’ve ever felt like you just can’t connect with God—that you can’t hear his voice—I encourage you to continue because I want to talk about what interferes with our God-connection. Let me ask you this question: If God wanted to speak to you today, what barrier would he have to overcome in order to get through to you?

The first and probably the most common barrier is that we are just too busy to hear God. Have you allowed your life to become so hectic, so over-scheduled, that you really don’t have time to listen to God? In order to hear God, you have to block out other distracting voices and sounds. That means some quiet time, some uninterrupted time, which you devote to God and hearing him talk to you. For me that is usually early morning time before the day’s activities get in the way.

Mostly God speaks through his written Word, but the way you approach reading the Bible will determine whether you really hear God or not. I begin with a prayer that God will speak to me through his Word, and then I read with the intention of hearing what God is saying to me. If my mind wanders and I realize I haven’t really been listening as I read, I just make myself start again, and discipline myself to focus on the words and meditate on what I’m reading.

I have a structured plan for reading the Bible, and when I approach that time with the attitude that I want to hear what God is saying to me today, it never fails that something pops off the page and is just what I need for that day. For example, I was reading Philippians again recently and verse 16 in chapter 3 spoke directly to me. It says, “Only let us live up to what we have already attained.”

I stopped there and began to write in my journal what God was saying to me. I’ve read that chapter many times, but that verse was new to me that day, and God spoke to me about some things I need to do to live up to what I already know. I heard God speak to me.

I urge you to set aside time to hear God through his Word, and put in writing what you hear. There is nothing more important that letting God speak to you, and he will, if you’re not too busy to listen.

My Bible study, A Guide on Getting to Know God, will help you structure a meaningful time with God each day, so you can truly hear what he wants to say to you.

I found a brief article in a Christian Professional magazine entitled “Three Marketplace Worldviews,” taken from truthnetwork.org, and I want to talk about those three marketplace worldviews.

Hopefully you realize that your worldview has a great influence on your life. If you view your world through an incorrect paradigm, it will cause you to make wrong decisions, poor choices, and lead you down wrong paths. So, it is extremely important that we scrutinize our own worldviews and make certain they are accurate. As Christians, our challenge is to make certain that we have a biblical worldview, that our attitudes and opinions and approach to life are based on sound Bible doctrine and principles. That means, of course, that we need to know the Word of God and continually study it so that we know truth which can set us free.

Over the more than 37 years that I’ve been broadcasting this program, it has become clear that far too many Christians do not have a biblical view of their jobs. That means that they often approach their work incorrectly, for the wrong reasons and with the wrong motives. That, in turn, means that a great portion of their life is spent with an unbiblical worldview, and that can only mean trouble! It interferes with your fellowship with God and with other believers, it causes a disconnect in your own spirit, and you may find yourself leading a double life, as it were: One person on your job and another person at church and with other believers.

I definitely know what I’m talking about because for ten years of my career, that’s exactly what I did. I was one person Monday through Friday and another one on Sunday. I had a totally selfish and greedy approach to my job, and soon I was swallowed up by the world’s culture and found myself operating in my job like most everyone else—out for number one and looking for personal success.

James 1:6 – 8 tells us that “one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord; such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.” When we as true believers have a conflicting worldview that is not in agreement with God’s Word, we become double-minded, tossed back and forth like waves on the sea and unstable in all we do. Have you ever thought that your instability on your job, your inability to find the right job, or your unhappiness in the job you have could be because you have become double-minded?  Your lack of a biblical marketplace view could indeed be the root cause of your struggles.

Well, let’s take a look at these three marketplace views, and as we do, ask yourself which one most represents your own view of your job or career. These three views are categorized as Secular, Non-Biblical which is described as a compromised Christian view, and Biblical.

First, what is your view of the origin and purpose of business?

The secular view is that “Business is something that man created, to serve man, and its ultimate purpose is to serve the interest of man. If there is a God, he certainly would not have any concern with business and how it is done.”

Now, admittedly, that’s how most of your non-believing friends and coworkers view their job. They are there to make as much money as possible, to achieve as much success as possible, to prove their worth, to help them realize their dreams and goals, etc., etc., etc. In other words, their view of their job is that it’s all about them, making them successful, happy, financially secure and fulfilled. They most likely have never even thought about connecting God or his principles with their job. It’s like separation of church and state; it’s almost a constitutional divide—your job and religion are two different things. That’s the secular marketplace view.

Well, what is the non-biblical compromised Christian view of the ...

I found a brief article in a Christian Professional magazine entitled “Three Marketplace Worldviews,” taken from truthnetwork.org, and I want to talk about those three marketplace worldviews. Hopefully you realize that your worldview has a great influence on your life....

How to cope with boredom on your job—that's Fran's dilemma. But she's learned some valuable lessons on practical things she can do when she's feeling unmotivated and bored.

Fran took some new approaches to her work and found that it put a lot of enthusiasm back into her job. She simply made some changes in her usual routine and did a few things more creatively. That has helped a great deal. It's Saturday now and she's meeting her friend, Nancy for lunch to ask her advice about being bored with her job.

They have a long discussion about boredom, and Nancy agrees that it's a challenge everybody has to face on and off throughout their careers. "No job is without its boring aspects, that's one thing I've come to accept, Fran," Nancy says.

"I'm beginning to understand that," Fran says, "but I really think that I've outgrown the job in a sense. I'm ready for a bigger challenge."

"Do you see another job in the company that interests you?" Nancy asks.

"Yes, as a matter of fact," Fran answers, "but I'm not qualified–they would never consider me...."

"Now, Fran, don't start with the negative prophecies. You need to identify your career goals and then put a plan in place to make yourself qualified," Nancy tells her.

"Well, I'd like to be ... I really think I could do a good job... I'd like my boss's job," Fran finally gets it out.

"Great..." Nancy starts to reply.

"But they'd never consider me. I haven't been there long enough..." Fran starts again.

"Stop it, Fran," Nancy says. "Let's just make a list of the qualifications necessary to do your boss's job; then we'll talk about what you can do to acquire the skills and experience you need as quickly as possible."

For about an hour the two of them make notes and discuss what Fran needs to do to be qualified for the job she wants. Then Nancy says, "If I were you, I'd go to your boss, and let him know that you want to be in line for his job when he gets promoted, and ask him to give you assignments or suggestions that will help you."

"You mean, tell him I want his job?" Fran is surprised at Nancy's suggestion.

"Sure, there's nothing wrong with that," Nancy says. As Fran goes back home she says to Jesus, "Nancy had some great advice. Thanks, Jesus, for your help.” She can feel his smile of approval and remembers another verse from Proverbs 19:20 – when you listen to advice and accept instructions, in the end you will be wise.

If you would like to read the entire week’s message, click here to view/download the PDF.

How to cope with boredom on your job—that’s Fran’s dilemma. But she’s learned some valuable lessons on practical things she can do when she’s feeling unmotivated and bored. Fran took some new approaches to her work and found that it...