Developing a Heart that Listens to God

Scripture — 1 Kings 3:7-9 (NIV)

Now, LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?

Devotion

In my last few Life for Leaders devotions, I’ve been reflecting with you on a passage from 1 Kings 3. In this portion of Scripture, Solomon asks the Lord for a “discerning heart.” More literally, the Hebrew behind this phrase means “a listening heart.” If we wish to lead well, then we need to learn to listen well, both to people and to God.

Last week, I wrote about how, when I was a parish pastor, I learned to listen to the people entrusted to my care through The Pastor’s Study. This weekly Bible study wasn’t so much a time for me to talk as to listen. Through the process of regular listening, I was being formed by God’s Spirit to have what Solomon called “a discerning or listening heart.”

But, as important as it is for a leader to listen to people, it’s even more essential that we learn how to listen to God. We will lead wisely when we are in touch with God’s truth, priorities, and guidance. Perhaps most importantly, our heart needs to be shaped by God to be like God’s own heart. You may recall that, according to the prophet Samuel, the Lord chose David to be king because David was “a man after [God’s] own heart” (1 Sam 13:14). I would like to be that sort of person. Wouldn’t you like to be a man or woman after God’s own heart?

As a person of many words, I haven’t found it easy to listen to God. I’m much better at telling God what I want God to do than listening to what God wants me to do. But I am learning, slowly but surely, by God’s grace, to listen to the Lord.

Some of that learning came while I was the pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church. Yesterday, I shared about The Pastor’s Study and how it helped me listen to the people entrusted to my care. By listening, I did get to know them much better. But, at the same time, by listening to them, I also heard from the Lord. God speaks to us when we are alone, to be sure. But God also speaks through the faithful community, the community formed and filled with the Holy Spirit, the community of people once gathered in The Pastor’s Study. As we studied God’s written Word together, we often heard God “speak” through the words of others.

After The Pastor’s Study, I would find a place of solitude where I would write my sermon for the upcoming weekend. In that place, I would talk conversationally with God about what I was writing. I’d ask questions. I’d tell the Lord what I was planning to preach. I’d share my concerns, doubts, and hopes.

But I wouldn’t only talk to God. I’d also try to listen. I never heard an audible voice. But often I sensed God’s presence and guidance. Once in a while, it seemed as if God was speaking clearly and powerfully, helping me to know what I should preach and how I should do it. There were times when I’d say to the Lord, “I don’t know what you want to say to my congregation through this passage.” Then, suddenly, I’d have a strong conviction about the point I was supposed to deliver. My creative process didn’t always go like that, but it did many times. I’d marvel at God’s grace in speaking to me so clearly.

I’d try to wrap up my sermon writing by mid-afternoon on Thursday. Then, I’d head for a place of natural beauty where I could walk as I talked with the Lord. I’ve never been particularly good at sitting while I pray. And my less-than-perfect knees aren’t helpful when it comes to kneeling. But if I can walk in a quiet place, a place where I can pray out loud, then I feel free both to tell the Lord what’s on my heart and to listen more attentively to what God might want to say to me. In fact, when I’m walking, I’m much more able to abide by the words of the prophet Habakkuk, “The LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him” (Hab 2:20). Or I can do as the Lord instructs in Psalm 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God!”

In this devotion, I’ve talked a lot about me and my practices. I’ve done this, not because I expect that you’ll imitate what I do, but rather to encourage you to consider how you can develop a discerning heart, a heart that listens to God. You might do this best in a quiet corner of your home, or in a church sanctuary, or on a silent retreat. You might hear from the Lord as you meditate upon Scripture, pay attention during a sermon, or share openly in a small group. You might benefit from devotional reading, having a spiritual director, or doing an Ignatian examen at the end of each day. Yesterday, I talked with a friend who often has his best times of prayer in the middle of the night when he can’t sleep. I’m not recommending this, by the way. But I was encouraged by my friend to do the same when I’m having trouble sleeping.

Let me encourage you to prayerfully consider what helps you have a discerning heart. As you do whatever this is, may your heart be shaped by the Spirit to listen well both to God and to people.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: The Task of Choosing a King (1 Samuel 9-16).