Listen...

...with your heart.



After realizing the depth of the meaning of what Mary did in Luke 2:19, I have continued to train myself to "listen with my heart" to everyone around me especially to my children.

It's so easy to listen with only our ears - with half of the things being said going in one ear and out the other.
I know because sometimes I'm totally clueless as to what was said (and what to say back) when the person talking to me pauses waiting expectantly for a response - and that is not good at all. It never is.

After Jesus was born, alot of things were happening and being said around Mary and about Jesus. Luke 2:19 tells us that: "Mary treasured all these things in her heart and always thought about them. (God's Word Translation)

Recently without any prompting, my children have been speaking unfiltered from their hearts. Wow - I almost shut one such conversation down and I felt the Holy Spirit whisper: "Shut up! Be silent and listen." So I obeyed...and I'm really glad & very grateful that I did.

It was amazing the destiny-defining things I heard. All I did at the time was clearly state the boundaries which is "you will remain and marry a Christian" and then added we will pray about it and do God's will. One thing God has continued to remind me is that it is never to early to start praying about who our children will marry. Think about it, their future spouses may already be born and so we can prayerfully "influence" how they are raised.

Within days of this experience, my other child blurted out some more destiny-defining matters. After an internal shudder, I indicated my interest in hearing more about that topic from time to time with the bottom line that we'd pray so we're aligned with God's will.

Listening with your heart is very valuable. It feeds and fills your heart with things to pray about - out the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks* - even in prayer. The other thing to realise is that God seeks to fulfill the desires of our hearts as we delight ourselves in Him** so it is helpful to know what's in our children's hearts so you can help them align them to God's will. 

Listening with our heart is enriches our relationship with the Lord. Why did God love David so much? David was a man after God's heart*** - I'm sure he listened to God with his heart which was why he was such a worshipper. Start listening with your heart.

References:

* Matt 12:34b - For out of the fullness (the overflow, the superabundance) of the heart the mouth speaks. (Amplified)

**Ps 37:4
- Find your delight in the Lord. Then he will give you everything your heart really wants. (New International Reader's Version)
- Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart. (Amplified)

***Acts 13:22 - God spoke favorably about David. He said, ‘I have found that David, son of Jesse, is a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do.’ (Common English Bible)