The God Who Listens

"My dear brothers and sisters, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen..." - James 1:19a (CSB)

If you could have anything in the world, what would it be?

It isn't on any of the Top 100 Gifts lists, but what if you could have a friend who loved to listen to you?

It's something we're starving to find, and we'll pay good money to get it. In the U.S., an hour of listening from a therapist can cost anywhere from $100-$300 an hour.

Perhaps the explosive rise of ChatGPT is in part because, unlike anyone else, it listens to anything and everything you have to share, responds with affirmation and helpfulness, remembers everything you tell it, and adjusts its responses to meet your mood.

Of course, interaction with generative AI tools are but a simulation of being listened to by a friend, but what happens when the imitation feels better than the real?

At a heart level, sadly, many Christians don't feel that God listens to them. I say "sadly" from personal experience. So many prayers feel like they hit the ceiling at best. Perhaps that's why I like to pray outside, while hiking in a mountain. It helps me feel like I have unfiltered access to the heavens.

But why do we struggle to think that God listens?

Maybe one reason is because we've been taught that God loves to speak.

We often think about God and, a heartbeat later, God's Word. Whether he's commanding galaxies into existence, delivering the Law in a booming voice on Mt. Sinai, or sending prophetic messages through his representatives, it seems like God has a lot to communicate.

To be clear, I'm grateful that God speaks to us, because the alternative is a bleak and lonely scenario.

So, is God only a Speaker? Or is he also the Great Listener?

Think about it this way. If God only speaks, then he's like a terrible dinner party guest. Everyone comes to a dinner party looking forward to great conversations, but when someone insists on pontificating all night long? No thanks.

But James tells Christians that we must be "quick to listen."

As I reflected on this command, here's what I wanted to know: Was that command just picked from the air? Or was James asking us to do something God doesn't?

Or... is it a way to imitate God?

The God Who Asks Questions

When Adam and Eve turned away from God, how did God respond?

It's fascinating to see that he asked a question. "Where are you?" asks God (Genesis 3:9).

He knew the answer, but he wanted to listen. He's inviting Adam to speak.

Then God turns to Eve: "What is this you have done?" (Genesis 3:13). Again, God is listening.

Or think about when God called Moses at the burning bush. If I was Moses, I think I'd kneel, cover my mouth, and take notes.

But God allows for a conversation. Over and over again, Moses asks questions, "Who am I to go to Pharaoh?", "What should I say your name is?", "What if they won't believe me?" and so on. Each time, God considers Moses' perspective, and responds to his inquiry.

It goes even deeper. Think about what's in "God's Word."

A tremendous percentage of what God says to us is his record of what we've done and said.

God observed our lives, noted our words, and preserved them for our benefit.

But what about the human authors and editors? Unlike Islam, we don't believe God dictated every word. Instead, Christians believe the Scriptures are God-breathed through the inspiration of the human author.

That's a radical trust that God placed in his prophets and apostles. Even as he spoke, he honored their voices.

Perhaps the clearest illustration? If you want evidence that God listens, open the Psalms.

On every page we find raw, unfiltered, desperate, joyful, doubting, praising words from humans to God. They are not sanitized religious monologues but Spirit-inspired proof that God welcomes us to share the entire experience of our lives with him.

Imagine if the Psalmists were bringing these kinds of complaints to you. How long could you endure hearing them before you sent them away? Yet every day, God is listening to everyone of us as we cry out to him.

He Came To Listen

We see the fullness of God's love for us in Jesus. We rightly focus on the cross and resurrection. This is the basis of our forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life with God.

Yet the Gospels still dedicate a majority of their words to recording his life. And everywhere Jesus goes, he is asking questions:

• "Who do you say that I am?"

• "What do you want me to do for you?"

• "Do you believe I am able to do this?"

Just like God in the Garden, Jesus didn't ask because He lacked understanding.

He asked because listening—really listening—was central to His ministry. The Gospels tell us His heart was "moved with compassion" when He heard people's stories. He listened to the woman at the well's complex relational history. He listened to blind Bartimaeus's cry from the roadside. He listened to Martha's frustration and Mary's worship.

Even on the cross, while he was suffocating to death in absolute agony, Jesus listened. When the thief beside Jesus expressed faith, he heard him and responded with the promise of paradise.

The Spirit Listens

One of the most vital truths about God is that he is Triune. One God in Three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It's a beautiful mystery beyond my comprehension, but it always reminds me that God is love.

And as we search to see the work of the Holy Spirit, we find another Listener!

As Paul teaches in Romans 8:26-27, "In the same way the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because he intercedes for the saints according to the will of God."

Think about it. When we are without words, the Holy Spirit is so attentive to the condition of our hearts that he can pray for us.

And when the Holy Spirit intercedes for us, isn't it certain that God hears?

Why Listen?

The more I consider this theme, the clearer it becomes: God loves to listen to us.

So when James writes, "Everyone should be quick to listen," he isn't just giving good communication advice.

It's much richer: he is calling us to imitate the God who listens.

I wonder if that isn't where James caught this theme? Remember, he was the half-brother of Jesus. In a world where everyone wants to talk, perhaps he was struck by how often Jesus was asking questions, listening deeply, and responding with compassion. By being up close to the steady example that Jesus set as he listened to the broken and the outcast, James eventually realized that this was not a tactic, but his brother's heart.

And so when James wanted to guide his readers to follow Jesus, it came naturally from his heart: "Be quick to listen."

God is Listening

For some people, listening comes easy. For others, it stings to be told, "You need to be quick to listen."

Either way, we all have room to grow. So, next week we'll explore what it looks like to be quick to listen.

But for now? I just want to be mesmerized by the reality that God is the Best Listener.

God doesn't have an iPhone to put down. He isn't waiting to get back to the game. He isn't wondering about a problem he has at work. He isn't anxiously waiting for a turn to talk.

God loves to listen.

What do you want to share with God?

Triune God of love, we worship you as the God who listens. Not with impatience, but with delight. Not with indifference, but with compassion. Teach us to believe that you want to hear our voices—every sorrow, every joy, every inexpressible groaning. Free our hearts to speak with honesty and to listen with love. in Christ's name, Amen.