Posted By Phylicia on September 22, 2009

… And that’s when I was like, “Are you kidding me?!” and he said, “No.” and I totally cracked up!” Our table at the ROT (Reber-Thomas Dining Hall) erupted into laughter.  ”I thought I didn’t have an accent and all you Southerners say I do!”  I protested over my plate of cheesy grits and mystery meat.  ”But ya’ll do have accents,” argued Abby.  ”Ya’ll say, ‘Chay-llenge’ and ‘Fain-tastic’, and that just ain’t right.”  The Northerners at the table burst into laughter again.  Abby looked confused.  ”Whaaaht?  Whaht’s so funny?” “You’re one to talk!  Your accent is positively primeval!”  Abby chuckled and agreed that everyone has an accent but they don’t hear it until another person points it out.  When you’re used to hearing your own voice, you don’t catch the differences of inflection.

In a world where one’s opinion is often considered first priority, we don’t always notice the truth about ourselves.  Sometimes, like with my accent, we get so used to being the way we are that we think it’s ‘normal’ and that anything different from our system is ‘abnormal’.  We don’t stop talking and listen to the inflection of other voices.  When our mouths are running, our ears aren’t hearing.

This applies to any personal communication — basic conversation skills and such — but more importantly it applies to our relationship with God.  Prayer, for example, has been for me a sort of intense grocery list for God to take with him to the cosmic Piggly Wiggly in answer to my entreaties.  Often I bombard him with my requests and keep talking until I think he’s gotten the exact details of what I need.  But God already knows what I need before I tell him.

Prayer definitely necessitates telling God our requests, because this is an indicator of faith.   However, it is even more important that we stop and listen to God during prayer and throughout the day.  If we pray without anticipating a reply we will not hear him when he does reply.  God is faithful to answer us, but when we “don’t hear him” it is usually because we aren’t listening for his answer or we don’t like the one we got.

Jesus said in John 10:27:

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”

We are his sheep, and if we spend time with our Shepherd we will know his voice and follow it.  We will listen for it so we can obey it to the letter.  If we don’t listen for him, and if we don’t spend enough time with him to recognize his voice, then we won’t follow his leading.

“And a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him!”  (Matthew 17:5)

Categories: Godly Womanhood
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