The ‘speaking and listening’ components in language exams are vital for a developing understanding of language. Long before we learn to read and write, we learn to listen and speak. When we learn a foreign language, we often try to simulate situations which are going to happen in real life and prepare students for conversation. Such role plays may focus on going to a shop to buy something or what to say when trying to reserve accommodation at a hotel, for example.
The problem we face is that conversation is spontaneous and cannot be meticulously rehearsed. If you go into a boulangerie in France to buy your baguette and the shop has run out of baguettes, the helpful assistant will try to offer something else to you… but if you have only learned your set phrase and standard reply, that will not help you to participate in further conversation! Similarly, we often try to prepare for conversations in the real world by rehearsing what we are going to say and imagining how the other person will respond… only to find our carefully practised dialogues disappearing as the other person responds in a completely unexpected fashion.
So often, real-life conversations (with people and with God) look either like this:
… or like this:
We are often much better at speaking than we are at listening. Often, when we listen, we hear something other than what the person has said: our own ideas, preconceptions, upbringing and temperament can shape what we hear far beyond the actual words that are said. Tone of voice, facial expressions, body language all contribute to conversation.
When it comes to prayer, we need to be real with God and speak honestly with Him, but we also need to listen for that gentle whisper, that inner nudge, the voice of the Shepherd leading His sheep. Everyday prayer has to have both these elements of speaking and listening, of hearing God’s voice and responding to that voice. Our part is to come regularly and honestly before God, setting time aside, realising that if we do not make this our habit, it will not happen accidentally of its own accord. Our part is to sit in His presence, not rushing away, listening carefully for the gentle whisper as well as the rap on the knuckles! God is eager to speak with us and to walk with us, even as He did with Adam in the cool of the evening in the Garden of Eden. Our part is to come before Him daily: on our own, with others, praying in the Spirit on all occasions (Eph 6:18) and praying continually. (1 Thess 5:17)