Matthew 13:36 Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”

It is the privilege of disciples to ask for explanations. God pours His truth into us as we are able to receive it, but what He says gets clearer and clearer as we get closer to Him. Jesus said many times, “He who has ears, let him hear.” Ears to hear God come from a commitment to obey. The fundamental attitude must be, God’s right and I’m not, unless I’m agreeing with Him. When we have that attitude, God delights to open His heart to us, even to the point of showing us things that are beyond our ability to express. The difficulty is in maintaining that attitude, because our human nature is so quick to run off on its own. We tend to fail to ask what we need to know, and demand answers for things we don’t need to know. Spiritual maturity comes with asking God what to ask! Our motive should be serving God more effectively, obeying Him more completely, having more intimate fellowship with Him. When that is the case, He indeed opens His heart to us.

This is something I have been slow to grasp and even slower to put into practice. I have a strong tendency to depend on my intellect and not even bother to ask God, ignoring the fact that my intellect can’t grasp God’s truth without His help. I’ll never forget the time I was asking God to speak to me, being so nonstop about it that He finally said, very clearly, “Then shut up.” I wasn’t focused on listening to Him, I was focused on my asking. As dramatic as that experience was, often I still don’t get quiet enough before Him to really hear what He is saying. As Elijah found, He often speaks in a still, small voice and we have to be quiet to listen. We have to believe and trust that He wants to speak to us and guide us far more than we really want to listen and be guided. God doesn’t mind when we ask for confirmation that we have heard Him correctly, and given our noisy minds and hearts, that’s often a good idea. However, we have to start with a disciple’s attitude that the Master is always right, and not try to put our words in His mouth.

Father sometimes when You have spoken through me I’ve won­dered if it wasn’t my own imagination. Thank You for Your faithfulness to confirm Your Word. Help me be faithful to speak as You direct, not in presumption or pride but in all humility and love. I ask for hearing ears for me and for my listeners, that we may all hear You accurately and with great joy, to do Your will for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!