“ Be Quiet, be Still “

Habakkuk 2:20, “But oh! GOD is in his holy Temple! Quiet everyone a holy silence. Listen!”
In my younger years I used to think that I could fake being a “ Good Listener”, I was more than able to remember and repeat what was said to me ,thinking that I was impressing the person or people that were talking to me. I wasn’t really listening at all, but talking to myself and thinking of this great and wise response that I was going to give them as soon as they paused to take a breath. You see the truth is I often only heard but truly never listened. You see silence was and still is difficult for me, and at times I feel it may have actually hindered my relationship with God. In my prayers, I never shut up, not for a minute. I was always giving God lists of requests and needs. It’s almost as if I was not really talking to a person at all. Have you ever bumped into and old friend, long lost relative and all they did was talk about themselves? I wonder if God ever feels that way around me.
Silence with God and being silent before God are two different things. When we get mad at someone and give them the “silent treatment “it doesn’t mean that we are listening to them, it probably means that we are totally blocking them out.
We read that Habakkuk cried out to God about how evil the Jewish people were being and that God didn’t seem to be listening or do anything about it. When God didn’t seem to take any action on his first complaint Habakkuk quickly began his second complaint. Why,, Because Habakkuk wasn’t really listening. I think Habakkuk was already working on his next response while God was trying to talk to him. Habakkuk had assumed that he knew what God was going to say and so he began working on his next words.
as soon as God takes a breath, Habakkuk decides to speak again. After God’s second response, we see Habakkuk’s actions are a little different.
We see in chapter three that Habakkuk’s attitude begins to change,,,, why? Well the answer is given to him in the scripture, Silence and stillness.
I present this question to you then, how can we expect God to speak to us, when we can’t be quiet before Him? In order to hear from the Lord, we must realize what godly silence is.
Its so comforting when God speaks to us isn’t it, well do you ever wonder how God listens to us? And you would agree that when you speak to God you want him to hear every word right? How do we listen to God?
To listen to God I feel you must do it with respect, we need to give him our complete attention stop talking and be quiet before him. We must be willing Listen without bias; you can’t listen with criticism, superiority, indifference or out of obligation.
Have you ever asked yourself this question, what’s the point of praying if God already knows my needs? Well here’s the answer, because He wants us to know that He is interested in us, and we need to listen so we can learn not only what He wants from us but so we can learn more about Him personally.
We need to take time and go to God personally, we need to realize that when we pray we are not just talking to the walls, the sky or the ceiling, we are talking to God and he so wants to hear what you have to say. We must also be willing to be quiet,,, No we need to “ Shut our Mouths” and listen to him. If you want to hear a word from the Lord, well its simple my friends,,, LISTEN !!!

Blessings 