[Guest: Tracie Heskett] Quiet, Please

Welcome back to Tracie Heskett who brings a gentle reminder to listen to what God may be saying to us. 

“You have wearied the Lord with your words.”
Malachi 2:17

How many times have we been wearied by someone’s many words? Perhaps you’re not much for small talk and you’d like for the other person to get to the point so you can hear and understand their meaning. Or, we might enjoy spending time with a friend, but sometimes we can’t seem to get a word in edgewise; we’d like to have our thoughts heard instead of listening all the time.

Photo by Tracie Heskett

The Bible tells us we are created in God’s image. I wonder how often God feels this way about His conversations with us. Do we ramble in our prayers, thinking we “will be heard because of [our] many words” (Matthew 6:7)? Jesus reassures us God knows and understands our needs. Do we do all the talking and fail to take time to be silent to listen for God’s responses to our questions and requests?

Malachi, an Old Testament prophet, records a hypothetical conversation God has with His people. The dialogue takes the form of question and answer, as in a courtroom scene. God asks probing, thought-provoking questions that would cause readers in any era to stop and think.

Recently I attended a writing conference. One evening, I sat at a dinner table with an agent I try to touch base with every year. Once again, I asked her what she is looking for in manuscript submissions. She said she wants something that makes her stop and think. (Funny, I’m not sure she would agree to read a proposal for my current work-in-progress, a nonfiction book on principles from the book of Malachi.)

Photo by Tracie Heskett

But God’s Words are much greater than our words. At the same conference, I had the privilege of meeting in person an author I had previously met only online. And I’ve ordered her book, A Listening Heart,1 to keep me company on my journey to learn to listen to God. One of these days I’m going to write my own book—after I’ve explored this vital aspect of my relationship with God: learning to hear His voice and listen to what He has to say.

“How have we wearied Him?” the people in this hypothetical conversation ask. Malachi explains they have expressed doubt in God’s holy and righteous character. Throughout Scripture God says, “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10, emphasis mine). The phrase “then you will know that I am the Lord” is used 56 times in the book of Ezekiel. Is there any doubt God wants us to learn to know Him? We cannot get to know another person if we never stop to listen to what he has to say!

I find myself guilty of this very thing, as I write a prayer to God every morning. I know I need more time in His Word, to hear what He has to say. Yet His Spirit comforts and reassures me with these snippets I hear as I go about my day, phrases that bring His Word to life in my soul.

“Your word is a lamp to my feet,
and a light for my path.”
Psalm 119:105

1. Morrow, Judy Gordon. A Listening Heart. Bethany House. 2013.