Make Space for Hearing & Responding

Make Space for Hearing & Responding - Good Soil & Sowing Strategy

• Luke 2:46: Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions.

• Do we wait long enough for people to answer our questions, or do we get nervous and start talking again because we are uncomfortable with silence?

• Questions and listening/silence are effective ways to create space for hearing and response.

• The Temple of God was to be built in silence.  We must also allow for silence so the Presence of God can speak. 

• The first language of the physical world was silence as the Spirit hovered over the waters.  Silence opens you to hearing from Spirit.  Spirit will then express in words.  Words not flowing from silence and Spirit are empty noise. 

• How will we understand any person or God Himself without giving them enough space so we can hear from them? Why is there no transformation in my life? Am I listening to my own voice and reasoning and that of other people instead of the Voice of God’s Spirit?  

• “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63) Change, life, and transformation comes from responding to the voice and presence of the Spirit.  The Spirit is present with God’s Word. 

• If the Word has been proclaimed and heard, will we make a hallowed space for the Spirit to speak?  

• What are Jesus’ first recorded words in the Gospel of John? (A question, "What do you seek?") 

• What does a question create? (a silent space for the response of the other)

• Jesus created a silent, hallowed space, using questions and listening/silence, so that people could choose their own response. 

• Might there have been no change and transformation in my life because I am listening to my own voice and reasoning and that of other people instead of the Voice of God’s Spirit? 

• If the Word has been proclaimed and heard, now we must make a hallowed space for the Spirit to speak and we must not attempt to speak for the Spirit.

Genesis 1:1–3:  In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.

Exodus 14:13–14: And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

1 Kings 6:7: And the temple, when it was being built, was built with stone finished at the quarry, so that no hammer or chisel or any iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built.

1 Kings 19:11-13: And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

Psalm 46:10: Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!

John 1:38-39: “What do you want?” “Rabbi, where are you staying?” “Come and see!”

Habakkuk 2:20: “But the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him.”

• Make Space for Hearing & Responding – instead of stealing the role of the Holy Spirit

• In the beginning before God spoke the first Word, there was a holy silence as the Spirit was hovering over the face of the waters before God spoke. Silence was the necessary sacred space to hear and respond to God’s Word.  

• “The LORD is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him.” It is in this silence that God’s Spirit can be heard and sensed.  

• Jesus created this sacred space for hearing and response by being present with people; turning to them; asking questions; listening in silence; and inviting them into His personal living space. 

• Making space for hearing and responding means that find a silent place, or we find the temple, where we are present to hear and respond.   

• Our bodies are a temple specially built with the purpose to meet, hear, and intersect with God’s Spirit and Presence.  

• We must be intentional to silence other distractions, voices, words, notifications, and thoughts to open the space to hear the voice of the Spirit and to be moved to a response in our body.

• Do we allow God’s Spirit the space to speak or do we people make too much noise? Do I confuse my own voice with the voice of God’s Spirit? 

• The work of the Spirit is to bring life, convict, judge, and reveal truth in the sacred silence. Is my voice or the voice of other men more effective than the voice of God’s Spirit?

• Silence, listening, stories, and questions are effective ways to make temple space for hearing and response. Step 7 especially in 7 Steps – Scripture Storytelling and Dialogue creates an intentional space to listen to the Spirit and respond.  

• Understanding God’s Word is a big step short of responding to it.  

• When we hear the voice of God’s Spirit, we can respond in our bodies.  When we say “Yes Lord,” God’s Word is being written into the soft flesh of our hearts. Responding to God’s Word and Spirit is what I do with my body, keeping or not keeping God’s Word.