Listen Up
Lyrics
VERSE 1
I listen though not sure what for
I know You can speak and I long for Your voice
The answers can come in a number of ways
So I give You this space come and speak here today
PRE-CHORUS
Listen up
Incline your ears
To His voice
For He is here
He fights for you
He knows your name
I have no doubt, for when I
Called He came
CHORUS
You could speak through wind
You could speak through earthquakes
You could speak through the fire and shout through the flames
Yet You speak through the whisper that’s how Your voice came
On this mountain You speak in mysterious ways
VERSE 2
I know now that is Your voice
It called through the night raised the dead silenced storms
It spoke us to life and formed earth sky and sea
So now as I pray I’ll have faith I’ll believe
PRE-CHORUS 2
I’ll Listen up
Incline my ears
To hear His voice
For He is here
He fights for me
He knows my name
For love like His
Won’t ever separate,
BRIDGE
Here I am
You called me
Speak Lord your servant is listening
To hear all
You will say
For Your words will not pass away
Dive Deeper
Imagine yourself sitting in a crowded room. Hundreds of people surround you and these people are all chatting with their neighbors. The roar of their conversations reaches a volume so loud that you can’t hear the person sitting right in front of you.
Most of us have been in this frustrating situation before, and the truth is that most of us are in this situation right now. While you may not be physically surrounded and overwhelmed by the voices of others, the world is filling our ears and minds with so much noise. Chances are that you are reading these words on your phone or computer that also feed you the nation’s latest news, most updated drama, or desperate advertisements. With every notification, the volume of this worldly noise rises and it becomes increasingly difficult to hear anything quieter than a mighty shout.
In a culture that is fast-paced and loud, it can be unnatural and uncomfortable to slow down our rhythms and silence our hearts. Although quieting our minds may be a challenge for many of us, it is crucial if we want to spend time listening to God. I’m sure everyone on this planet would love to hear from God, but few of us choose to take the time to listen to Him. Even though most of us have a great desire to hear from God, God wants to speak to us more than we want to hear from Him. Because God wants us to hear from Him, He will speak when we seek His voice. While we may not hear an audible voice from God, He will surely speak to us when we read His Word and silence our hearts before Him.
1 Kings 19:11-13
The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
In this passage, the voice of the Lord was not revealed in the wind, earthquake, or fire. It was revealed in a gentle whisper. Even though God is more powerful than we could ever imagine, He often chooses to speak to His people in whispers. This means that we often have to quiet ourselves to hear from God.
There’s a story in Scripture where a young man named Samuel heard the voice of God call on him three times. Even though Samuel heard his name being called, Samuel did not recognize it as the Lord’s voice because Samuel did not know the Lord.
If we want to recognize the voice of God in our own lives, we need to take the time to pursue a relationship with God. No one could recognize a stranger’s voice in a sea of people, but if we deeply know a friend, we can pick out their voice with ease and confidence. One of the best ways to pursue the Lord is to read the Words He’s already spoken to us. When we meditate on Scripture, God’s Words are written on our hearts and will guide us as we go through this life.
When we approach God and believe that the Lord is speaking to us, we need to have a humble and surrendered attitude and response. It can be easy to speak or respond to God with our own agenda, but God’s plan will always be greater than our own. The next time you pray or ask God to speak to you, pray the words of this song that are inspired from 1 Samuel 3.
Here I am You called me
Speak Lord your servant, is listening
To hear all You will say
For your words will not pass away
Questions for Reflection
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How can you remove the world’s noise from your life and sit quietly before the Lord? Are there unnecessary sources of noise that you can eliminate or are there times in your day that you can spend in silence?
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What are some ways you can pursue God to get to know Him better? How can you prioritize spending time in His Word?
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Pray through the lyrics listed above before reading a passage of scripture. Try reading Psalm 66 or Psalm 116. Pray through the lyrics again and spend some time in silence. How do you sense God speaking to you or what did you sense Him say?
