How to Properly Hear God’s Word

A summary of Romans 10:17 says, "Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is hearing the Good News about Christ.  You have to listen in before you can trust."

Bottom Line:
Faith comes when you hear and trust the message that illustrates the Good News about Christ.

What this means to me:
God wants to build my faith by hearing from him in his Word.  This starts with the Good News about Christ and what he has done to bring us back into a right relationship with God.  Being in the right frame of mind is what it takes to hear God’s word.  For me my heart has to be prepared in order to get and understand God’s truth.  Its like seed that is put into different types of soil   It will grow differently based upon how the soil was treated.  Soil that has been prepared will yield a much better crop.  So for me, If I’m not in the right sense of mind then I’ll likely not hear or understand.  In order to be prepared, I must be:

• Quiet, I can’t be distracted by other things (concerns, worries, commitments, etc..)
• Calm, I can’t rush into it.. I must be still and know that he is God.
• Clean, rid myself of emotional and spiritual garbage by getting clear of the things that stink in my life (confessing and agreeing what I did was wrong before him)
• Humble and ready to do whatever God tells me from his Word.  Any pride on my part will stifle any forward progress.

So daily I need to prepare myself to get into God’s word.  I must not forget this or short change this process.