| Matthew 6:7-8 7 Pray, but do not babble repetitiously as the heathen do, thinking that by their many words they will be heard.[Do not be rash with your mouth, and do not let your heart be hasty to utter anything before God. For God is in heaven, and you are upon the earth; therefore let your words be few. Ecc 5:2] 8 Do not be like them for your Father knows the things you need, even before you ask him. | Zechariah 2:13 13 Be silent, all flesh, before the LORD, for he is raised up out of his holy habitation.1" [When seeking the Lord, waiting in silence is showing your humble respect for him.] | Zephaniah 1:7 7 Be silent in the presence of the Lord GOD,1 for the day of the LORD is at hand; for the LORD has prepared a sacrifice, he has invited his guests. [When you wait on God, how can you hear if you are talking to Him? He knows everything you want, he knows everything you need before you can ask.] | Psalms 46:10,62:1 10 Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. [To be still is to humbly silence your mind so that you can hear the Word of God within your heart speak to you and become aware of His presence.] 1 Truly my soul silently waits upon God; from him comes my salvation.1 [David waited upon God in silence, and so should we. Silence is humble; silence enables us to hear his soft voice. We wait on God to attain salvation. “I have waited for your salvation, O LORD.” Gen 49:18. “Therefore I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.” Mic 7:7. ““Lo! This is our God, we have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice and be glad in his salvation.” Isa 25:9] | Jeremiah 7:23,16:11-12 23 But this I commanded them, saying: 'Listen to and obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people; and walk completely in the ways that I command you, so that it may be well with you.'2 [To hear the Lord we must patiently and persistently listen in humble silence; then we must obey what he commands completely. To obey is to follow the Lord, which all must do in order to be a true disciple. From the Word of the Lord within: "Follow precisely; do not deviate."] 11 Then you shall say to them, 'Because your fathers have forsaken me, says the LORD, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have worshipped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept my law; 12 And you have done worse than your fathers; for behold, every one of you walks after the imagination of his evil heart and mind, and therefore you do not listen to and obey me.1 [Until cleansed by the Lord, every man's heart and mind is full of evil. From the Word of the Lord within: "As many as are at their savior's feet, there are six things I will put in order in front of your eyes: | Isaiah 55:3 3 Incline your ear, and come to me. Hear, and your soul shall live;2 and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies promised to David. [To come to Him, we go directly to Him, by sitting in humble silence as we wait on Him, listening for His voiced commands and teachings. From the Word of the Lord within: "We go to him, and he rains help on us; well does this exercise of God purify those who do. Come to me with the hope of speaking and acting righteously."] | Luke 6:47-49 47 Whoever comes to me, and listens to my spoken words and does [practices, obeys] them, I will show you what he is like.7 [The words that I speak to you are Spirit, and they are life-giving, John 6:63; note, not words read from a book, but words spoken to you from Christ, the Word of God in your heart, to be heard and obeyed. Jesus said that studying the scriptures is not coming to Him. John 5:39-40. To come to Him is to sit in humble silence and wait on Him, as you listen and watch; when you hear Him speak, if you obey Him, you are following Jesus. "Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me..." Mat 11:29. This is the good part, the one thing that is needed: to sit at His feet and listen to His words that he speaks to us, Luke 10:39-42. "All your holy ones are in your power. And they sit at your feet, each receiving your words." Deu 33:3.] 48 He is like a man who built a house, and dug deep and laid the foundation securely built on a rock; and when the flood arose, the torrent beat violently upon that house, but could not shake it because it was founded on a rock. [The man who comes to Him, listens to His spoken words and then obeys what he hears, builds the temple of God, (Christ), in His heart; and when Christ is fully formed through persistence to the end, the day of the Lord comes while he is still alive on the earth, (which is a joyous occasion for the obedient), and his works of obedience survive the fire that all men must go through, which works are then forever to his credit, reputation, and reward.] 49 But the person who hears and does not put my words into practice is like a man who built a house upon the ground without a foundation; against which the torrent struck violently, and immediately it collapsed; and the ruin of that house was great." [But those who hear His anonymous words and fail to obey, for them the day of the Lord at their death, (which comes on all men), is a horrible, frightening experience; all their life's works are burnt up in the fire that all men must go through. The anonymous words of truth they heard, pleading to depart from evil, but which they failed to obey, will judge them in the last day, John 12:48. Because of their disobedience, their earthly life was spent in no benefit to them, and their many shameful acts are their eternal regret. From the Word of the Lord within: "I am the terror to most people. Everyone will be known by what they have done and said."] | Luke 8:18,9:35,11:28 18 Take heed therefore how you hear. For whoever has will be given more; and whoever does not have, from him shall be taken even that which he seems to have." [From the Word of the Lord within: "Only those who want to be clean can hear." You must listen carefully in silence to hear the Lord, and when you hear you must retain the words and obey any commands; the words he speaks to you impart the life of God, John 6:63. You must continue to hear more and obey all heard, or you will lose whatever progress you have made.] 35 And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, "This is my beloved Son. Listen to [believe, and obey] him." [This applies to all of us. We must hear the Lord speak to us and then obey; to obey is to follow. From the Word of the Lord within: "Follow precisely; do not deviate."] 28 But he said, "Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God [within your heart] and keep [practice, obey] it." [This is one of the critical verses to be understood. The Greek for word in this verse is logon <3056> which in English means: 1) of speech; 1a) a word, uttered by a living voice, embodies a conception or idea; 1b) what someone has said. Hearing someone read words from the Bible is not blessed; but when you hear the word of God within your heart speak to you, you are blessed with receiving a small measure of the life of God, (Jesus is the life); for the words Jesus speaks to you impart the life of God to you. John 6:63. From the Word of the Lord within: "Faith is to hear the Word of God and obey. Hear and live; the Spirit gives life with every word heard."] | Ecclesiastes 5:2-3 2 Do not be rash with your mouth, and do not let your heart be hasty to utter anything before God. For God is in heaven, and you are upon the earth; therefore let your words be few.2 3 For a dream comes through the multitude of business; and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words. | |