Summary: Growing to love hearing God’s Word is the joy of every disciple of Jesus. Part of your spiritual formation is growing in appreciation for God’s Word through listening to the spoken Word of God.

Introduction

In my last post, I taught on the power of daily practicing the spiritual disciplines of Bible reading and meditation. In this post, I talk about growing through listening to God’s Word regularly.

I have a deep satisfaction and love of God’s Word when I hear it. When I went to Bible College, I already loved God’s word. But while there, I grew to love it so much that I wanted to study it in its original languages of Greek and Hebrew.

When I hear the Bible today, I close my eyes so I can concentrate on listening and giving the due respect God’s Word deserves. Every disciple of Jesus needs to develop a love and respect of His Word because this is how God speaks to us and to His Church. Let’s dive into how to listen to God’s Word and grow in your walk with Jesus.

Enjoying God’s Word Regularly

We live in the greatest age with the most opportunities to listen to the Bible today. From weekly sermons to radio programs to digital audio media, audiobooks, and the internet, there are so many mediums to God’s Word.

None of us has any excuse to not get a minimal daily dose of God’s Word in any of these audio forms. You should be able to listen to God’s Word throughout the week, from the Sunday message to Wednesday night Bible studies to your devotions every morning.

All these opportunities to hear God’s spoken Word should give you a deep appreciation and enjoyment for God’s Word. When you hear a Bible verse, especially the most popular ones, it should give you joy to hear God’s Word.

When I hear even a verse of Scripture, I appreciate that God allows me to listen to Him speak to my heart, encourage me, teach me, and challenge me to walk more deeply with Him. Yes, brother and sister in Christ, we must gain more of an appreciation for God’s willingness to speak to us. Make hearing God’s Word a deep desire of your heart.

Listening through Voice

There are many ways to listen to the Bible. One of the easiest ways for you to listen to His Word is by speaking to yourself during your devotions. Who said you only have two read the text? Why not say it aloud as you read it?

One benefit of speaking the text of Scripture while you read it during the devotions is that you immediately enhance your reading by employing two senses at once. It’s a known fact that the more senses you involve in learning, the more you retain what you have learned.

By speaking (thereby listening) and reading the Scriptures, you have employed two of your five senses. This helps you to remember what you are reading. And we all need to remember Scripture more than anything else we encounter with our eyes or ears.

This simple extra step as part of your daily devotions gives you a head start in remembering God’s Word throughout your day. You hear God speak to you as you read. There is no better, and easier, way to listen to God’s Word daily. And it doesn’t take you any extra effort.

Listening through Media

We all have access to God’s word through audio media, such as radio, podcasts, CDs, tapes, Internet websites, and audiobooks. There are probably other ways to listen to the Bible that I haven’t included in this list.

We have no excuse to not listen to God’s Word throughout our day. Even if you are not paying attention to the Bible as you listen, you are still taking in God’s Word into your heart and soul.

I have a firm belief that our mind and heart take in everything we hear even if we do not intentionally listen to it. I believe this because I regularly do it myself. When I am doing mindless work, I put on audiobooks and music to take in to my spirit godly influence of Christian music and Christian audiobooks.

I know that whether or not I intentionally listen, my mind still tunes in to what I hear. How many of us have listened to music because of the beat or melody, only to discover that we how the music later and think of the words. Or even worse, when we hear secular music in our travels, we know the words after hear it a few times.

Have you ever taken the time to listen to Scripture in song? What a powerful way to remember God’s Word! We should listen for Scripture in song because music has a way of helping us remember God’s Word even faster and with less effort than listening to it over and over.

Listening through Sermons

Another way we hear God’s Word every week is through Sunday messages in church. Not only are we listening to God’s Word being spoken to us, we then hear the expounding upon God’s Word and its meaning and application to our lives.

Pastors spend their week studying the passages they preach on in our Sunday service. They not only speak the Word, but they explain its meaning to us. They give us the easiest way to study the text in depth.

These are studies and expositions of God’s Word made readily available to us with only listening as our ability to grow in God’s Word. Of course, this requires that we seek out biblical preaching and open our ears and hearts to receive from godly men and women who speak into our lives through their preparation and study of God’s Word.

They make it impossible to have an excuse to not take in God’s Word weekly through our hearing of the Bible through their messages. Friends, I know I am biased when listening to preachers and teachers of God’s Word as a preacher myself. But when you hear a sermon, take advantage of the hours of work put into that message and enjoy God’s Word and its exposition. Listen, learn, and apply God’s Word to your life.

Listening through Bible Teaching

One of my favorite ways to listen to God’s Word is through biblical teaching by gifted Bible teachers. As one who loves to teach the Bible to others, I know I learn more when I prepared to teach than any other venue, even personal study for the joy of learning.

So why don’t we avail ourselves of good biblical teaching? When we listen to God’s Word through Bible teaching, it is yet another way for us to apply the text of Scripture to our hearts and lives. Even if we don’t apply it to our lives, we must learn to enjoy hearing what Scripture means in its context so we can apply it to our context.

Just as we have so many options to hear God’s Word audibly, listening to Bible teachers expound Scripture to us, explain what it means, and give us options for applying it to our lives is readily available. We need only seek it out.

Many of us have favorite Bible teachers we learn from easily. We must learn to love solid biblical teaching that follows the Bible. Unfortunately, there are many unbiblical teachings around us. It’s sad to say that most Christian television is not Christian.

So when you hear Bible teaching that engages your mind and touches your heart, listen and bookmark that teacher or subject for further study. Allow your ears to become intentional when you hear exposition of God’s Word.

Take time out of your week to sit under biblical teachers who expend much time and effort to prepare a feast in God’s Word just for you. Let them know you appreciate their efforts and expertise. Feast with your ears, mind, and spirit on biblical teaching of God’s Word.

Growth Challenge

Listen to exposition of God’s Word by your favorite Bible teachers. Pay more attention to your pastor’s weekly message. Find at least one way to listen to Scripture in the background as you do other things.

Look for Scripture in song. However you do it, expose yourself to audible Bible resources and incorporate them into your daily life. Learn to appreciate the many ways we have to hear God’s audible Word.

Up Next

As we continue to discuss the disciplines related to God’s Word, we have seen the growth we gain through listening to the Bible regularly. Next, we will briefly discuss the best Bible version for you.