A HEARING HEART
Therefore give to your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people that I may discern between good and evil. 1 Kings 3:9
A discerning heart is a heart that is able to rise above confusion. In this day and time, confusion lurks at every corner: world news, politics, emotions, decisions, and relationships. How in the world can we filter through the uncertainty of life and have a discerning heart? The enemy seeks to confuse us and confound us, but God’s Word says that the enemy is the author of this and God only gives peace. A discerning heart is a heart to hear God and we know from Romans 10:17 that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.
Solomon wanted to be able to govern and distinguish between what is right and what is wrong. Our standard of right and wrong comes from God’s Word only. He has given us every standard we need and desires in us. We do not have to make this up for ourselves as we go along.
God desires that we “heed” and pay careful attention to Him.
Psalm 58:5 reminds me to be like a cobra who is wholly fixed on his “charmer”, not veering to the left or to the right but intently looking on the one who should mesmerize my life because of what he has done for me and his great love.
Solomon, the son of David, King of Israel knew this when he wrote the first proverb:
To know wisdom and instruction, To perceive the words of understanding,
To receive the instruction of wisdom, Justice, judgement, and equity;
To give prudence to the simple, To the young man knowledge and discretion—
A wise man will hear and increase learning,
And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel,
To understand a proverb and an enigma,
The words of the wise and their riddles.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
But fools despise wisdom and instruction.
I love verse seven, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction. It tells me that the proper fixation on Jesus is the beginning of wisdom and paying attention to Him. It produces a “heart of hearing” that wants to obey Him and please Him in my life.
May our ears tingle as we hear, listen, obey and take this discernment to our hearts. Solomon had a right prayer bent towards a “hearing heart.”
How’s your faith right now? Do you need to accept God’s will? Are you questioning what His will is for your life? We urge you to peruse our website further, read our other blogs, or investigate the steps we recommend for getting closer to God. If you need more encouragement, please request our FREE e-Book, Encounters With God Interviews to read more about how people, like you, reached out to Him in prayer and changed their lives forever!
–The above reflection on living a Christian Life was submitted by Ginger Carruth Cooper who resides with her family in Gatlinburg, TN and attends Roaring Fork Baptist Church.
We hope you are ready to begin a new day with Jesus, our Lord and Savior.
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Bible references are taken from the New King James Version (NKJV) unless otherwise stated.