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Have you been frustrated by the way Jesus taught, using parables to convey the truth to honest seekers while concealing it from the prejudiced and casually curious? Most in our fast-paced culture are. To derive spiritual understanding from Jesus' words, you'll need to slow down and listen up with an attentiveness of both mind and heart. This deeper kind of listening will help you get beneath the surface with others as well.

Mark 4:22-25

1. Do you think Jesus used parables as a kind of code language to keep hostile religious leaders off balance? Or was He primarily challenging sincere seekers to discover the meaning of His words for themselves?
2. Why is a willingness to hear (v. 23) or openness (v. 25) a key prerequisite to understanding?
3. What else besides openness is required?
4. Why would inattentive listening (v. 25) actually erode comprehension?
5. How does attentive listening (v. 24) pave the way to broader understanding?
6. What is interfering with your ability to hear God and others in the manner that Jesus commended?

Ask God for the patience and focus to perceive what He is saying behind the printed words. Ask also for the ability to hear what others are saying beneath the surface sound.

22Everything that is now hidden or secret will eventually be brought to light. 23Anyone who is willing to hear should listen and understand!

24And be sure to pay attention to what you hear. The more you do this, the more you will understand—and even more, besides. 25To those who are open to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But to those who are not listening, even what they have will be taken away from them.

Copyright © 2006 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.

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Prayer for the Week

Lord, help me cultivate inner silence to hear Your voice—and what others are trying to tell me.

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