To make some overall points about the seven churches Jesus addressed in Revelation, I began last week to address one of the most important factors in a successful life or church: the ability to listen to, and truly hear, what others are saying to us—especially the Lord. One of the most common statements the Lord made to His followers was, “He who has ears, let him hear.”

      He said to His disciples concerning the multitudes, “While seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand” (see Matthew 13:13). Are we like this, hearing the sound of His voice but not really understanding what He’s saying? If we don’t understand, we are very unlikely to be doing what He said, which is disobedience to the King.

      Learning to hear and then heed the instructions we are given may be the most critical ability we can develop to navigate through these times. Years ago, I was shown in a dream a warhorse. It was so attuned to its rider that, in all the clamor and chaos of battle, it could sense a gentle nudge from the rider’s knees directing it to turn to the right or left. In the dream, I was told that in the days to come it will be life or death for us to be as sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s impressions as that horse was to its rider, especially in the great chaos of these times.

      Some of our missionaries have already experienced this. After the Haiti earthquake, they had to be led by the Spirit whether to go down a street or not, as gangs awaited them if they went down the wrong ones. Our missionary director at the time was in touch with a large number of pastors in Haiti who had knowledge of their neighborhoods and had mapped out the dangerous areas. The U.S. military that had been sent to help with relief was soon contacting us to learn the best routes to take!

      Please bear with me while I dwell on this point for a bit. If we do not get this, the rest of the knowledge we get from studying Revelation will not do us much good. We can know what is about to unfold in our world, but if we are not able to hear the Lord and to be in His will, we can be in great jeopardy.

      Even now, the only really safe place to be is in God’s will. I would rather know His voice and be abiding in Him than to know how all things in prophecy will unfold. We may think that if we have prophetic knowledge, we will have the wisdom to figure out where we should be. However, if we follow that reasoning, we are going to find out the hard way that is not true.

      Last week, I addressed the experience I had with President Donald Trump’s son Eric and his staff at Trump Tower. Since that day, I have stayed in a Trump Hotel and visited a Trump golf course, and I found the same attitude and culture at them that I did in his office. When I spoke to any employee, they would listen as if I was their boss. They were so respectful and engaging, I began to think of how people would likely flock to any church that had such a great atmosphere.

      Didn’t the Lord say He would consider how we treated even the least of His people as the way we treated Him? Doesn’t that mean that He considers the way we listen to even the least of His people as the way we listen to Him?

      If only we could find such joy and life in the average church service as I did at Trump’s office. Perhaps we could if we listened to the preacher with the focus that every servant of the Lord deserves. If we focus on the message and everything else—such as worship—which is done to help us focus upon Him, we will start to hear the Lord more in these services than we have before. That life and light will energize us. Jesus said, “the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life” (see John 6:63). If we are hearing Him, we will be energized by His words. To hear Him, we must listen, and a major part of listening is focus.