Isaiah 6:9 - Hearing First
Step 1: Pray. Select.
Today’s prayer time started early morning as I watched the sun come up.
It is winter time in Indio. The weather this morning reminds me of Los Angeles which I moved from this past March. It is slightly dewey with the warmth of the sun peaking through the trees and wooden fence in my backyard. I decided to step outside on my patio where I can hear the birds for inspiration and feel closer to God by removing the confines of a roof or walls, which so graciously protect me and my family while we slept peacefully last night.
As I open the sliding glass door, there is only one noise I hear, which is probably not what you would expect. It is the sound of a train horn as it passes by running over the tracks. My husband and I notice we hear these sounds more prominently in the evening or mornings, even though it is said that the trains run every twenty minutes or so. The funny thing is we don’t live very close to the train tracks. We live about one mile away, however, it sounds as if the train is running on the street right behind our backyard. This might annoy some people, however, I have always enjoyed this sound and find it quite nostalgic and soothing.
As I sat down I wrote the word “train”. I started to look up scripture with “train” just to see what would come up.
As I scrolled through most scriptures with the word “train” referred to training something or someone for a purpose, etc. However, as I read through my options, I didn’t feel like I had quite found what Holy Spirit was gently trying to point out to me.
Then I came across one of my favorite scriptures, Isaiah 6:1 - In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne: and the train of his robe filled the temple. I had read this scripture previously years ago, and today Holy Spirit was pulling me in to revisit the image in my mind of how majestic God’s train would have to be to fill an entire temple. I now knew the train I heard passing by miles away, was just another way God was calling me in to trigger me to think about God’s actual train, not a transportation vehicle.
My heart leaped as Holy Spirit nudged me to read further. I read deeper into Chapter 6 and finally came upon Isaiah 6:9 where I felt I should stop and ponder on this particular verse, since it seemed to be calling to me in this moment.
I decided to dive in!
Step 2: Write. Read. Circle
Isaiah 6:9 - Be ever hearing, but never understanding, be ever seeing, but never perceiving.
After reading the scripture three times, the following words stood out:
Be Hearing
But, never perceiving
Step 3: Re-Write
Adding my name to the front and with a focus on the words that stood out, here is the sentence I came up with for today:
Jennifer, be hearing, but never perceiving.
This seemed so confusing when I wrote it. Trusting the process, I leaned back to get comfortable and let the Holy Spirit show me what He wanted.
Step 4: Visualize
As I closed my eyes, I sat alone in the quiet of the morning listening to the birds that now trumped the sound of the train which now moved many miles away. I also began to pay close attention to the trees and the noises there branches and leaves made. The longer I sat the birds grew louder and louder celebrating the rising of a new dawn, but something even more distinct than the birds began to shine through. It was the sound of the wind.
As I focused on the rustling of the trees as the wind tossed the branches and leaves to and fro, I noticed if I remained completely still and concentrated on how the sound moved directionally through the tree branches, I could identify which way the wind was traveling. I did not notice this before.
I began to think about how much I rely on my eyes to direct me, versus my ears which might be able to reveal more than what I am capable of seeing.
I opened my eyes for a brief moment to confirm what I was hearing, when I noticed my dog standing still with his ears perked up to hear any eminent threat outside of our home that might be coming in the distance. Which usually was his arch nemesis, A.K.A. the local stray straggly cat.
Just then, it hit me! When we were created, we were supposed to hear the voice of God first and move in faith that His word is the truth, instead of relying on what we see first then move towards what our physical eyes lust after in the world. If I can close my eyes and focus on his voice, or an object like the trees tossing in the wind, would I be able to pin point God’s location to draw closer to Him? If I am closer to Him, then I would I be able to hear God more clearly on a daily basis. (John 10:27-28 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me)
I started to think about blindness, and how present you have to be to rely on your other senses such as hearing in order to survive. I need to treat my prayer time with the same severity and stop looking at the internet, visuals, or other stimuli to drive my thirst for life, and rely on my ears to hear His voice in order the carry out Gods purpose for my life.
As Holy Spirit continued to bring things to my remembrance, Holy Spirit instructed me to read Genesis Chapters 2 and 3. As I read, I was reminded that God spoke everything into existence and told man what to do once he was created. (“And the Lord God commanded the man. “You are free in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will surely die.” - Genesis 2:16) He told Adam first!
As I read on, I couldn’t help but note what the serpent told Eve, “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” - Genesis 3:5. Right after in Genesis 3:6 it goes onto say, “When the women saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.” First Eve wanted her eyes to be open, and when she saw it was pleasing she fell for the serpents deceit.
Following that, it states in Genesis 3:8-10, “ Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked so I hid.”
Adam ran away from God because that is what sin does. It forces us to hide ourselves and be ashamed of what we look like or makes us feel like others are judging us and we are not good enough, instead of waiting on the Lord and believing what He says about us. We start to measure by the spirit of comparison, instead of seeing the God within everyone. It forces us to operate with our eyes first. Adam listened to his wife as it states in Genesis 3:17, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it.’” Unfortunately, Adam made Eve his idol when the only voice we should focus on is God, our Father, who cares for us and delights in us.
Ok now what?! Then the questions started pouring in for me to ask the Holy Spirit.
Step 5: Ask. Seek
The main question(s) that came to mind were:
How was Adam functioning in the garden before his eyes were opened through sin? I want to know both figuratively and metaphorically?
Step 6: Hear. Write. Receive
I close my eyes again and wait for Holy Spirit to answer.
“Adam had no predators before the snake. He had complete dominion over all the living things. Since he was not hunted, he could wait and listen for God’s voice. Today we see and lust after everything in the world, and are slowly starving ourselves of all the good God is doing which we cannot instantly see. We crave the world more than his words. This is why we have to close our eyes to hear more than see. Notice how people worship or pray, they close their eyes.”
“The devil has been priming us for years to reach our children to look with their eyes instead which has been strengthening their DNA to evolve towards the lust of the eye, and create a divide between hearing the voice of God. We do not walk by faith, but rather make something an idol, or the apple of our eye, and use God like a genie to manifest what we want and then that will prove his existence. The internet is a prime example. While it can be used for good, it is also providing too much knowledge to fast through our eye gates with social media, news, and other data at our fingertips causing anxiety, depression, ADD, ADHD, addiction, etc. since most of the world simply cannot keep up with all the information coming in twenty four seven. The spirit of comparison through knowing too much and thinking we are not enough, is running rampant as we frantically search with our eyes for everything online and without it we are lost, unaccepted, ousted, cast out, unpopular, and the list goes on. The only one who can keep up and will provide for everything you need is your Father.”
“Please turn away from all you see and spend time hearing Him. Go back and listen first for his voice. Don’t look for God in the things of this world. Close your eyes and listen for his voice.”
I couldn’t just leave it at that since this seemed like a lot of knowledge Holy Spirit just dropped on me, so I asked another question: “So what should I do to survive here on earth and reverse the order in which I am currently operating in? Seeing before hearing?”
I waited and just as he promised he delivered an instruction through the example of Jesus.
“Jesus heard people first which allowed Him to see them.”
Step 7: Pray. Confirm
Well, this one was a little tough. “Jesus heard people first which allowed Him to see them.” So I sat and thought about how He was quick to listen and slow to speak.
Finally, I realized what I will ask for my confidants to pray on for me! “Holy Spirit please help me to see people through hearing first.”
Initially I believe this means to hear people before seeing them, allows me to see the God in everyone before creating any preconceived notions about them, which will in turn allow me see everyone in a loving manner and be reminded they are all children of God and are important and deserving of being seen despite any physical appearances, they deserve to be heard. I have no idea what will spark from this, but will be excited to share the good news and a testimony once it arrives.
If you used the scripture of the day and need prayer or someone to pray with you, connect Here. Remember, you are not alone!
Step 8: Share. Testify
Once I have an update, I will report how God used this experience to direct my steps in this blog.
If you workshopped Isaiah 6:9 with us using the 8-Step Prayer Practice, we would love to hear from you in the comments below about what the Holy Spirit showed or spoke to you today.
If you have a miracle or testimony to share, don't forget to spread hope @Miracle Miles. We want to see how God is working in your life!
Conclusion:
I am not sure how listening first verses seeing first will change my life, but I feel confident if it helps me get closer to being in his presence to hear his instruction more, then where can I go wrong!
Don’t forget to share where the Holy Spirit took you with this scripture! I know each one of you will have an amazing story to tell.
God bless you all!
