Does Your Heart Hear?

Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: 

"Hearing you will hear and shall not understand,
 and seeing you will see and not perceive;
 for the hearts of this people have grown dull.
 Their ears are hard of hearing,
 and their eyes they have closed,
 lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
 lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
 so that I should heal them."

But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

—Matthew 13:13-17


In these verses, Jesus is referring to those who are unable to understand spiritual truth. Proverbs 4:20 says, “My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings.”  Spiritual truths can only be understood if we “incline” our ears to God’s Word. The disciples didn’t understand about the miracle of the loaves when the five-thousand were fed because their hearts were hardened (Mark 6:52). What have we missed from the Lord because we were insensitive to it? If we fail to meditate upon spiritual truths, we will become spiritually dull of hearing or hardened to them.

Have you ever experienced a spiritual revelation in your heart, only to be surprised when other believers seem to miss it? Unfortunately, many believers are spiritually deaf. Even when spiritual truths are conveyed to them, those truths fail to be heard in their hearts.

Those who fail to spiritually understand God’s truth can’t understand it when it’s presented to them. As a result of their ignorance, they become resistant to it. A spiritual “dullness” keeps their hearts and minds from hearing God. The things of God become foolish to them (1 Corinthians 2:14).

“For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed” (Matthew 13:15).

I once had a limited hunger for God. My mind and heart had grown dull. The Word had taken too many years to penetrate my heart. Now I have an insatiable hunger to hear from the Lord—to know what He wishes to reveal to my heart. 

God’s Word sets us free, but many are living in bondage, ignorance, brokenness, and fear. They aren’t truly hearing the gospel with their hearts. I don’t want a dull mind and heart. I never want to return to ignorance and fear. I never want to let the revelation of His truth out of my sight. I’ll guard it deeply in my heart because, in finding it, it has become life to me (Proverbs 4:21-23).

“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded” (James 4:8).

A spiritual lack of hearing isn’t just a heart issue; it’s a sin issue. If we will draw near to God with a sincere heart, He will draw near to us. If we aren’t hearing God spiritually, it’s because of an impure or mixed heart. An impure heart doesn’t know what it believes because it’s not fixated on the truth. What it believes changes with circumstances. One moment it believes truth, and at another moment it doubts. James says an unstable man is double-minded in all his ways—that he should expect to receive nothing from the Lord (James 1:7-8).

God has created us to know Him—to be one-minded with Him. But some just never hear Him. Although God has persistently spoken to them through the Word and His servants, they have become dull of hearing (Jeremiah.25:4), fixated on their circumstances, and double-minded in all their ways.

Our hearts determine how we hear. Seeking God is how we hear Him speaking in our hearts. “You will seek me and find me,” God says, “when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).

Even though we are born again, we can still hold onto opposing beliefs in our hearts, and that indecisiveness can steal our capacity to hear God and be set free. It’s when we hear spiritual truth in our hearts that it begins to manifest in our lives. 

Your complete restoration of spirit, soul, and body is through Jesus’ atonement, but you must incline your hearts to hear Him. Are your ears blessed in hearing Him (Matthew 13:16)?  Keep seeking the Lord with a sincere, undivided heart, and you will hear the Holy Spirit revealing truth that transforms you.

“He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Matthew 11:15).