1Kings 3:9 (Amplified) says, "So give Your servant an understanding mind and a hearing heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and bad. For who is able to judge and rule this Your great people."
King Solomon was considered the wisest king in all of Israel. He was the one who wrote most of Proverbs and was the richest man in all of history. Having a hearing heart was responsible for his great success. As long as his heart was a "hearing heart," everything that he did brought him great success.
When Solomon's heart grew dull of hearing, he lost what he'd received from God. He stopped hearing the instructions from the Lord and began leaning on his own understanding. He took himself wives of other countries and brought their gods into Israel with them. As they began worshiping other things and other gods, things grew worse for Solomon.
Many of us today started out with hearing hearts. We had such a desire to walk with God that we began searching for God and wisdom like after gold and silver. It was like searching for gold and silver for us. It was a labor of love searching for the wisdom of God. Proverbs 3:16 (Amplified) says that, "Length of days is in her right hand (wisdom) and in her left hand are riches and honor." Over the years, many have turned to one hand or the other. If we walked straight into Jesus, then we would have had both length of days and riches.
Hebrews 3:14 (Amplified) says, "For we have become fellows with Christ (the Messiah) and share in all He has for us, if only we hold our first newborn confidence and original assured expectation (in virtue of which we are believers) firm and unshaken to he end." We also read in Hebrews 5:11 (Amplified) a writing concerning Jesus' office of High Priest and His perfection of our Salvation, saying, "Concerning this we have much to say which is hard to explain, since you have become dull in your (spiritual) hearing and sluggish (even slothful in achieving spiritual insight)." It also says that "When they should be mature and teaching others, they actually had need that someone teach them over again the first principles of the Word over again."
A hearing heart is one that will always listen to the Holy Spirit, a heart that stays in love with God's Word, a heart that's always seeking to know the Father better and more intimately. I've known several brothers and sisters in the Lord who have fallen into this trap.
Do you recall when you first received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other tongues? You could hardly wait to get alone with God and speak to and praise Him. A man with a hearing heart will always move in his prayer language because this is his wisdom and hearing. 1Corinthians 14:2 (Amplified) tells us, "For one who speaks in an (unknown) tongue speaks not to men but to God, for no one understands or catches his meaning, because in the (Holy) Spirit he utters secret truths and hidden things (not obvious to understanding)." Many people have asked me throughout the years, how do you know what you're saying and why would you need to speak in tongues, anyway? Well, the first part of 1Corinthians 14:4 (Amplified) sums it up fairly nicely, saying, "He who speaks in a (strange, unknown) tongue edifies and improves himself."
When you have a hearing heart and want to learn the hidden things of God, you pray in the Spirit. Why would you pray in tongues? Because your own vocabulary is limited to your intellect, but your spirit is eternal and connected to God. You can only pray as high as your intellect will go, but the Holy Spirit (Who is the teacher of the church), knows all things. Jude 1:20 (Amplified) says, "But you, beloved, build yourselves up (founded) on your most holy faith (make progress rise like an edifice higher and higher) praying in the Holy Spirit."
Romans 8:26-7 (Amplified) says, "So too the Holy Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplications and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterance." Verse 27 goes on, "And He who searches the hearts of men knows what is in the mind of the (Holy) Spirit intercedes and please (before God) on behalf of the saints according to and in harmony with God's will."
A man with a hearing heart, is a man who will always press on to know Him more and more. Sometimes, we get to a place where the fire dies out and religion takes over. We're always hearing about those people who burn out. This occurs when we try to do the things of God in our own strength. When we let the Holy Spirit teach and guide us, then our walk is easy and His burden is light. God can show you more things by praying in a single hour of praying in tongues than we can find on discover on our own in a year.
Have you found yourself not praying in the Spirit like you used to? Or, have you found yourself not walking where you used to walk? These can be the signs of many things, none of which mean you're no longer saved. These are signs of a person who has gotten weary over time. Even Jesus needed time alone with the Father. Even He had a hearing heart. Jesus said, "I only do what the Father tells Me to do." This takes a hearing heart.
I use my car or tractor (when I'm out in the field) as my place of prayer. When I'm driving to town or driving to visitations, I can pray in the spirit without interruptions. While I'm out bailing hay, my tractor becomes my own prayer closet. A hearing heart will keep you from accidents and all kinds of troubles. Psalm 23 says, "The Lord is my Shepherd" and "He leads me..." A hearing heart will hear the Shepherd's voice and avoid the pitfalls of the enemy.
Hebrews 3:10 (Amplified) speaks about theose Jesus brought out of bondage and those who had witnessed His miracles and wonders, saying, "And so I was provoked and (displeased and sorely grieved) with that generation, and said, They do always err and are led astray in their hearts, and they have not perceived or recognized My ways and become progressively better and more experimentally and intimately acquainted with them."
The quit hearing and learning His heart. God wanted them to become more progressively and intimately acquainted with His Word and ways. It wasn't because He was keeping things from them, they just reached a place where they quit hearing the things God wanted them to know. God isn't holding out on us. He sent the Holy Spirit to show us all things and to reveal all things to us; that's His job. Sometimes, we get dull of hearing and disinterested in seeking after awhile.
This isn't to put you in bondage, but to set you free in His Joy like you were when you first were saved. Remember how exciting it was when God showed you something back then? Remember the presence of the Holy Spirit when you got off by yourself and worshiped Him? Remember the gentle guidance of the Shepherd's voice and the way your heart would melt before Him in simple worship? Romans 10:17 says, "Faith comes by hearing!" and not faith comes by heard. It's a continual hearing and learning in Him.
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