LISTENING TO THE INNER VOICE

Listening To The Inner Voice

WHY LISTEN?

Since God gave man two ears and one mouth, he might as well listen twice as much as he speaks.

Listen to whom?
To What?
To others and also to the Inner Voice.


Everyone wants to see the other person change.
Every group wants to see the other group change.
Every nation wants to see the other nation change.
But each waits for the other to begin, not realizing that
“when I point my finger at my neighbour, three more fingers point back at me.”
Change occurs when we begin with ourselves

HOW TO LISTEN

Be silent. Great ideas have their origin in silence. Be expectant but not demanding. Be prayerful. Seek the Inner voice.

Write the thought down (otherwise you may forget it). Not every thought will be from the inner voice. Your inclinations may attempt to get in the way. But your quest for the inner voice will banish the distractions.

Also, you can test the thought you receive against absolute moral standards. If the thought is in keeping with absolute honesty, absolute purity, absolute unselfishness and absolute love, then it probably is from the Inner Voice.

“Not what I want but what God wants.” Is this your decision?
“Not who is right but what is right.” Is this your search?
If the answers are yes, the inner voice will definitely guide you.

Give the Inner Voice a subject like:
- the choice you face today
- a deed done yesterday
- your future
- your past
- a strained relationship, etc…


WHEN TO LISTEN……

You may get thoughts of correction or thoughts of direction.
If you are like everyone else in the world, you will probably be told to put some wrong right : to return something (a book maybe, or money), or to apologize to someone (for something you may have said or done, or perhaps because you have left something unsaid or undone).
Gains from restitution :
- You feel lighter.
- You trigger something in the person towards whom you make amends.

Don’t neglect thoughts of “minor” restitution. Big doors swing on small hinges.

Be patient. Results are bound to come sooner or later.

THE inner Voice may direct you to :
- Reach out
To reach out to someone across a gulf, has been the prompting of the Inner voice, to many a person. The gulf can be of hatred or prejudice or perhaps worst of all, indifference.
- STEP into another’s shoes :
In a time of quiet listening a guerilla fighter in India’s northeast had this thought: “I have been too sensitive to how others have treated me and forgotten how much I have hurt others.”

- Take a stand :
Fear turns us into sheep. In order to be one of the crowd, we copy in exams, travel without tickets, try a drug or run down another group.
The inner voice inspires us to say no when we should. In obedience to it ordinary persons have arrested a destructive current and even reversed it.

TWO TIPS :

- Share your thoughts with someone you trust – your mother or father, sister or brother or a good friend. This practice will prod you to implement the thoughts. Secondly, the person with whom you share your thoughts may become your fellow-fighter for a new world.
-Persevere . Make listening a regular habit. If at times you feel that the Inner Voice has gone silent, check whether you have obeyed its commands. Obeying the Inner Voice, you are under new management. You take a breeze wherever you go.