Job 21:1-3  
Then Job spoke again: 
“Listen closely to what I am saying. 
That’s one consolation you can give me. 
Bear with me, and let me speak. 
After I have spoken, you may resume mocking me.” (NLT)

—

One of the greatest gifts you can ever receive, and one of the greatest gifts you can ever give is deep listening. 

Deep listening listens to understand, not to respond. 

Deep listening hears what is said, and what is unsaid, but truly, deeply felt. 

Deep listening listens all the way to the end of what the other person is saying. Good listeners do assume they know what a person is going to say and thereby interrupt them with the conclusion they expect.

Deep listening hears much more than the words spoken. It hears the heartache, the longing for meaning, the desire to be seen, heard, and known.

Deep listening is unhurried. 

Deep listening is willing to wait through vocal pauses and long silences. 

Deep listening uncovers hidden truths. It unlocks bolted doors to rooms shut off from visitation. 

Deep listening is a gift we give, and a grace we receive with gratitude. 

Deep listeners never lack for relationships.

Deep listeners know how to dive into the depths without offense.

Deep listeners know when to gently push, when to calmly pull, and when to stop.

Job teaches us, among other lessons, how God listens deeply, so deeply that he answers the questions we should have asked instead of the questions we did ask. 

Job teaches us how God answers our prayers better than we ask. 

Job teaches us the value of friendship even when our friends misunderstand the depths of our reality and the loneliness of our innocent brokenness. 

Job wanted to be heard more deeply than his friends were willing to listen. God listened. He heard every word. He listened to every complaint. He listened to every accusation. He listened to every longing, every request for help and hope. He listened all the way to the end. 

God spoke only when Job was out of questions and his friends were out of answers. Instead of taking one question at a time and filling in the details, he shifted Job’s perspective. He tilted the playing field. He drew a bigger picture. He graced Job and his friends far beyond any goodness they had contemplated or experienced. 

God listens deeply. 

God speaks with perfect timing with mind-stretching illumination. 

God gives joy greater than any loss our hearts ever know. 

What do you need to say to God today? Do you trust him to answer bigger, broader, and better than you can ask? 

—

I will give and receive the gift of deep listening.

—

Our Father, empower me to listen deeply in every conversation, especially in my heartfelt prayers. Bear with my questions and complaints as gently as you did with Job. Give me perspective bigger than my current worldview. Thank you for reminding us that there is more going on in this world than what we can perceive. Empower us to trust you to see it all, to remedy it all, and to provide greater grace than we knew existed. Amen.