The Power of Good Communication
1/23/05
I do a fair amount of marriage counseling. Most professionals agree that
between 80-90% of all marriage problems are a result of poor communication.
That’s interesting because poor communication
with the Living God is also the greatest down fall of Christians!
Most communication problems are not from the inability to talk--but the
inability to listen!
Someone has rightly said “the less people think; the more they talk.”
A gossip is one who talks to you about other people. A bore is one who talks
to you about himself. And a brilliant conversationalist is one who talks to you
about yourself.
An attractive woman was taken to dinner one night by William E. Gladstone,
the distinguished British statesman. The next evening she attended a dinner
where she sat next to Benjamin Disraeli, his equally distinguished opponent.
Someone later asked her opinion of the two men, she replied thoughtfully:
"When I left the dining room after sitting with Mr. Gladstone, I thought
he was the cleverest man in England. But after sitting next to Mr. Disraeli, I
thought I was the cleverest woman in England."
The art of communication consists of knowing how to listen and thinking before
speaking!
Ja. 1:19 My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to
listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 for man’s anger
does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.
Being a good communicator is a skill you
learn, not something you are born with!
Practice these simple rules and your communication with anyone will be
dramatically changed...
Don’t dominate the conversation.
Don’t cut off the other person.
Don’t be thinking of what to say until you
listened to what the other person has to say.
None verbal communication is just as powerful as
verbal communication.
Eye contact when speaking and listening.
Guard jesters of frustration, disagreement and
impatience. (Looking at your watch).
Pr. 18:13 He who answers before listening—that is his folly and his shame.
Pr. 13:3 He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly
will come to ruin.
Pr. 29:20 Do you see a man who speaks in haste? There is more hope for a
fool than for him.
Pr. 15:28 The heart of the righteous weighs its answers, but the mouth of
the wicked gushes evil.
1 Pet. 3:7 Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your
wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you
of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.
The activities we do for God are secondary.
Above all else, God is looking for people who long for communication with him.
Ec. 5:1 Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen
rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do
wrong. 2 Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your
heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so
let your words be few.
What does it take to have good on going
communication with the Living God?
It starts with humility and repentance.
Is. 59:1 Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear
too dull to hear. 2 But your iniquities have separated you
from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will
not hear.
You have to have new ears and new eyes and a
new heart.
Ez. 36:26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove
from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I
will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to
keep my laws.
Without the Holy Spirit living in us it’s
impossible to communicate with God!
1 Cor. 2:6 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but
not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to
nothing. 7 No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has
been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8
None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not
have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 However, as it is written: “No
eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for
those who love him”— 10 but God has revealed it to us by his
Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11
For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within
him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
12 We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who
is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13
This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words
taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. 14
The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the
Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot
understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The
spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject
to any man’s judgment: 16 “For who has known the mind of the Lord
that he may instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
It’s serious business being able to hear God!
Rev. 2:7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the
churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of
life, which is in the paradise of God.
Rev. 2:11 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the
churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.
Rev. 2:17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the
churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will
also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him
who receives it.
Rev. 2:29 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the
churches.
Rev. 3:6 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the
churches.
Rev. 3:13 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the
churches.
Rev. 3:22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the
churches.”
Rev. 13:9 He who has an ear, let him hear. 10 If anyone is to go
into captivity, into captivity he will go. If anyone is to be killed with the
sword, with the sword he will be killed. This calls for patient endurance and
faithfulness on the part of the saints.
All of our communication with the Living God
is through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior!
Heb. 1:1 In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at
many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has
spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom
he made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and
the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful
word.
You must be devoted to the Word of God and
prayer if you desire to have communication with the Living God!