“Are you there? Can you hear me?! Can you hear me now?” How many times have you held your phone to your ear and asked — okay, shouted, “Can you hear me?” Then, you shift positions; you move to a window, put the phone up to the other ear, speak even louder, “Can you hear me now?”

If you’re like me, you’ve done that too many times to count! In fact, so many of us have had this happen that Verizon Wireless featured an actor uttering those very words over and over in their famous cell phone commercials. Remember that?

It’s frustrating to know you aren’t being heard when you speak, isn’t it? It drives me crazy when I’m talking to my husband just to hear him say, “Oh, what did you say?” Ugh. But, we are all guilty of that sometimes and it has nothing to do with phone reception. Lots of us hear but don’t listen, and the person trying to get our attention is silently asking, “Can you hear me, can you hear me now?”

Yes, it is just downright frustrating when you know someone can hear your voice, yet they just aren’t listening. But even worse than feeling frustrated is feeling distant or alone.

That is how I feel when I can’t hear or don’t really listen to God. I can feel distant from Him. I feel alone. But, I am not the one asking, “Can you hear me, can you hear me now?” God is. He is calling to me through His Word and I am not tuned in.

How about you? Do you think God is ever calling to you, “Can you hear me, can you hear me now?”

God is constantly calling out to us. We can hear His voice through His Word, but we don’t always listen to what He is saying to us.

Wouldn’t you like to hear, I mean really hear, what God is saying? You can. I can. It comes from learning to listen to what you hear Him say. It’s not really hard or intimidating to hear God. You don’t need a spiritual bandwidth to download His voice! You don’t need a seminary degree or clerical collar. You just need one verse.

You can hear God’s voice through just one verse.

A few years ago, I was in a really stressful time waiting for final results after my lumpectomy. I was desperate to hear God’s voice. I couldn’t conjure up big fancy prayers. I couldn’t really even think clearly! So, I found one verse. I kept it on my phone and read it all day long. I memorized it, I meditated on it. I constantly quoted Jesus words, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5)

That Scripture became God’s voice to me.

I didn’t just hear it as a Bible verse; I listened to it as if my Father God was whispering it in my ear. “I will never leave you or forsake you even if you need chemo. I will never leave you or forsake you even if the doctors didn’t get it all. I will never leave you or forsake you — absolutely never no matter what!” I constantly heard in my head and felt it in my heart. (And, by the way, the doctor’s did get it all and I didn’t need chemo.)

Today you can listen to God by finding one Scripture and let it be God’s voice to you. Sister, you don’t need a whole chapter and you don’t need a commentary on that one verse. Just find one verse, jot it down and read it over and over, all day long. Think about it when you aren’t reading it. Try to memorize it. Meditate on it. Really listen to what He is saying to you through that verse.

It’s hard to hear just one voice calling out in a loud crowded room and that is often how we try to hear God. We try to hear Him above all the clutter of our lives and He ends up sounding more like Charlie Brown’s teacher…wah, wah, wah.

But, when you pick one verse a day to be His voice, you can hear Him more clearly. You feel Him more closely. Let the one verse you choose sink deeply in your heart and listen to what His Holy Spirit is telling you. Ask Him to speak to you through His Word. He will my friend, I know for certain, He will.

How do you listen to God? In the comments below, share a verse that you use to listen to Him.