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In Ecclesiastes chapter 5, the preacher discourages us from rushing to speak whenever we appear before the Lord, but rather to come prepared to listen - seeking for wisdom and guidance in whatever is at stake.
You see, we are good at rushing into God's presence with many words about our problems and issues, even before saying hullo to Him - before worshipping Him - and as a result, we end up making vows that we are not even ready to keep. The preacher calls such utterances - " sacrifice of fools"
Coming to God ready to listen doesn’t mean that we are not to present our troubles or needs to Him. Of course, He wants us to do this but not rashly. The Hebrew word for listen, shama, literally means "to hear," and is often employed to convey obedience - to obey as seen in Deut 26:17. We cannot obey what we have not heard.
For every situation, there is an instruction from God - and to solve it therefore, we need to hear the instruction so we can obey it. Obedience then will see us through every situation we face - remember as the prophet Samuel put it, "… to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams" ( 1 Sam. 15:22)
Therefore, God wants us to approach Him with an ear to hear all the instructions from His mouth so that we can succeed His way and not own. That is why we need to schedule some daily quiet time with God, a time where we are doing less of the talking and He more of the listening. We need to hush all the noises in our heads and hearts that emanate from raucous sounds of the hustle and bustle around us which incessantly bombard our inner ears. Their aim is for us to miss the guidance of the Lord.
Let this be your prayer today - Dear Lord, teach me how to wait in silence. Let me hear you speaking to my heart, let me get used to your voice so that I can decipher your wisdom and guidance and will in my situation. Amen