A Good Listener
Read Time / 2 Minutes
Theme / Wise Living
I wanted to break the boredom of driving the long distance alone, so I scanned the radio channels for something to listen to. For a few minutes, I listened to a pastor preaching. Why did I eventually change the channel? Because he kept telling me to “listen” to what he was saying, and for some reason it annoyed me. We don’t always like to listen – or even being told to listen – but it is an important part of life.
Many of us think we are good listeners, but studies show that we overestimate our ability to listen. Anyone that is a spouse, certainly finds this to be true! Fortunately, there is a good listener: our Heavenly Father. He has both the time and the desire to listen to our prayers. Scripture is replete with people who turned to God in prayer, and God answered. Isaac prayed that his wife Rebekah would conceive, and God gave her twins (Genesis 25). Nehemiah prayed before he asked the King for resources to rebuild Jerusalem, and the King supplied all his needs (Nehemiah 2). David prayed for safety, and God protected him from Saul (Psalm 17). Solomon prayed for wisdom to lead Israel, and God gave him more wisdom than anyone before or after him (1 Kings 3).
Scripture challenges us to “pray about everything” (Philippians 4:6), which should encourage us to also pray about investing. Our prayer about investing should not be for wealth or notoriety, but for wisdom (in James 1:5, God asks us to ask Him for wisdom!). We should pray for wisdom about “what” to invest: what amount should we keep in savings, what amount should we be generous with, and what amount of debt should we pay off first? We should pray for wisdom about “where” to invest: what kind of investments match our values, temperament, and goals? We should pray for wisdom about “how” to invest: should we seek counsel from a financial advisor, listen to radio personalities, or make our own investment decisions?
God is ready to listen to us! Let’s turn to Him in prayer about what, where, and how to invest and wait for Him to respond. And let’s be more willing to listen to our heavenly Father than I was to the preacher on the radio, because there is no better place to stay tuned than to God and His Word.
Doug Hanson, MBA
Wealth Advisor
208.697.3699
doug@christianwm.com
