There was an incident of which we read in Yahuchanan 12 when Y'shua prayed a very short and simple prayer, "Father esteem your Name". It sounds pretty much like the prayer of many people today: "Father, be exalted in my life" or "Father, let me know what your supreme plan for my life is" or "Father, show me your will". What is most noteworthy about this incident in Yahuchanan is that after Y'shua prayed this prayer, an audible voice came from heaven which said: "I have both esteemed it and shall esteem it again." But then we read these amazing words: ,"So the crowd who stood by and heard it were saying there had been thunder. Others said, 'A messenger has spoken to Him.'" It seems that the crowd had difficulty in identifying these words. For some reason or other they 'did not hear properly!

Isn't this a pattern that repeats itself over and over in history? People who, under normal circumstances, can hear without difficulty, failing to hear the words of Yahweh. This is what the prophet YeshaYahu spoke about when he wrote: "Hearing, you hear, but do not understand; and seeing, you see, but do not know." Also the prophet YermeYahu, when he said: "See, their ear is uncircumcised, and they are unable to listen. See, the word of Yahweh is a reproach to them, they do not delight in it." Maybe the prophet Amos identified what the real problem was when he wrote: "The land is not able to endure all his words" (Amos 7: 10). Maybe people don't hear properly because when they hear for the first time, it sounds like words they do not want to hear. They cannot endure it. So in a way they block their ears -like a child showing his disgust at what someone is trying to tell him. It almost reminds one of Yoseph's brothers who hated him even more for his dreams and for his words (Bereshit / Genesis 37:8).

Many people had great difficulty in hearing the words of Y'shua - not because He spoke unclearly or vaguely or unintelligibly. We know of times when He was able to speak audibly enough so that thousands of people could easily hear his voice. Even children could understand what Y'shua said. The crowds often marvelled at the pleasant words that came out of His mouth (Luke 4:22) and simple military officers once said about Him: "Never has any man spoken like this Man!" (Yahuchanan 7:46). But in the very next chapter, for example, Y'shua said to the people listening to Him: "Why do you not know what I say? Because you are unable to hear My Word" (Yahuchanan 8:43).

Someone once said: "Hearing is not always a physical activity - it is rather the reaction of the soul on the syllables which fall upon the ear." Just as two people may look at the same scene and see different pictures, so also may two people hear the same words but hear different messages. In reality, we do not hear with our ears only. We also hear with our hearts and our emotions and even with our characters and personalities and past experiences. When we listen to someone's words, we immediately start to interpret those words by (unconsciously) digging into our inner being - taking into account what happened in the past, what choices did we make, what lessons did we learn, what temptations did we overcome, what boundaries do we maintain, what traditions do we hold, etc. All of these, and much more, come into consideration and play a decisive role in the way we hear the words and the messages coming our way.

For this reason, it is fair to say that the way we hear certain words is often a reflection of ourselves - much more than it is a reflection of the truth or the validity of the words. ' Most of the times, when we listen to the words people speak - also to the words coming to us through Scriptures - we listen with our grudges and our dislikes and our prejudices and our jealousies. That's why we tend to react negatively to the words we hear, even when there really is nothing negative or wrong in the words themselves. It is like the Master said: "You are unable to hear my Word". Even Y'shua's disciples sometimes said: "This word is hard, who is able to hear it?" (Yahuchanan 6:60). Before we can listen properly and meaningfully, we need a change of attitude within our own hearts., Of course, Yahweh can bring about this change instantaneously, and many, times He does exactly that. Through his Spirit He is able to open our hearts and our minds miraculously so that even when we hear a difficult word, we can listen properly and act accordingly.

Most of the times, however, our ability to hear depend upon our attitude towards Yahweh and his Word and our willingness to obey - even despite our own dislikes and prejudices and negative emotions. Scriptures clearly indicate that Y'shua's sheep will hear his voice (Yahuchanan 10:27). His sheep are those who have acknowledged Him as the promised Messiah and his words as words coming from the Almighty Himself. His sheep are the ones who recognise that He had laid down his life for them. His sheep are a relatively small group of people who follows Y'shua in everything and refuses to listen to the voices of strangers. His sheep are those who are gentle and obedient and teachable and always fully aware of how much they are dependant upon the guidance of their only Shepherd.

Scriptures also indicate that everyone who is of the truth hears Y'shua's voice (Yahuchanan 18:37). What does this word mean? It refers to people who are serious about the truth. In this regard, we may link it with the words of Yahuchanan 7:17: "If anyone desires to do His desire, he shall know concerning the teaching, whether it is from EIohim, or whether I speak from Myself." Those with a genuine desire to do what is pleasing to Yahweh (because they had learned something about HIS desires for them), do not find it difficult to hear the words of Yahweh and do not hesitate to act according to those words - even if it means they should give up something of their own, fleshly desires in the process. .

Thirdly, Scriptures indicate that those who are of Elohim, hear the words of Elohim (Yahuchanan 8:47). When we read the passage in which these words were spoken, we can learn more about what it means to be of Elohim. It means to love and to cherish and to esteem and to value that which is of Yahweh (verses 42, 49,54). It also means to search after and to desire the things that are not of this world, the things that are not from below, but from above, from the kingdom to come (verse 23). One of the main reasons why it is so difficult for human beings to receive the words of Yahweh, is because they are so contaminated with the attitudes and the aspirations and alternatives of this world. What we need is a change of heart and a renewal of the mind. What we need is to meditate more on Yahweh's Word and to allow the superior values and truths of his Word to penetrate and fill our entire beings.

Next time, when we think of praying the prayer, "Father, esteem your Name" or "Father, show me your will", perhaps we should first pray, "Father, reveal my own heart to me. Show me my own stubbornness of spirit. Let me realise how contaminated I am with the attitudes and the traditions of this world. Touch my innermost being and circumcise my heart, so that the hardness of my heart may be replaced by a complete surrender to your being the King and the Master of my life. Establish within me a willingness to abandon my own ideas and my own preferences and a new desire to accept your paths and your boundaries. Heal me of my resistance to change and my natural rebellion towards anything new, but also against anything ancient. Fill me with your Spirit and wash me with your Word. Let my life reflect the same attitude of obedience as I have seen so clearly in the life of the Messiah. Amein."