Can You Hear Me Now?

1 Samuel 3:10 - The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, "Samuel! Samuel!" Then Samuel said, "Speak, for your servant is listening."

​“Can you hear me now?”
 
We all remember the commercials where someone is on their cell phone attempting to talk to another party and they’re having difficulty hearing each other.
 
We can do this in real life by not paying attention to someone when they’re speaking to us either by phone or in person. You can tell that someone isn’t really listening to  you when all they say is, “Whatever you say.” And they don’t look right at you, but somewhere out in the distance.
 
When pretending to be listening to someone when the other party is trying to be honest and tell you something that is important to them, it can cause hurt feelings to develop. Everyone wants to feel important and that they matter. If you don’t have the courtesy to pay attention when having a conversation then you can cause someone to doubt their worth in your eyes.
 
On the other hand, if you truly take part in the conversation, it can mean all the difference in the world to them. Let’s take a look at how we can take a more active part in a conversation.
 
To participate in a conversation is part of active listening skills. When someone is using them they will show in action that they are listening to you. Here’s some examples from the article, “Active Listening, Hear What People are Really Saying,” on mindtools.com.
 
When listening to a conversation it’s easy to let your mind wander instead of showing respect to the speaker by listening to what they have to say. Learning to use the active listening skills above will allow you to learn more about the speaker and help develop deeper relationships. Then, as the Bible verse above talks about, your speaker will know that you are truly listening to them and care about their opinion.

​To learn more select the button below to watch a video on active listening.

Video