Decreasing Static

As we work to increase our ability to hear God, we must be conscious of the amount of “static” we allow to bring interference. Certain people, places, activities, etc will tend to cause internal noise (aka static), which interferes with our ability to hear God clearly. We would be wise to take note of what things cause the static and be more proactive managing them. 

Here are a few scriptures to ponder as we explore this topic:

• Psalm 46:10 (NLT) “Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.”
• Psalm 46:10 (NET) He says, “Stop your striving and recognize that I am God! I will be exalted over the nations! I will be exalted over the earth!”
• Luke 5:16 (NASB) But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.

We hear God best when we are able to quiet ourselves internally. For some people, external quiet is a requirement for internal quiet, but this isn’t the case for everyone. Personally, I am someone who can best quiet internally when I have external (or environmental) quiet. So for me, noise around me is something I consider “static.” 

Believe it or not, even worship music or instrumental music can create static for me – not as much as other things, but definitely more so than silence. I share this just to show how individual this is because many people hear best with worship music. The key is to pay attention and learn how you hear best, and then cultivate that environment. 

So for me, eternal noise – any external noise – causes static. Obviously, noise in your environment is part of life so I can’t always decrease external noise, but the point here is that I am aware it is an issue for me so I am intentional to carve out time to be in silence to decrease static and better hear God. 

Another example is that watching TV and movies creates more static for me. Obviously it does so when the noise from whatever I’m watching is happening, but I also mean that it continues to create internal static even after it is turned off. Part of this is that my brain will continue to think about what I’ve just watched, and so the residual static of watching remains even after I’m in silence again. As such, I have learned to minimize how much I watch, select the timing of when I’m watching with care, and (of course) be very careful what I’m selecting to watch.

For me personally, I find that reading creates less internal static for me. So I tend to enjoy reading fiction in my downtime in lieu of watching something. And again let me emphasize these are my examples, what causes static for you may be completely different. The key is to:

• pay attention,
• take note of what causes static,
• and minimize it to the best of your ability. 

Doing so will help hone your ability to hear God more clearly, which leads to a very fulfilling relationship with Him. Bless you as you seek Him!

Note: The day after I posted this I lost electricity and quickly discovered I do NOT hear best in silence. I actually found the silence almost painful. Apparently I hear best in white noise. So I’ll be huddled in a quiet corner with my box fan as soon as I get my power back LOL!