Have you ever tried to have an important conversation in a noisy room? It was probably difficult to listen adequately to what the other person was saying. It is far more important to be listening carefully to Jesus' instructions amid the noises and distractions of earthly life. In Luke 8:8 and several other places He said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" Even Christians can become "dull of hearing" (Hebrews 5:11-12). What are some conditions that make it hard to hear Him spiritually?

Grief and pain make it hard to hear. The Israelites who were still being oppressed by the Egyptians in Exodus 6:9 would not listen to Moses "because of anguish of spirit and cruel bondage." When we suffer it is easy to focus on our own hurt and not listen to what we might need to hear.

Prejudice causes trouble with how we hear. The opponents of Stephen in Acts 7:57 literally stopped their ears when they disagreed with his preaching about their sins. Paul's Jewish opponents in Acts 22:22 shouted against him when he spoke about being sent to preach to the Gentiles. Timothy was warned against supposed Christians who would have already decided what they were willing to hear in 2 Timothy 4:3-4.

A hard heart keeps us from hearing and applying the truth. Ezekiel 3:5-7 shows that the "impudent and hard-hearted" people of Ezekiel's day would not listen to him because they would not listen to God.

Willfulness or stubbornness also makes it hard to hear. Jeremiah 16:12 shows that we cannot properly listen to God when we follow our sinful desires. These desires keep people from giving the truth a fair hearing. In John 8:43-45 Jesus was addressing a group of people who considered themselves quite devout (8:31). Jesus said, "Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word." He then said that they wanted to do the desires of their father, the devil, and they would not believe the truth.

Arrogance makes hearing the truth difficult. James 1:19-21 shows us two ways in which this is true. First, those who are arrogant are often swift to speak and swift to get angry, the opposite of the way they should be, and that makes it hard to be swift to hear. Second, humility is needed to receive God's word, and arrogance is the opposite of humility.

These are only a few of the things that make it hard to hear God's word as we should. We need to desire His word (1 Peter 2:1-2) and be careful to hear Him in the proper way (Luke 8:18) if we want to obey Him fully and be pleasing to Him.