The Listening Leader: What It Truly Means To Hear God Ep 40

“Listening” sounds gentle until you learn the Bible’s definition. Shema the Hebrew word often translated as “hear” carries a challenge: real hearing sinks in, forms understanding, and produces a response. That one idea can change how we practice Christian leadership, especially when we’re trying to hear God at work while leading teams, making decisions, or carrying responsibility at home and in our community.

I walk through Deuteronomy 6:4–5, the beginning of the Shema prayer, and share reflection questions that help you notice what happens when God speaks through Scripture, prayer, a sermon, a mentor, or even a dream. 

Then we widen the lens to Ahavah, the biblical picture of love as giving, loyalty, and faithfulness not just emotion. I bring it into the workplace with tangible examples like choosing not to gossip and using your influence to advocate for someone who isn’t in the room. Finally, we revisit Elijah’s journey across five key moments and symbols (brook, widow, fire, cave, succession) so you can locate your own leadership season and respond with courage.

Reflection Questions:

1. As a listening leader, when you hear from God through scripture, prayer, a sermon or maybe even a dream, how do you respond?
2. What are ways you can begin to steward what you hear from God?
3. How can you apply these spiritual practices of being a listening leader in the natural - at work, at home, in your community or at church?
4. As you think about all the ways you lead, in what ways are you giving to others? 
5. Could your definition of loyalty be broader?

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Transcript

Welcome And Season Focus

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Welcome to In the Flow, a podcast for women pursuing God's spirit in life and leadership. I'm Kelly Johnson, and this season we're exploring what it means to become the listening leader. Because clarity and alignment with the Lord create a more impactful leader. Each conversation invites you to slow down, lean in, and lead from a place of attunement with the Lord so that we can grow in spirit-led wisdom and authentic power. Let's get in the flow. As I think about all the territory that we've covered this season around becoming listening leaders, it has occurred to me that the Lord has even more in store for us, that He wants us to understand about what it means to be listening leaders. We have talked about the role of mentors, coaches, sponsors in being listening leaders. We've talked about what it looks like to lean into the supernatural and the miraculous as it relates to being listening leaders. We've talked about what it means to attune to God and live out our faith in the workplace. But I don't think we're done yet. And so this episode is a continuation on everything that we've discovered so far around becoming listening leaders. So let's get in the flow. Months and weeks ahead of you listening to the episodes that you've been listening to. And I hope you are enjoying them. So please share with me your feedback. I love hearing from my listeners and my community. But, you know, I had no idea how relevant this topic would be to multiple areas of my life. And as the season continues, I feel like the Lord is saying, you're not done yet. There's more that I want to show to you. There's more that I want you to share

Why Define Listening Now

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and explore with others. So as I've been listening and thinking about the journey that we've been on for the last several weeks during season four about becoming the listening leader, I started to think about or realize have we really defined what it means to listen? I think I was doing a devotional and I stumbled across the Hebrew word for hear. And it's the word Shema. And I've heard it before, but I've never really like super paid attention to it. And as I was doing my Bible study on the word Shema and the Hebrew concept of hearing or listening, I realized, wow, we kind of skipped over something really important on this season, uh, where we're discovering and exploring what it means to become listening leaders. And so I wanted to sort of pause here where we are in the season, and spend some time really double-clicking on this concept, this biblical concept of hearing and listening. It's so foundational. And so Shema, the Hebrew word for hear, or it's often translated to hear, to listen, it really carries such a rich meaning and context, as we've discussed

Shema Means Hear And Do

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before. The English vocabulary and the English translation of the original Hebrew or Greek text is often lacking. Our words are kind of flat. They sort of have a very straightforward meaning, whereas the Hebrew and Greek often are much more colorful and rich and contextualized. And so the Hebrew word Shema is no different. So you may have heard Jewish prayer called the Shema prayer. And so I'll spend a little bit of time on that, but then I'll talk about what this word means from a Hebraic standpoint, from a Jewish cultural standpoint as well. And it's really rooted in Deuteronomy chapter 6, verses 4 through 5. This is really the beginning of the Jewish prayer, the Shema prayer. Um, the prayer is much longer than what I'm going to read to you, but the Shema prayer starts this way, and it's found in Deuteronomy 6, verses 4 through 5. I'm reading from the NASB version, and it says, Hear, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Now, as I mentioned, there's other components of the Shema prayer recited by Jews, and those come from Deuteronomy 11 and Numbers 15. But the Hebrew word Shema, so that's spelled S-H-E-M-A, it means to really allow the words to sink in and to provide understanding and generate a response. This word is not passive, it is an action word. In Hebrew, hearing and doing are the same thing. They're synonymous. From a Hebrew standpoint, you're not really hearing if you are not doing, if you don't respond. And so I love that. I as I was studying this, I thought, wow, um, I can't think of how many times I've asked my kids, did you hear me say blah, blah, blah? And they don't do anything, right? They didn't clean the room, they didn't go whatever it is, they didn't go walk the dog. Um, and so from a Hebrew standpoint, you're actually not hearing if you don't do, if you don't respond. If, and that isn't just an action like taking a physical step. It's also about responding on a heart level. So I just wanted to share that with you because it's so rich. Um, and I want to give you a few reflection questions to think about as you consider this deeper meaning of Shema and what it means to truly hear and respond. So the first question, and I have three for you, feel free to pause this and write down the question so you can reflect on it in your own quiet time. But as a listening leader, when you hear from God

Reflection Questions For Real Response

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through scripture, prayer, a sermon, a mentor, maybe even a dream, how do you respond? What happens on a heart level, a mind level, and a physical level? What are ways you can begin to steward what you hear from God? Now, to steward what we hear from God, it can look like writing it down. It could mean taking it further in prayer or perhaps studying it further in scripture, whatever it is that you hear. So our response and our stewardship of what we hear from God can take many, many forms. Now, when it comes to, for example, forgiveness or at a certain point, really anything, to love our neighbor, whatever it is that God is calling us to do, whatever it is we're hearing from Him, to tithe, to really purify our hearts, minds, bodies, whatever that is, ultimately we likely will need to take a physical action step. But just know that sometimes there's heart-level work, there's mind-level work that might need to happen in order to really steward what we hear from God and to respond fully to what we hear. The third question is, how can you apply? The third question is, how can you apply these spiritual practices of being a listening leader in the natural? So whether you're at work, at home, or in your community or at church, how can you apply these spiritual listening practices to your everyday? Before we continue, let me ask you: have you ever wondered how to tell if it's God's voice or just your own thoughts? In the Flow is so much more than a podcast. Each season I produce a free resource to support your growth. And for this series on the listening leader, I created a free devotional called How to Hear God at Work. It'll help you slow down and recognize God's leading in everyday decisions, whether you're leading a team, a business, or your own heart. Visit imkellyjohnson.com and click on the resources section to

Free Devotional To Hear God

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get your free copy today. Now let's keep going and let's look at Deuteronomy chapter 6, verse 5, which says, And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. This instruction in the prayer in Deuteronomy 6 to love the Lord is it's also an action word. What we translate typically as love here in the Hebrew, this word is actually ahava. Ahava. Ahava is not about goosebumps and like tingly feelings because you like somebody or you're attracted to them. That's not what this is. Ahava in the Hebrew is kind of like the word Shema listening. Biblical love is an action. We ahava someone when we give and when we act in loyalty and faithfulness. So again, another example of a really rich meaning of the Hebrew concept around hearing and loving, there's always a response in both

Ahava Love As Loyalty And Giving

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of these examples. And as leaders, especially in the workplace, we may not really think too much about loving our coworkers, loving our boss, loving our job. Love is a strong word. But if we think about this deeper context of giving to others, of being faithful and loyal, I want to share with you two more reflection questions. And I'll put all of these in the show notes. But again, feel free to pause, write these down, and use them to reflect and to pray and to study in your own devotional time. So the next question is as you think about all the ways you lead, and what ways are you giving to others? Generosity, keep in mind that generosity could be with our time, our knowledge, and maybe even our patience. Now let's consider this concept of loyalty. Loyalty in the workplace almost seems like an ancient concept, right? Companies aren't loyal to employees, employees aren't loyal to companies. I just want to challenge our thinking for a minute about this concept of loyalty. Could it be broader? And what I mean by that is, what if we were loyal to someone by not engaging in gossip? What if we were loyal to someone by advocating on their behalf when they're not in the room, when they're not able to advocate for themselves? Or maybe you have power and influence or authority that someone else doesn't have, and maybe you can use it to love them. So just some food for thought. As you're thinking about these concepts of loyalty, try not to think of it only from the standpoint of, I'll never leave my job, I'll never quit. That's one form of loyalty and faithfulness. But I think that we can consider broader ways to demonstrate it. So I hope you enjoy using these reflection questions in your quiet time. So let me know what insights you get and what you hear and respond with as you think about these questions and pray about them. Now let's keep moving. And I wanted to really share with you an experience I recently had. So I went on a silent retreat for a couple of days, and during this time, we were given a reading and reflection assignment. And that assignment was about Elijah. If you've been following along this season, you know that season four started with a look at Elijah in 1 Kings 18 and 19. You can go back and listen to episode 30. It's titled The Listening Leader from Burnout to Clarity. Now

Silent Retreat And Elijah Reframed

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that's where I discuss how Elijah listened to God during a time of emotional and spiritual drought. During the silent retreat, as I studied 1 Kings 18 and 19 again, I gained some new insights, even more so than what I shared in episode 30. Carolyn Carney was the spiritual director who facilitated the retreat, and she challenged us to think about Elijah as just a regular person, as a man. We were encouraged to not think about him as this super powerful prophet of God, you know, this spiritual hero. And she encouraged and challenged us to see our own lives and leadership through his story. So I hope you'll do the same as we continue talking about Elijah, and especially as we talk about him in this concept of both Shema, hearing and listening, as well as Ahaba, loving, loyalty, faithfulness, giving. So I want to share with you some of those reflections and observations that I journaled about during the silent retreat because Elijah connects to this biblical concept of hearing and responding to God so beautifully. One of the things that I noticed about Elijah is that his life truly embodied Shema. He totally represents what it looks like to actively listen and to actively love God through his obedience. To see this through line of actively listening, we have to go back to actually 1 Kings 17, starting with verse 1. So verses 1 through 7, we this is when we get introduced to Elijah. We don't really have any backstory on him. If you look at 1 Kings 16, the chapter before 17, it's recounting sort of different Jewish kings and like how bad they were. And 1 Kings 16 ends with a little summary of King Ahab. And it talks about how King Ahab was more evil than any other king before him. And so that's we go from that summary of King Ahab immediately into chapter 17, where the Bible introduces Elijah. In chapter 17, when Elijah comes on the scene, we basically hear him declaring to Ahab that there will be a drought for as long as he says it'll be. So he's got like major, I don't know, Riz or whatever, but um he makes this bold statement.

Elijah’s Pattern Of Obedience

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If you think about it, but if you sort of take in the overarching story of Elijah, and if we think about the bigger picture of his story, what we're seeing here is Elijah really standing against, coming against, and calling out King Ahab for all of his wicked ways. So let's look at verse two. We immediately see that Elijah hears and obeys a word of the Lord. And that word, that message, those instructions that Elijah gets from God in verse two is to go to the brook Cherith, where he will be fed by ravens. Notice how Elijah is in a season of isolation here. We talk a little bit about that when we get to 1 Kings 18 and 19, and we talk about this in episode 30. But when the brook dries up, we see in verse 8 that Elijah hears and obeys yet another word from the Lord. So after he hears another word of the Lord in verse 8, Elijah goes to Zarephath, where he meets a widow and lives with her and her son during a really intense time during the drought. So verses 1 through 7, Elijah declares there's not going to be any rain. He goes and he lives by the brook Cherith during the beginning of the drought. Because there is no rain, that brook dries up. God gives him a new instruction in verse 8. And so notice when God tells him to go to Zarephath where he'll find a widow. Elijah lives with the widow and the son, and God miraculously provides food for them during this time of the drought. Notice that Elijah moves from a period of isolation by the brook Cherith. And when he goes to Zarephath, he becomes a part of a family. He has community. And that widow and her son have community. When we come to 1 Kings 18, we're now about three years after the drought first began. And Elijah hears yet another word from the Lord. He hears and obeys. God tells Elijah to go to Ahab to present himself to Ahab. And after this, we see that we see the big battle between the prophets of Baal and Elijah on Mount Carmel. I'm not going to talk a lot about that battle, that big smackdown. It's one of my favorite things, but because we've already talked about it in episode 30. So go back and listen to that if you want a richer, deeper conversation or look at the showdown between the prophets of Baal and Elijah. But I do want to highlight verse 21 in 1 Kings 18. And it says, Elijah went before the people and said, How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him. But if Baal is God, follow him. This verse is a beautiful example of the loyal and faithful love of Ahava that we talked about earlier. Here Elijah is highlighting his loyalty to God, and he's calling other people to return to being loyal to God. So notice there's this action. It's not just, oh, I love God. He's so great. He's so wonderful. Thank you, Jesus. Hallelujah. That's not Ahava love for God. Elijah is demonstrating to us that true love for God, true Ahava for God, has an action that is unwavering in its loyalty and faithfulness to God, even when it's difficult, even when you are outnumbered. I think this passage says there were about 400, 450 prophets of Baal that Elijah was up against. Those odds, those ratios are awful, right?

Five Symbols For Five Seasons

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Who we don't even, I know, well, I'll speak for myself. Elijah had like 400, 450. That is crazy insane. And yet his Ahava is so sold out, it's so committed that Elijah still remains faithful to God. And in the midst of being this outsider voice, this unpopular voice, in the midst of going against the grain of society and the people around him, Elijah still encourages and challenges people to return to being faithful to God. Ugh, it is just so good. Okay, so let me keep going. After the smackdown, On Mount Carmel, Elijah prays and God sends rain. But after this, Ahab's wife, Jezebel, she is mad because uh Elijah makes sure all the prophets of Baal are killed. And so out of fear, Elijah flees to Mount Horeb in 1 Kings 19. We covered this in depth in episode 30. So I'll just highlight that Elijah heard and responded multiple times in this chapter in 1 Kings chapter 19. But starting around verse 9, God and Elijah have this whole conversation. They have this whole encounter, and it ends with God giving Elijah instructions to obey, which he does. And the last example that we'll highlight, or that I feel like scripture really highlights so beautifully, of Elijah hearing and responding to God is in 2 Kings chapter 2. And this occurs on the Jordan River. And this is when Elijah is taken up in a world win to heaven, and Elisha, his successor, receives a double portion of Elijah's anointing. So in 1 Kings 19, Elijah's coming out of a period of burnout emotionally, spiritually. He's back in isolation. He's in a dark place. He's in a cave. There's thunder and an earthquake. And, you know, there's this massive encounter with God's presence. And God and Elijah have this conversation. And God instructs Elijah to do three things as he's leaving the cave. And so Elijah leaves the cave, goes back. Now, fast forward to 2 Kings chapter 2. This is the last recorded episode in scripture of Elijah hearing from God and responding. Now, this response was a little out of Elijah's control because he was literally taken up in a chariot from heaven into heaven. So he did not physically die, but he was taken straight up from earth to heaven on a chariot of fire pulled by, I think, fire horses. So just incredible to think about and imagine. But I share all of this to highlight five things about Elijah's life journey and his story and the five different moments that Elijah heard from God and responded and obeyed. So the first one, at the brook, Cherith, there's water and basic provision from a really unlikely source, ravens, an unclean bird. Now, I did some research on the Bible Hub website, BibleHub.com, to understand the symbolism of these five different moments that we're going to talk about from Elijah's journey. And I want you to see if you can reflect on where are you? Which example of Elijah's story are you in right now? And maybe what are some other times in your life, in your career, where you've been in some of these other stages or seasons that Elijah is illustrating for us. So again, the first one, the brook cherith. And what really stood out to me here is that there's water from the brook and there's provision from a really unlikely source. And when I researched on Bible Hub, what does the symbolism of water mean biblically? It says that water is a source of life. It's a means of purification and it represents an instrument of judgment or a symbol of divine provision. So that totally tracks with Elijah's story, right? His experience. The water provided or the brook provided water during a time of drought. And God provided miraculously. The second stage or example that Elijah's life illustrates for us in terms of how we can hear and respond to God is when he was in Zarephath. There's oil and there's bread with a provision of family or community or relationships. And in both Old and New Testaments, oil symbolizes prosperity, divine healing, and the presence of the Holy Spirit. We see that bread symbolizes God's provision and the substance of life or the sustenance of life. And so I think that really tracks with Elijah's experience during that time in Zarephath with the widow. Now, at Mount Carmel, there's Holy Ghost fire. That is one of the big sort of symbols of that experience on Mount Carmel. Fire represents both the presence and judgment of God, as well as purification and the Holy Spirit. It is a natural element that serves as a tool for divine communication, a means of judgment, and a symbol of God's holiness and power. And that absolutely occurred on Mount Carmel. You'll hear me talk about in episode 30 that this was not like a small campfire fire. When God answered Elijah's prayer in 1 Kings 18, it was fire that consumed the entire altar. It consumed the trench of water that Elijah had placed around the sacrifice. So go back and listen to episode 30 to kind of go deeper there. But truly, fire in this time on Mount Carmel for Elijah was a symbol of God's holiness to all of the observers, to all of Israel. It was a symbol of God's power or was a representation of God's power. And it worked. The people were like, yep, whoops, there it is. Baal, you are not God. We see that the people responded to a degree by basically helping Elijah. They began the people of Israel who observed the smackdown, they helped Elijah by seizing the prophets of Baal. I mean, one man, Elijah, can't seize 450 people by himself. And so clearly there had to be people who moved to where Elijah was in terms of siding with God, Yahweh, in order to help him capture and seize those false prophets. So now the fourth phase that we're going to look at in terms of being a listening leader and one who doesn't just hear with their ears, but also responds actively, is when Elijah was in the cave on Mount Horeb. Research that I found on Bible Hub says that caves can also symbolize darkness and concealment. So there was definitely that. And it's contrasted with light and revelation. So the imagery of emerging from a cave, and Elijah does that. He kind of goes to the edge of the cave and he has this conversation with God. And it really represents moving from ignorance to understanding or from death to life, as seen in the resurrection narrative. And so, how many of us are in seasons of transition? We're on the edge of the cave. It feels dark. We're, and maybe we are surrounded by darkness. Just think about that season of transition that Elijah was in, where he's going from this place of fear. And we know fear does not come from God. So we can say that, or we can deduce that Elijah was operating from a moment of ignorance, right? Of fear, even though he had just had this amazing victory. And him in that cave or coming out of that cave just represents the transition to understanding and revelation. As I've alluded to in the Bible, caves are depicted as places of transition, refuge, so safety, and divine revelation. They serve as physical and spiritual landmarks in the unfolding account of God's interaction with humanity. So, so beautiful. All right, the final phase, the fifth phase or the fifth illustration of Elijah being this listening leader who responds, happens at the Jordan River. And this is the final moment of Elijah's life here on earth. And it reflects succession and discipleship. Why? Because Elijah passed on his cloak to Elisha, and Elisha received a double portion anointing of Elijah's anointing. So here's what Bible Hub says about succession. Succession in the Bible underscores the continuity of God's plan and the faithfulness of his promises across generations. It highlights the importance of leadership, stewardship, and the transmission of faith and values. The biblical model of succession often involves divine selection, human preparation, and communal recognition, ensuring that God's purposes are fulfilled through his chosen instruments. That alone is just so rich. And as we prepare to close out this study, this reflection of Shema hearing, truly hearing and responding, and Ahava, truly loving by giving and being faithful and loyal. I hope that you will start to reflect on and examine where in Elijah's journey of being a listening leader who not only hears but also obeys, who loves and takes action by being faithful and challenging others to also be faithful. Where do you see yourself right now? What phase are you in? Are you in a dark cave? Are you by a brook cherith being provided for in unusual ways? Are you in a season of drought?

Where Are You Right Now

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Or are you in a season of maybe new community, new relationships? What stage of leadership are you in? And I want to encourage you to just spend some time with the Lord, reflecting on where he has you and what he wants you to maybe take away from Elijah's experience, Elijah's life and leadership, and how you can maybe apply these lessons to your own life and leadership. I hope that this conversation today has been thought-provoking. I hope that it is also encouraging and maybe grounding into where you are in your own journey. If you're enjoying In the Flow podcast, if you're enjoying this season on becoming a listening leader, will you reach out to me and let me know how it's touching you? And be sure to share it with others. You can take action, you can listen to this and respond. And here is an easy, low-hanging fruit way that you can respond. You can share this. You can text the link to your friends, to your coworkers, to a neighbor, to your church group or friends from church. That is an easy, like, knock it out the park. You can totally hear and respond. You can love and respond by sharing in the flow podcast with your friends and family. So thank you so much for listening. And I'll just close us out in a quick prayer. Heavenly Father,

Share The Show And Closing Prayer

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we just come to you now thanking you for all the ways that you are attuning and fine-tuning our ability to hear and love you and love others. Will you continue to attune our frequency to your frequency? Will you give us the courage that we need to respond boldly, even if that means that we are going against the grain of the people around us? Help us, Lord, to truly Shema, to truly Ahava. Thank you for giving us, equipping us with what we need. Thank you for greater wisdom, greater courage. Thank you, Father, that you have not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and soundness of mind. It's in your wonderful name that we pray. And we thank you for all the ways that you delight to communicate with us and be in relationship with us. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you for flowing with me today. If this episode strengthened your spirit and leadership, be sure to subscribe and share it with a friend. Remember, deeper clarity starts in community. Visit im KellyJohnson.com for free devotionals and to learn more about Raya Circles, where faith and leadership truly go together in the flow.