Listening

Reflection & Prayer Prompts

Personal Reflection Questions

Take your time with these. Listening to others starts with being honest about ourselves.

Looking Back

1. Who in your life made you feel truly heard when you were growing up? What did they do that communicated you mattered? If no one comes to mind, what did that absence feel like?

2. Think of a time you felt completely understood by someone. What was that experience like? What made the difference?

3. Now think of a time you were trying to share something important and the person missed it completely. What did they do (or not do)? How did it affect you and the relationship?

Looking Inward

4. When you're in a conversation, how often is part of your mind preparing what you're going to say next? What does that say about your default posture in conversations?

5. What do you typically do when someone shares a problem with you? Fix it? Relate it to your own experience? Minimize it? Give advice? Where did you learn that pattern?

6. Who in your life has been trying to tell you something that you haven't really received? What would it mean to stop and actually hear them?

7. What makes listening hard for you? Is it impatience? Defensiveness? Distraction? The need to be helpful? Something else?

Looking Forward

8. What would change in your closest relationship if you became a significantly better listener? What might become possible that isn't possible now?

Guided Prayer Language

Use these as starting points. Let them lead you into your own honest conversation with God.

A Prayer for Presence

God, I confess that I'm often not fully present when someone is talking to me. Part of me is thinking about what I'll say next. Part of me is distracted by my to-do list or my phone. Part of me is already categorizing their problem and preparing a solution.

Help me slow down. Help me actually be in the room with the person in front of me. Help me put down my agenda long enough to really hear them.

When I'm distracted, call me back. When I'm preparing my response instead of attending, quiet my mind. When I'm rushing to fix, give me patience to understand first.

Teach me to listen the way you listen—fully present, fully attending, fully with me.

A Prayer for the Unheard

Father, I've been in conversations where I wasn't really heard. I know how that feels—like I'm alone even when someone is in the room. It hurts.

I confess I've done the same to others. I've interrupted. I've made it about me. I've fixed before understanding. I've been so focused on my perspective that I missed theirs entirely.

Forgive me for the ways I've left others feeling alone. Show me the people in my life who need me to actually hear them—not just their words, but their hearts. Give me the humility to stop and really receive what they're offering.

And God, in the places where I feel unheard, remind me that you hear me. You know me. You don't rush to fix or redirect. You attend.

A Prayer for Repair

Lord, there's someone I've talked past. I think I know who it is. They've been trying to tell me something, and I haven't really received it.

Give me the courage to go back. Help me say, "I don't think I really heard you. Can you tell me again? I want to understand." And then help me actually listen—not to defend myself, not to explain, but to understand.

Heal what my poor listening has cost that relationship. And help me become the kind of person who makes others feel seen and known.

Optional Journaling Prompts

Write freely. Let the pen move without editing.

1. Describe the best listener you've ever known. What did they do that made them so good at it? What was it like to be in conversation with them? What can you learn from their example?

2. Write about a time when you felt truly understood. What happened? Who was it? What did they do or say that communicated they really got it? How did that experience affect you?

3. Write a letter to someone you've failed to listen to. Tell them what you wish you had heard. Tell them what got in the way. You don't have to send it—but be honest.

4. What are you afraid you might hear if you really listened? Sometimes we don't listen because we're protecting ourselves from something we don't want to know. What might that be for you?

5. "You don't understand somebody when you understand them. You understand somebody when they understand that you understand." Write about what this means for you and your relationships.

A Final Thought

Listening is an act of love. It says, "You matter enough for me to set aside my agenda and attend to you."

In a world full of noise and distraction, where everyone is waiting for their turn to talk, real listening is rare. It's a gift.

And it's within your reach. Not perfectly—no one listens perfectly. But better. More present. More curious. More willing to understand before responding.

This week, give someone the gift of truly being heard. You might be surprised what opens up.