The word of God gives us creative ways to see who people really are, so we can love them well without even knowing them very well. We know Jesus said, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” Therefore, if you are a good listener, you will be able to hear what is happening in the heart of another person. People speak what is in their heart, but you do have to make the time to listen if you want to know what is in their heart. In marriage this is why women long to be listened to by their husband, because they want to share their heart and they do it by speaking. Many marriage classes, retreats and seminars focus on listening, but very few focus on seeing.

Women want to be listened to, for in the speaking they are revealing their heart, but men, typically, want to be seen, for they reveal their heart in what they show you on their face. Proverbs 27:19 says, “As in water face reflects face, So the heart of man reflects man.” Women if you can learn to read a man’s face, you will be able to hear what is in his heart. I am not saying men should not speak or that men do not speak, I am suggesting, there is another way to listen to him and it is by looking at him. His face reflects his heart. How many women are studying their husband’s face to see what is going on in his heart? This is not marriage counseling, but I believe it applies to that. Words and faces are the two ways we can know what is going on in someone’s heart, but we must be open to hearing from both places.

I wonder how much we miss because we are not listening or seeing? This works with your children, your friends, your community. If we will listen they will reveal their heart and if we will look they will show it on their face. People are always communicating, but many times in a language we are not trained to hear. Look at their face, it will tell you a lot, then once you can see, once you can hear, then you know how to pray for them. God is the best cardiologist, so when we see and hear people, we know how to pray for people and then we become the Great Physician’s assistant.