As we talk about sitting still and listening to God speak to us, we always come back to His Word. This, along with Creation, is His speaking to us. And this is His final Word: there are no new words to us, and all the listening we do must match up to this written Word. Anything that we think we have heard that is contrary to this Word must go.

Nancy Guthrie explains why we must listen so closely to this eternal and final Word: "The Word of God cleanses as it penetrates us and brings sin to the surface so it can be washed away. Its truth washes away our self-centered, people-pleasing, God-denying attitudes and actions so that the Spirit can fill us with Christ-centered, God-pleasing, God-dependent attitudes and actions. . . . We are washed as we hear his Word, receive his Word, live by his Word, and are changed by his Word. As his Word is applied to our hearts, as it penetrates our thoughts and shapes our perspectives, the cleansing that Christ accomplished on the cross becomes an internal reality in our day-to-day lives." (from Discovering Jesus in the Old Testament)

Good, huh?