Topic: Wise People Ask Questions and Then Listen [RICK WARREN Devotional 19 November 2024]
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Wise People Ask Questions and Then Listen
by Rick Warren — November 19, 2024
“People’s thoughts can be like a deep well, but someone with understanding can find the wisdom there.”
Proverbs 20:5 (NCV)
If you want to be wise, learn how to ask wise questions.
Proverbs 20:5 says, “People’s thoughts can be like a deep well, but someone with understanding can find the wisdom there” (NCV). In other words, everybody has something to teach you. You may have to draw their wisdom out like water from a deep well—but it’s worth the time to do that.
How do you draw the wisdom out? You learn to ask smart questions.
As I’ve traveled around the world, I’ve asked questions of taxicab drivers and prime ministers—and they all have taught me something. If you know the right questions to ask, you can learn from anybody!
One thing I’ve realized is that I never learn anything while I’m talking. If my mouth is moving, I’m not learning. You don’t learn when you’re talking either; you learn when you’re listening. So you’ve got to learn to listen.
The late American TV host Larry King once said this: In an interview show, if the host is talking 50 percent of the time, something is terribly wrong. The host should listen the most and talk the least. A good TV host sets up the question and then just listens.
I’ve done a lot of interviews over the years, and I’ve noticed fewer and fewer hosts following Larry King’s advice. More often, interview shows are about the interviewer—whose goal is to draw attention to themselves—and not about the guests.
In your life, be more like the host who has learned to listen. Be a person who believes you can learn from anyone.
You just have to be willing to ask good questions—and then listen. That’s the mark of a wise person.
Talk It Over
- Try to spend a whole day focusing on listening rather than talking. What difference does it make?
- What do you communicate to someone when you ask them a question and then listen to the answer with focus and interest?
- To draw wisdom out of people, you need to learn to ask wise questions. What is a wise question you’d like to ask someone in your life?
Speaking of wise questions, are you certain of where you will go when you die?
The Bible says every one of us has sinned and the penalty for sin is death. But God loves you so much that he sent his Son, Jesus, to pay the penalty for your sins and to bring you into the family of God.
If you’re ready to enter God’s family, The Bible says you can get to heaven only by trusting in God’s Son, Jesus Christ. You can’t earn your way into heaven: “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV). If you’re ready to commit your life to Jesus, start by praying this prayer: “Dear God, you have promised that if I believe in your Son, Jesus Christ, everything I’ve ever done wrong will be forgiven, I will learn the purpose of my life, and you will accept me into your eternal home in heaven one day.
“I confess I have sinned, and I ask for your forgiveness. I believe that Jesus died to take away my sins and that you raised him to life. I want to trust Jesus as my Savior and follow him as Lord from this day forward. Guide my life and help me to do your will. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.”
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