A few days later Mary hurried to the hill country of Judea, to the town where Zechariah lived. She entered the house and greeted Elizabeth. At the sound of Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth’s child leaped within her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
Elizabeth gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, “God has blessed you above all women, and your child is blessed. Why am I so honored, that the mother of my Lord should visit me? When I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb jumped for joy. You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.” (Luke 1:39–45 NLT)
Babies recognize their mother’s voice. Pretty much before they know anything else, they know that.
Around the eighteenth week, a baby growing in their mother’s womb gains the ability to hear. At first, the only sounds they can hear are those associated with their mother’s body: stomach gurgles, heartbeat, coughs and sneezes, and other noises our bodies are constantly making but we hardly notice. To the unborn child, this is their entire world.
After another two months or so, as the baby’s ears continue to develop, along with the rest of their body, they begin to not only hear and recognize voices, they start to respond to them. Studies have shown that around weeks 25 to 30, the baby’s heartbeat increases when they hear their mother’s voice. Whether the mom is reading aloud to their child or simply chatting on the phone, hearing their mother’s voice excites them. And this is true of other voices; babies also learn to recognize voices they hear often, such as those of their father or siblings.
When Mary arrived at the house of Elizabeth and Zechariah – just a few days after the angel Gabriel shared with her the good news of her pregnancy and the Messiah who would grow inside her – the baby in Elizabeth’s womb not only recognized Mary’s voice, he responded by jumping for joy – as much as a baby can in their confined space.
At this point, Mary might not even register as pregnant on a modern drugstore pregnancy test. Yet John, the unborn child who would come to be the forerunner of Jesus, preparing the way for the Messiah, was already doing his job announcing the Christ among us. He already recognized the voice of the one blessed by God to conceive and give birth to the Savior of all creation.
Are you this receptive to the voice of your Father in Heaven when he speaks to you? Do you, like the small child growing in their mother’s womb or the infant lying next to their parents, get excited when you hear his voice saying your name? Or have you forgotten what it sounds like when God is trying to get your attention?
Regardless of how receptive you are to the Holy Spirit speaking into your life, spend at least ten minutes today in a quiet place, away from others, just listening for the voice of your Father in Heaven. When you find your mind wandering to all the projects and distractions of the day, acknowledge that your mind has wandered and redirect your thoughts back to God. It might help to pray a short, repeated prayer alongside your inward and outward breaths, something to serve as a lightning rod for your attention without distracting you from the task of listening for God’s voice; these breath prayers can be as simple as a short verse – “The LORD is my shepherd; I have all I need” (Psalm 23:1) – or a phrase – “Father, Son, and Spirit, your child is listening.”
You might not hear God speak to you during those ten minutes, but simply the practice of listening helps train your heart and soul to quiet your mind, allowing you to notice when he does speak.
May we all get to a place where we are like John, jumping for joy to be in the presence of our Savior, to hear him speak our name.