Podcast Summary: “Are You Listening?”

Podcast: Dufresne Ministries Podcast
Speaker: Nancy Dufresne
Episode Date: February 6, 2020
Episode Theme: The spiritual power and necessity of truly listening—especially to God, the wise, and the Holy Spirit—for healing, prosperity, fulfillment of purpose, and victory in life.

Episode Overview

Pastor Nancy Dufresne explores the vital importance of listening—not just hearing—in the life of a believer. She teaches that healing, prosperity, protection, and fulfilling God's plan are all directly tied to how well we listen to God’s Word, godly wisdom, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Drawing from Proverbs and personal experience, Pastor Nancy explains how genuine listening involves consent and submission, not merely the passive act of hearing, and demonstrates through both Scripture and anecdotes that many people fail to receive their answers because they don’t tune in with the ears of their spirit.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Biblical Foundation of Listening

• Proverbs 5:7 (Amplified):
  “Now, therefore, my sons, listen to me and depart not from the words of my mouth.”
  Listening is the key to staying aligned with God’s Word and will.
  (01:38)

• Proverbs 22:17 (Amplified):
  “Listen, consent, and submit to the words of the wise and apply your mind to my knowledge.”
  Pastor Nancy emphasizes that:

  “To listen means that you consent and you submit. Just to hear it with your ear is not listening.”
  (02:58)

• Proverbs 4:10:

  “Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings. So notice you can't receive what he says if you're not going to listen. We have to listen to receive.”
  (05:47)

The Role of Listening in Faith and Receiving from God

• Listening is the gateway through which faith comes (“Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God”), and thus, a prerequisite for strong faith, healing, and divine help.

  “Your help begins with your listening. Because people want God to move by His power…help doesn't begin with power. It begins with listening.”
  (07:48)

• The same pathway applies to every area—salvation, healing, provision:

  “If salvation comes to you because you listened and then you believed what you heard, everything else is going to come the same way.”
  (09:39)

The Dangers of Not Listening

• Pastor Nancy shares a teaching from Dad Hagin:

  “‘Most people don't listen.’ That’s very sobering.”
  (10:13)

• People who don’t listen often don’t realize it (“most people who don't listen think they listen”). This is why it’s difficult to help them.
  (12:05)

• Practical test for knowing if you don’t listen:

  “If you give excuses when you’re confronted, if you argue, if you give a rebuttal, you don’t listen.”
  (13:55)

• Pride is exposed as the root of not listening:

  “Pride is the number one destroyer of people's hearing. …Prideful people have the same problem as people who don't listen. They don't know they're prideful.”
  (19:21)

Healing is Connected to Hearing

• Referencing Luke 5:15:

  “Great multitudes came together to hear and be healed. …Their healing, their help, their rescue was connected to their hearing.”
  (21:11)

• Simply being present or going to church out of routine does not guarantee you will receive help or answers—one must come to “hear.”

  “In my hearing is my future. In my hearing is my rescue. In my hearing is my answer.”
  (22:50)

Hearing God Through Others and the Ears of the Spirit

• God often speaks through others—pastors, family, trusted voices. It’s crucial to recognize God’s voice, regardless of the human vessel.

  “I recognized my spirit, recognized the Holy Spirit in those words. …Too many times people want God to talk to them, but they're not listening to the people God's speaking to them through.”
  (27:09)
  (29:43)

• Vivid anecdotes:

  • Both her sons, Steven and Grant, spoke out things by the Spirit that directed her in key decisions—she instantly recognized the Spirit’s prompting.
  • A friend’s casual book suggestion led her to the exact answer she needed—if she hadn’t listened, she would have missed her breakthrough.
    (31:00–34:20)

• The enemy will try to get you to discount or dismiss your answer when it comes.

  “The devil will try to belittle that. …because he wants you to dismiss your answer. Listeners don’t dismiss their answer.”
  (36:10)

Practicing and Cultivating Listening

• Develop sensitivity—tune your “spiritual antenna” to catch God’s leading, even in unspectacular moments and simple counsel.

  “The more sensitive you are in your spirit, the more accurately you’re going to live, the more right decisions you’re going to make.”
  (41:10)

• Every church service, every setting can be a “listening setting.”

  “You're not here to preach. …You're here to take in. And the only way you can take in is if you listen.”
  (37:43)

Memorable Moments & Quotes

• A Parent’s Wisdom, Practical Example:

  “My mother used to say to all the grandkids, ‘Do you have your ears on?’ …So maybe when you come to church as a family, who's got their ears on this morning?”
  (15:21)

• On Youth and Learning the Hard Way:

  “Young people, middle aged people, older people, listen so you don't have to learn the hard way. Because if we don't listen, the only way we learn is the hard way.”
  (18:13)

• On Facing Loss and Navigating Unfamiliar Territory:

  “The year after my husband went home to be with the Lord… the only way we got through: I listened. …Because I would listen, the Holy Ghost would say, ‘do this, do that, contact that person, write that letter’… And it arrived us at completion and victory.”
  (44:09)

• God’s Faithfulness & Our Listening:

  “No child of God arrives at faith failure or ruin without God trying to help. …No one… ends up at a difficult place… without their answer being offered to them before they arrived at that challenge. …Why did they…end up [there]? They didn't listen.”
  (39:42)

Important Timestamps

• 01:38 – Proverbs on listening as a safeguard
• 07:48 – “Your help begins with listening”
• 10:13 – Dad Hagin: “Most people don’t listen”
• 13:55 – How to know if you don’t listen
• 19:21 – Pride destroys people’s ability to hear
• 21:11 – “They came to hear and be healed” (Luke 5:15)
• 27:09 – Learning to recognize God’s voice through others
• 31:00–34:20 – Anecdote: Book suggestion became God’s answer
• 36:10 – Don’t let the devil belittle your answer
• 37:43 – Every church service is a “listening setting”
• 39:42 – No one fails without God offering an answer
• 44:09 – Navigating overwhelming seasons through listening

Tone and Style

Nancy Dufresne’s tone is earnest, practical, and instructional, with a pastor’s warmth and a bit of humor (especially about youth and “having your ears on”). The teaching is direct, occasionally sobering, yet always encouraging, impressing listeners with the critical role of humility and receptivity before God.

Takeaway

True listening is at the heart of faith and victory. Every answer, breakthrough, and protection God offers travels first through the ears that are open—not just physically, but spiritually and humbly. As Pastor Nancy Dufresne urges, ask yourself: Are you really listening?