Matthew 13:9-16 (KJV)
9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
10And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
11He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
12For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
13Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
14And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
15For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
16But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.

The word says in the above verses and many times in the New Testament from Matthew to Revelations that those who hath ears to hear, let them hear. What does it mean to have ears to hear ?
Let s talk about natural hearing first. You know that the natural body has ears so that you can hear things around you. You use this natural sense of hearing to benefit and protect yourself but others. There are activities that heighten your senses and there are activities that can diminish them. You can also totally loose your hearing through natural causes, accidents or disease. Those who have lost their hearing or are born without it are considered handicapped. They go through life in silence and must learn other skills to compensate for deafness by sharpening their remaining senses.

The bible verse is not talking about mere natural hearing. There is however, another kind of hearing. It is spiritual hearing.
Can you hear spiritually? Do you have ears to hear?
If your answer is No, then you are most likely saying, I don t have a clue what you are talking about. What is spiritual hearing and how do I get it? Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:6 that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. The bible also says in I Corinthians, chapter 2 that spiritual things can only be spiritually discerned. In other words, spiritual sound is not detectable by the natural hearing. But the bible also reveals that man died spiritually when Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden disobeyed God by eating of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. We all inherited this spiritually dead condition. We are born into this world spiritually dead and spiritually deaf. However, there is hope. Jesus also explained to Nicodemus in John, chapter 3 that the condition of spiritual death is a reversible condition. Man can be born again spiritually by believing in and receiving Christ, the Son of God into their hearts. By receiving Christ, a person is reconciled to God and also receives the Holy Spirit. With this comes the ability to begin communicating with Him because in this transformation from spiritual death to spiritual life, the spiritual senses are activated. The Holy Spirit begins the process of teaching the believer how to live spiritually. He uses the word of God to teach everything we need to know including the discernment of spiritually truths (spiritual hearing). This all comes by studying the word of God with an open heart.

Your answer may be I am born again and already able to spiritually hear. Good, then my question is how sharp is your spiritual hearing? Are you filled with the Holy Spirit, following His voice and walking in His powerful anointing?
(I realize there is a denominational debate in the body of Christ about a subsequent, post salvation experience of the baptism with the Holy Spirit. I do not want to go off on a rabbit trail about that, OK?)
The thing that matters most is that every believer needs to be filled with the Holy Spirit (controlled by) to be spiritually mature. A spiritually mature believer abides in the word as a way of life and the Holy Spirit is constantly sharpening their ability to spiritually hear but there are partners to spiritual hearing. They are the word of God and faith. They all go hand in hand. It impossible to have faith without spiritual hearing, it is impossible to have spiritual hearing without faith and it is impossible to have either without the word of God.
Romans 10:17 says Consequently, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Faith is like the active ingredient in this spiritual life formula.
All spiritual life begins with the word of God at salvation by believing the Good News about Christ with an open heart and when it is, spiritual hearing is vitalized. Continuing to spiritually hear the word with an open heart, causes faith to grow and become alive and vibrant.

If your spiritual hearing has become dull it is because you've allowed your faith to become stagnant. You've allowed your heart to become hardened to truth and this condition is like spiritual cancer. A person whose faith is stagnant shouldn't expect to receive anything from God according to James 1:6,7. Hebrews 11:6 teaches us that without faith it is impossible to please God. It is also impossible to hear anything in the realm of the Spirit without faith. Stagnant faith plugs up spiritual ears.

Another thing that will ruin your spiritual hearing is neglecting the word of God and the Holy Spirit. Your hearing will become progressively dulled by constantly listening to and becoming enamored with the loud clamoring lies/sound bits of the world. Not only will succumbing to the seductive spirit of the world cause faith to become "little" in power, it will also plug up your spiritual ears so much that you'll start becoming unable to hear anything from God.

So how is your spiritual hearing? Do you have ears to hear? Are you spiritual alive because you've been born again? Are you spiritually alert and is your spiritual hearing sharp or is your hearing dull because you have neglected the things of God so much that you now feel spiritually handicapped?

Take heart because Jesus is the answer to every question and the solution to every problem. All we have to do is turn to Him with our whole heart. He loves us and gave His life so that we could be whole in body, soul and spirit. He wants us to know that spiritual hearing is one or the benefits of our salvation. Jesus is the One who sent the Holy Spirit. He was sent to give us power to be His witnesses and it is vital that every born again believer be able to hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.

I Corinthians 2:12-14
12Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
13Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
14But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Matthew 13:11,12 (KJV)
11He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
12For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.

God's grace and peace to you,
kogfamily