In Matthew 13, the disciples ask Jesus why He speaks to the crowd in parables. Part of His answer contains a sentence with a missing word.

"For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him." Matthew 13:12 (NKJV)

Whoever has what? Money? Talent? Matthew does not say. Jesus leaves the object open, and a reader can pass over it without asking.

The answer is in the other Gospels. The parable of the sower appears in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Each writer records details the others leave out. When you lay the accounts side by side, the missing word fills in.

Mark records what you hear

"If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear." Then He said to them, "Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given." Mark 4:23-24 (NKJV)

Mark puts the weight on the subject. What goes into your ears matters, because words do not all carry the same power. Opinions and headlines may be useful. Neither can produce what God's Word produces.

"So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Romans 10:17 (NKJV)

Faith comes from one source. The first question is whether you are hearing God's Word at all.

Luke records how you hear

"Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him." Luke 8:18 (NKJV)

Luke puts the weight on the attitude, and he ties it to the missing word. "Take heed how you hear. For whoever has..." The word "for" connects the two sentences. The having is about the hearing.

The one who has is the one with a hearing heart. That person wants to hear the Word and wants to understand it. To that person, more is given.

Jesus said both sentences. Mark wrote down the first half and Luke wrote down the second. Put them together and you get the full instruction: take heed what you hear, and take heed how you hear.

You need both

A man can hear the right thing the wrong way. He sits in church with his Bible open on his lap while he answers work emails. The Word reaches his ears. It does not reach his heart.

A woman can hear the wrong thing with great hunger. She listens for hours to motivational talks with a verse attached at the end. Her heart is open. The seed is missing.

Jesus describes the good ground this way:

"But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience." Luke 8:15 (NKJV)

The seed was the same for every kind of ground. The difference was the heart that received it.

Solomon asked for this

When God told young Solomon to ask for anything, Solomon asked for one thing.

"Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil." 1 Kings 3:9 (NKJV)

The phrase translated "an understanding heart" is (lev shomea) לֵב שֹׁמֵעַ — "a hearing heart." Solomon asked for a heart that listens. God gave him wisdom no king before him had. More was given to the one who had.

Luke adds a phrase Matthew does not: what a person "seems to have." Someone can sit under preaching for years and look like he holds the Word. Without a hearing heart, what he seems to have does not stay.

You can ask God for what Solomon asked for. Before you open your Bible or press play on a sermon, check two things. Is this God's Word? Am I listening to receive it? Then pray, "Lord, give me a hearing heart."

The whole crowd heard the same Word. The more went to the ones who came to receive it.