Hearing From God 1 Sam. 3:9-10 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
The subject of this message is hearing from God. If you want to hear from God then here are the things you must do. Hearing from God demands:
Your desire to hear – 1 Sam 3:9-10 – Samuel said “Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth.” And the Lord talked with him. Before you read your Bible or listen to preaching, you ought to pray what Samuel prayed. The Lord revealed himself to Samuel by the word of the Lord [1 Sam 3:21]. And the Lord is still revealing himself to men in the words of God today. You don’t need a vision or a word from God. Just listen to him speak to you in his words as you read them and as you listen to the teaching and preaching of his words.
Your presence when he’s speaking – Gen 3:8 – When Adam and Eve had sinned, they later heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden. Instead of being present to hear what the Lord had to say, they hid themselves. That’s what you are doing when you skip church and Bible reading. You aren’t showing up to hear from the Lord. Hearing from God requires you to be there when he is talking. How many Christians have missed tailor made sermons because they were absent in the service?
Your undivided attention – 2 Cor 10:5 – you must not be distracted by things that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God. It is common for your mind to wander and miss something that God has said to you. Usually the distraction is a thought that enters your mind and exalts itself against the knowledge of God. You must not let any thought take your mind off the words of God when you are reading or listening to preaching.
Your humble belief – Mk 4:23-25 – when God is speaking to you in his words, he doesn’t need you correcting what he said or editing what he said. He doesn’t need your criticism or your judgment. He simply wants you to humbly believe what he’s telling you. Zacharias didn’t believe that he and Elisabeth would have a son and so God made him dumb until after John was born. Mary, on the other hand, being told that she would bear a son as a virgin (even more incredible than Zacharias and Elisabeth having a son) humbly believed the angel. And that’s how we need to believe. And when we do, God speaks to us even more in his words. When we don’t, some things that we had received from God before begin to slip away.
Conclusion: Do you want to hear from God? If so, then ask him to speak to you. Open up his words and read. Get under some good Bible believing preaching and teaching. Pay attention to what you are reading and hearing [if any man have ears to hear, let him hear, Mk 4:23]. And humbly believe the Lord. He reveals his truth to “babes,” [Lk 10:21].