Speak Lord, I'm Listening: Connecting to the Voice of God

Text: 1 Samuel 3:1-10 (ESV)

Intro: GPS Story to St. Louis

GPS Screenshots to wedding in Decatur

Just as being connect to a GPS gave me direction so being connected to God’s voice can give us the direction that we need.

Our text shows us a young Samuel and an encounter He was about to have with God. God was about to reveal His voice to him in a way that he has never heard it before. He was about to learn a lesson that will change his life forever.

1 Samuel 3:7 “Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.”

-Samuel was like us at times. We may be saved and on our way to heaven but we have no idea how God is trying to speak to us and reveal Himself to us. We don’t recognize Him when He is speaking. It is in our Christian journey that we must take the opportunities He gives us to learn His voice and learn how He is giving us direction

-This is exactly what Samuel was about to learn

1 Samuel 3:9 “Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.”

-Though Eli didn’t have the best track record as a priest, he was able to share with Samuel some wisdom that he learned. While Samuel thought that was Eli speaking, Eli recognized that God was trying to get Samuel’s attention. He was about to share with him the attitude needed to hear God’s voice

-Eli shared with Samuel that in order to connect to the voice of God and hear what He is telling us, we must have an attitude, “Speak Lord, I’m listening.”

-This is the same attitude we need to hear the voice of God. Say to yourself, “Speak Lord, I’m listening! I desire to hear what you are telling me today.”

John 10: 27 “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”

-We know the voice of God. Question is are we connected to hear what He is saying?

-Florida Church when I was in middle school. Person told me God has been trying to speak to you. We just need to be tuned into His frequency

-God’s first language is not English. There are many different ways that He can get our attention and we can hear him speaking. He also knows us personally and knows how He can get our attention.

-If we are going to tune into His frequency, get connected to His voice, we need to figure out some ways He has given us to better hear His voice and get connected with what He wants to say

TS: 3 different ways God gives us the opportunity to Connect with His Voice is: Through His Word, Through Prayer, and Through the Holy Spirit.

I. Through His Word

If we want to learn how to hear His voice and be better connected to what He’s telling us, the primary way we learn this is through His Word.

-Psalms 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

While there are many ways God can speak, the filter we use to see if He’s really speaking is His Word

No matter how I think I hear His voice if it goes against what He has already revealed in His word we need to throw it out.

-Galatians 1:8 “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.”

God’s Word reveals to us

A. God’s Character Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

His Word shows us who He like and what He has done for others.

God has not changed. What He has done for others He can do for us today. Anything we hear will not go against the character of God revealed in His Word.

B. God’s Promises

2 Peter 1:3-4 “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.”

God’s Word reveals His promises. Anything He has promised in His Word you can believe for and allow to speak to your life and situation.

C. God’s way of living

2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

God’s word shows us how to live the way He wants us to live

II. Through Prayer

-God desires to have a personal relationship with us. One of the ways we grow that relationship is through prayer.

-Prayer is not a monologue, it is a dialogue. It is communication with God when we share what is on our heart and He speaks to us what is on His heart for us.

-Jeremiah 33:3 “Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.”

-When we desire to know the plans of God all we need to do is ask God and He will reveal it to us

-Jeremiah 29:11-13 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.

-When you ask of God, He can give you whatever you need

-Matthew 7:7-8 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”

III. Through the Holy Spirit

-In the Old Testament, where Samuel was in, God only spoke through His prophets. If you wanted to hear God speak you had to hear a prophet.

-Amos 3:7 ““For the Lord God does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets.”

-In fact, many books of the Old Testament (Major and Minor Prophets) where God revealing His Word to a prophetic voice of their day so they can communicate to HIs people.

-However in the New Testament, where we live in, we don’t have to find a prophet to hear God’s voice to us. He reveals what He desires to us through the voice of His Holy Spirit

-1 Corinthians 2:9-11 “But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.”

-When Studying the Bible, context is important. It is so easy and dangerous as well to take one verse out of context. Many people think it is impossible to know what God wants for us. (You never know what God can do). With our human understanding we can’t know but as we read this verse in context we see the key in knowing the heart and mind of God, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will show us what is on the mind of God and reveal to us what He is saying.

Just as God wanted to reveal His secrets to His prophets, God wants to reveal His secrets to you by His Holy Spirit. We just need to be connected to His voice and what He is saying

Revelation 3:22 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’ ””

Altar Call: My prayer for you is that you will be able to be connected to hear what God is saying over you today. May God:

give you eyes to see what He sees

ears to hear what He is saying

mouth to declare what He is saying

heart to receive everything God has in store for you

May our attitude be that of Samuel, “Speak Lord, I’m listening!”