On January 4, 1987, Oral Roberts launched his most notable campaign to date. He told his followers that if he didn’t raise a total of 8 million dollars by March, God was going to take his life. Comparing himself to the apostle Paul, Roberts begged not to let Satan defeat him. "God" he said, "clearly told me he needs me here on earth. And here's why -- because of all the ministries, this ministry is the only one God has on this earth that owns a medical school." It was a breathe-a-thon! Sometime later, Oral's son, Richard, wrote to warn of his father's impending doom. Without "the additional $4.5 mil, God will not extend Dad's life." He then pleaded, "Partner, we cannot let this man of God die. There is no reason for him to die"...Because God told them.
On the internet I find a manuscript by one Stephen Gray. He starts by writing: “Recently, I shared a word the Lord had given me with pastors and spiritual leaders in Sacramento, CA. The Lord has impressed me to write the word down and release it to the body of Christ . I believe this word is for the whole body of Christ.” I didn’t stop to find out who Stephen is. I just know that what he wrote was written, according to him, because God told him to.
God gets credited with an awful lot, doesn’t He? If you’re like me, you see a problem in people saying, “God told me…” or “God said to me…” The problem is when people say that and it isn’t true. God has always had a problem with that. Jeremiah’s time, there were false prophets. Listen to what God said:
Jeremiah 23:21-36 - (21) I did not send these prophets, yet they have run with their message; I did not speak to them, yet they have prophesied.
(25-26) "I have heard what the prophets say who prophesy lies in my name. They say, 'I had a dream! I had a dream!' How long will this continue in the hearts of these lying prophets, who prophesy the delusions of their own minds?
(32) I am against those who prophesy false dreams," declares the LORD. "They tell them and lead my people astray with their reckless lies, yet I did not send or appoint them.
(36) …every man's own word becomes his oracle and so you distort the words of the living God, the LORD Almighty, our God.
There has always been someone claiming that God said something that He really didn’t say. I don’t have to listen to them. The problem is, I really want to know what God says. Don’t you? I want to know what God has to say – not just about the do’s and don’t’s of life, but also about the direction my life should go, about choices I have to make, about the good works He has prepared for me to do.
You see, in this conversation with God we call prayer, there’s another part besides just speaking. There’s also the listening part. In fact, what God has to say seems to be a whole lot more important than anything I have to say. But how can I safely listen to God and be sure of what God has to say when there are so many mistakes and misconceptions and outright fakes out there?
I Samuel 3 is a story about listening to God. I think that it helps point us to some answers regarding how to listen to God as we focus on speaking with Him.
In the first couple chapters, we learn how Samuel was born in answer to Hannah’s prayer for a son. She’d promised to give him over for the Lord’s service, and she kept her word. Now, little Samuel is living in Shiloh, where the tabernacle is set up, and it’s during a time when Israel is done wandering around in the desert. Eli is the priest. His two sons were also supposed to be sharing in the leadership of worship, but they were evil, and Eli didn’t stop them. (v13) The situation was so bad, God was going to bring down judgment on the whole family. Nothing was going to change that. He had already told Eli it was coming. Spiritual leadership of Israel is at a low.
It shouldn’t be too surprising that we read in v.1 In those days the word of the LORD was rare; there were not many visions.
History suggests that Samuel was about 12 at this time. He was still just learning about God. But God had big plans for the little guy. He was being groomed to become the first among the prophets of Israel. God was going to use him for a lot of important events in Israel’s history. His whole life was about to change…
I Samuel 3:2-8
One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was. Then the LORD called Samuel…
Understand, this is in the middle of the night. Everyone’s asleep here. So, Samuel probably isn’t real alert. His name has just been called. There’s no one else around, so it had to have been Eli. So he runs and wakes Eli up. “Here I am! You called me.” Now, Eli’s not thinking real clearly either. “No I didn’t! Go back and lie down.” OK. So, Samuel’s thinking to himself, “Hmmm. I must have just been dreaming or something.”
Can you picture it? He’s just dozed off again, and it happens again. “Samuel!”
So, dazed again, Samuel runs into Eli’s room. “Here I am. You called me.”
"My son," Eli said, "I did not call; go back and lie down."
I wonder what he’s thinking this time as he wanders back to bed. The text gives us a note: “Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD: The word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him.” It doesn’t occur to Samuel that God is speaking to him. He’s sort of like a scientist who’s studying biology but who thinks life all occurred by chance. He’s right in the middle of it, but doesn’t realize what he’s looking at. Or you might say he’s like people who are part of a church but who never have a word from God. All they know is what man teaches them, and if God speaks, they don’t recognize His voice. That’s what any church is like where the word of God is rare.
So, Samuel’s dozing off again, more confused than the first time, and there’s the voice again, “Samuel!”
That’s it! Samuel gets up runs to Eli and says, I’m sure with more determination in his voice, “I’m here! You called me!”
Also by this time, Eli is less asleep than the first time, and it dawns on him: It’s the Lord. The Lord is calling the boy.
I’ve never had God call my voice and wake me up in the middle of the night. I’m not sure how I’d handle that. But I am sure that whenever God has something to say, I want to be listening. Especially in this context of prayer that we’re emphasizing. How can I be sure that I’m listening the way I should be? Well, let’s start by…
I. Being in the Right Place
Young Samuel may not have known the Lord real well yet. He may not have had the word of the Lord revealed to him yet, but he was definitely in the right place for it to happen. From the time he was old enough to leave home, he lived in the Lord’s House in Shiloh. Apparently the mobile place of worship that Israel had moved around all those years in the desert was now set up in a more permanent fashion, and for Samuel, that was home. His mentor was Eli the priest, who would serve there 40 years. Every day he woke up in the Lord’s house, and every night he’d go to sleep there. His days were filled with learning about the priesthood and about keeping things in order in the center of worship for Israel. His whole life was filled with that place of worship. Everywhere he looked there were reminders of God. In fact, all the designs of the tabernacle were shadows of spiritual things. There was a table of showbread, and altar of incense, the special lampstand; even special anointing oil that was used on the priests. Samuel’s life was filled with sights, sounds, and smells that all pointed him to God. Is it any wonder that he heard when God called?
If Samuel had been in Union Station, wide awake, and someone had called out his name, would he have heard?
Frankly, that probably describes the way a lot of our lives look. Union Station. If God is speaking to you, and your life is just one noisy stressed-out mess to the next one, how well are you going to hear?
God spoke to Samuel in the quiet. He was alone. He was in a setting that pointed his attention to God. Of course, that makes sense. If God wants us to hear Him, it makes sense that He’s going to speak to us in a setting where we actually listen.
Ill - I’m not always able to block out the noise of life. If the TV’s on, the phone rings, and I have 2 people trying to speak to me at the same time, I go bonkers. I also find it hard to listen. I have to turn off the TV. I have to turn down the stereo. I have to ask one person to wait so I can give the other my full attention.
How often in your life are you being in the right place to listen to God? How often do you get alone? How often do you go where it’s quiet? How often are you freed from distractions so you can actually listen? In Psalm 8, David says that God uses infants to bring Him praise. Then he goes on to talk about the way the heavens tell about God’s glory. You have to spend time with a baby, you have to look up at the stars, to say things like that. How often are you in the right place to listen to God?
For whatever Eli failed to do, he had just the right thing for Samuel to do.
I Samuel 3:9-10
So Eli told Samuel, "Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, 'Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.'" So Samuel went and lay down in his place. The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, "Samuel! Samuel!" Then Samuel said, "Speak, for your servant is listening."
We need to be in the place where we say, “Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.” It’s hard to say that unless we’re in the right posture to listen to God – away from the busy and the distractions, and giving God our attention.
We also might ask, how does God speak? Do we speak for a while and then just listen? When He speaks, will He sound like James Earl Jones or Morgan Freeman? How will I know it’s Him? How do I listen? We need to listen and …
II. Understanding How God Speaks
Joke – A man went out ice fishing., got out on the ice, took out his auger and starting drilling when he heard a voice: “There are no fish down there!” “Lord, is that You?” “No, it’s the owner of the skating rink. There are no fish down there!”
How God speaks is one subject a lot of people really aren’t sure about. I realize that God spoke out loud many times in the past. God spoke directly to Samuel, and at first that was so new to him he didn’t even know who it was! (turn to Heb 1)
2 weeks ago we read how God spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. I understand that God spoke through prophets and signs and visions. He even had a donkey speak to Balaam! But I also understand that there have been some changes in the way God speaks.
Hebrews 1:1-2
In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.
There has been a change in the way God reveals Himself. God spoke in different ways in the past, but now there have been some changes. He hasn’t obligated Himself to use the same ways He used to speak! It says right here that He has changed it in these last days. I want to suggest some ways that God speaks that we can appreciate, and that we can definitely hear.
1. The Bible
In Samuel’s day, a word from the Lord was rare. There’s nothing rare about a word from the Lord today! I understand that God has spoken through the Scriptures, and He continues to speak to me every time I read them. (out loud, together):
2 Timothy 3:16-17
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
To start with, we have a very thorough word from God! The reason God has given it to us is so that we’ll be thoroughly equipped for every good work. This is #1. When I tell you, “Hey, God said this to me!” not only can I show you exactly what He said to me, but you can see it in its exact context, with all its subtle nuances, with all of its same emotions and tone. He said it to me…and to you too!
The next time you’re reading your Bible, take the text, and listen to what God is saying. Try substituting your name in a text. Read it as from God to you. Listen to Him.
2. Teachers
Can God also use someone to get a point across to you without it being on the same level as Scripture? Sure! You already experienced it this morning. Someone wrote those songs you sang. Someone writes the Sunday School lessons, and someone teaches them. Those aren’t direct words on the same level as Scripture. They’re people that God uses to say something. In the same way, God uses good Christian friends to get to us.
Caiaphas, the high priest, was not a godly man. He received his appointment by Rome. He was among the power-hungry elite, and was preeminent in the arrest and trial of Jesus. In Jn 11, he’s talking to the Jewish counsel about Jesus and says,
John 11:49-51
"You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish." He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation,
Now, if God will do that with an ungodly man, why wouldn’t He be able to speak to you through a good Christian friend too? That’s not so mysterious! God may be communicating to you through people – reminding you of things you already know, and helping you to understand things from different perspectives. Listen to Him.
3. Direction of circumstances in your life.
Acts 10. An army officer in Caesarea, named Cornelius has been seeking God. He’s a gentile – a non-Jew. God visits him and tells him to send for Peter in Joppa. Meanwhile, back in Joppa, God gives Peter a vision on a rooftop. After the vision, the Holy Spirit tells Peter “There are 3 men down there. I’ve sent them to come get you. Go.” So Peter packs up and goes to Caesarea, where Cornelius has a whole house full of friends all gathered together to listen to Peter. He says, “Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us."
So Peter goes, “Oh, I get it!”
Have you ever had that happen? Have you ever looked back at the way circumstances seemed to fall into place and become convinced that something much bigger than you was going on? We have a word for that: Aha!
We have teachers in our church family. They know how satisfying it can be to work hard at getting a point across and suddenly you see the lights come on and students going, “Aha!”
Do you want to make God smile? Have an “Aha!” moment. Take some time and review life. Contemplate it. Put it all together. That’s listening to God. That’s listening to what He is showing you by His activity in your life. What have you learned by what He’s telling you? When was the last time you listened and said, “Aha!”?
4. Answered Prayer
We speak to God. We praise and thank Him. We ask Him to hear us and answer us. Whatever He does in response, we call “God’s answer” to prayer. You prayed. God answered. What’s He saying?
He might be saying, “No, I know what’s best, and what you’re asking for isn’t best.”
Or “You’re going to have to wait on this one. You have some growing to do, or the timing just isn’t right yet in the bigger scheme of things.”
Or He might be saying “Yes, I’m so glad you finally got around to praying for that. The answer is yes! Here’s what you asked for!”
Maybe He’s saying, “Put on your boots. You’re the answer to what you’re praying!”
So, you prayed for something lately. You did pray, didn’t you? What did God say? Understand that His answer to that prayer was one of the ways that God speaks. Listen to Him.
III. Discerning the Voice of God
Nov. 3, 2004, a man in Taipei, Taiwan, is visiting the zoo. He suddenly jumps into the lions’ den, and begins to witness to – the lions. “Jesus will save you!” he shouted to them. Apparently it worked, because right before they came over to eat him, people clearly heard one of the lions say, “For this meal we are about to receive, we are truly grateful. Amen” Just kidding. They didn’t really say that. And they didn’t exactly eat him – just chewed on him a little before he was rescued by zoo workers. Why did he did he witness to the lions? He heard voices telling him to.
By whatever means God conveys a message to you, it still needs to be able to pass the test. Friends can be wrong. Preachers can be wrong. Even Max Lucado can be wrong! Circumstances can be misinterpreted. Emotions can get in the way. Feelings can be wrong.
2005, Nathan Dorrell said he prayed about whether he should drive to Pinellas Park, FL. Then he got an answer. He said, "God told me to come, and juggle."
So Dorrell loaded his pregnant wife and two children into their minivan and made the 480-mile drive from Temple, GA. The family arrived at Hospice House Woodside on Wednesday morning and unpacked in a shady spot. There, they proceeded to juggle, out with the protesters who were there to keep vigil as Terri Schiavo struggled for her life inside. Nathan went and juggled. Because God told him to. Did he?
So, here are a couple of simple questions to ask any time someone or something seems to be a word from God. They’re actually 2 tests God gave to Israel to use…
1. Is it 100% consistent with everything else that God has clearly said?
Dt. 13 – if a prophet seems legitimate, and then he says, “Let’s go worship other gods.” Don’t listen to him. It’s not God speaking.
If something doesn’t fit with what God has already said in Scripture, forget it. It’s not God speaking. God isn’t going to say something and then contradict Himself later.
2. Is it 100% consistent with God’s character?
Dt 18:22 – if a prophet predicts something and it doesn’t happen, don’t listen to him. It’s not from God. If he’s right 95% of the time, and wrong 5% of the time, it’s not from God. It can’t be, because God doesn’t make mistakes. Neither does God lie or change His mind. That wouldn’t fit with His unchanging, perfectly holy character.
So many people feel like they need something new – some new idea – some additional word from God. The fact is, even if God uses other means to speak to us, none of it’s ever going to point us any direction different than the Scriptures. I don’t need another word from God to paste into my Bible. He has already given us everything we need. Everything else is extra.
Conclusion:
Here’s how this story concludes. It’s really how the future of Samuel starts:
I Samuel 3:19-21
The LORD was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the LORD. The LORD continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word.
Samuel’s life was changed that day - when God spoke and Samuel listened.
God has spoken to you today. You’ve heard His word. You’ve witnessed His presence in His people. You’ve been surrounded by a setting that has pointed you to Him. And right now, God is inviting you to a new life in Him.
Maybe through today’s experience God is telling you it’s time to commit to being with Him more often, alone. Maybe He’s reminding you that you need to be a part of a church family to grow in your life with Him. Maybe you hear His invitation to come and start a new life with Him.
(conclude with “Speak to Me”)
