When we lived in Michigan I woke up early in the morning and found myself in that place between wakefulness and dreams. I heard these babies crying and realized that I don't have babies anymore. They were grown up. What I heard was 2 cats fighting on the fence… Sounded like babies crying.
I tried shouting out the window but as cats do, they just ignored me and went back to screaming at each other. I tried throwing a milk jug, which also did nothing. In desperation, I began running in the yard chasing the cats.
And then there was this moment of clarity. When I realized that I’m now running around in my yard, in my underwear, at 3 o’clock in the morning and I have no idea where the clothesline is.
Have you ever had one of those experiences when you are in the middle of something dramatic, comical or intense when you have a moment of clarity?
When I was in grade 3 we had this table of headphones that were plugged into a central station. The headphones were on a wire and the cord was plugged into a central hub. Each Jack had its own volume control. It was a pretty cool thing when I was a kid. The teacher would put on a record and a group of us would sit and listen with the headphones on, while another group of students did something else. The sound didn’t bother the other students. The problem was that my friend sitting next to me got his and my volume control mixed up. When he turned up the volume and didn’t hear any change he kept turning up the volume. Needless to say, I had to yell over the top of the volume in my head because I couldn’t hear my own voice. I couldn’t hear my own voice because of the noise in my ears.
There are lots of times in our life when we’re not paying attention. There are times when we have a moment of clarity.
There are noises that drown out the voice of God. These noises keep us from hearing God and paying attention when he’s trying to speak. I think that God wants to get our attention but often times the noise in our ears is so loud that we can’t hear his voice.
If you’re like me, you have your fair share of problems. Maybe your problem-solving technique is just as ineffective as mine. Is it possible that what we perceive to be relational, emotional and spiritual problems are actually hearing problems? Do we have ears that are deaf to the voice of God?
Learning how to hear the voice of God is the solution to a thousand problems! It’s also the key to discovering our destiny and fulfilling our potential.
God’s voice is love, power, healing, wisdom, and joy!
Central Idea: Are you paying attention to those moments (Kairos) when God is trying to get your attention?
“Kairos” is the Greek word for “a moment in time.” We’re more familiar with the term Chronos which means successive or sequential time, the kind of time you find on your wristwatch.
God wants to break through the moments of our lives, so we can experience a growth process. Throughout this series were going to be looking at how God speaks to us. The first and primary way is the Bible. It is the first and final word of God. Everything we hear from God must be consistent with what the bible teaches. But God also speaks to us through the circumstances of our life, through promptings and pain. He also speaks to us through our desires and other people.
Maybe the rhythm and timing of your life is off because you have been listening to the voice in your head or the voice of the devil which is condemnation and lies. If we don’t silence those competing voices and pay attention to when God speaks, we will miss out on when God is trying to get our attention. Maybe you just don’t know which voice is which?
If God truly wants to speak to us, then maybe our problem is not that he isn’t speaking but rather we’re not paying attention or we don’t recognize his voice.
Many of us have a hard time listening and paying attention when God speaks.
1 Samuel 3:1-7 The Lord Speaks to Samuel
Meanwhile, the boy Samuel served the Lord by assisting Eli. Now in those days messages from the Lord were very rare, and visions were quite uncommon.2 One night Eli, who was almost blind by now, had gone to bed.3 The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was sleeping in the Tabernacle[a] near the Ark of God. 4 Suddenly the Lord called out, “Samuel!”
“Yes?” Samuel replied. “What is it?” 5 He got up and ran to Eli. “Here I am. Did you call me?”
“I didn’t call you,” Eli replied. “Go back to bed.” So, he did.
6 Then the Lord called out again, “Samuel!”
Again, Samuel got up and went to Eli. “Here I am. Did you call me?”
“I didn’t call you, my son,” Eli said. “Go back to bed.”
7 Samuel did not yet know the Lord because he had never had a message from the Lord before.
Samuel is inexperienced in the way of God. He’s not experienced him in a way that leads to an intimate and lasting relationship with God.
Many of you will find yourself in positions where you are willing to serve God….yet you haven’t really experienced the powerful voice of God in your life. The voice of God calling upon your life to serve him not for service sake but because of what Christ has done for you.
Maybe you said to yourself, “I have never experienced hearing the voice of God.” Maybe you don’t believe that God will actually speak to you.
1 Samuel 3:8-10 So the Lord called a third time, and once more Samuel got up and went to Eli. “Here I am. Did you call me?”
Then Eli realized it was the Lord who was calling the boy. 9 So he said to Samuel, “Go and lie down again, and if someone calls again, say, ‘Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.’” So, Samuel went back to bed.
10 And the Lord came and called as before, “Samuel! Samuel!”
Would you be willing to pray a bold prayer at the beginning of this series? It’s an ancient prayer. It’s a prayer that can change the direction of your life, just as it did for Samuel. Before you pray it, let me issue one warning. If you aren’t willing to listen to everything God has to say you may eventually miss out on what he has to say.
If you want to hear his comforting voice, you have to listen to his convicting voice. Because it’s often what you want to hear the least that is often what we need to hear the most.
Alright… Here are the 6 words.
1 Samuel 3:10 And Samuel replied, “Speak Lord, your servant is listening.”
When I left high school I never thought that I would read a book again. And for a couple of years that was true. But then I got a job working shifts. I would be home alone when my wife was at work and I would have extra time during the night shifts to read a book. Over the course of my life, I have found the joy of reading. I love fiction, science fiction, mysteries, biographies and theology.
What I discovered over my life is that I learn through reading and studying. A favourite author of mine, Tim Keller said this;
“When you listen and read one thinker, you become a clone… two thinkers, you become confused… ten thinkers, you’ll begin developing your own voice… two or three hundred thinkers, you become wise and develop your voice.”
I also heard that the average author invests approximately 2 years of life experience into every book he or she writes, so if you think about it this way, your gaining 2 years of life experience for every book you read. If I think about it for me, since I have read over 2000 books,
That makes me over 4000 in book years! And I have gray hair to prove it!
Scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer once said, "The best way to send an idea is to wrap it up in a person." The theological word for all of that is the incarnation, meaning "in the flesh." Jesus was the incarnation of God. Jesus was the way that God sent His "idea" to humanity; there was and is no better way!
Like the little girl who said, "Some people couldn't hear God's inside whisper and so He sent Jesus to tell them out loud."
I love books! But one book falls in the category of its own! The Bible.
For 2 reasons
1. It’s living and active. (Hebrews 4:12) We don’t just read the Bible, it reads us. The apostle Paul describes it as “inspired” or in another translation, “God-breathed". When we read the Bible we’re inhaling what the Holy Spirit exhaled thousands of years ago. We’re hearing the voice of God.
2. We never get to the bottom of the Bible. No matter how many times we read the Bible, it never gets old, because it’s timeless and timely.
2 Timothy 3:16 (NLT)16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.
It teaches us, generation after generation, what is true…
It helps us realize, moment by moment, what’s wrong…
On the journey of faith, it corrects our faulty navigation…
For the future, it shows us which choices to make.
So how do we hear from God in the Bible? There are three basic Steps in every bible Study.
1. What is God saying in the text? For me, when I read the Bible, I often read until I come to a verse that gives me cause to pause. Sometimes I find the text confusing, so I do some research. I have a study Bible which is often more than enough to understand what God is saying in the verses I’ve just read. Most often though, is pretty plain.
2. What is God saying to me? Sometimes I find it convicting which leads to confession. Sometimes the text sparks in me a conviction to do something.
3. What am I going to do about it? This is a call to obedience. What am I going to do about what God has said to me? Will I confess to God my sin? Will I listen to the prompting of God to do something? Or will I leave it right there and never received the transformation that comes from being obedient to the word of God?
Here are some suggestions for hearing the voice of God.
Download a reading plan from YouVersion Bible app. Some of you may be familiar with the old Sunday school activity called "sword drills". The Sunday school teacher would shout out a Bible reference and everyone with a Bible in their hand would try and find it. The first person to find it would put their Bible up in the air. They would then read that verse to the group. I did this one Sunday recently with the YouVersion Bible app. I asked a bunch of people to be ready during the service and I showed how simple it would be to have the Bible on your phone and find Scriptures related to subject matter like prayer, mercy, and faith. Many people were surprised at how quickly they were able to find Scripture verses based upon a small portion of what they remembered from the verse.
Read the Bible from cover to cover.
Read it in a new translation every few years to keep it fresh.
Keep a notebook, journal and write down what you hear God saying to you and keep yourself accountable by writing what you’re going to do in response to what God is saying.
Join a small group, allow God to speak from the bible to the people in your group and see how it moves and impacts their lives. Have real conversations about what you think God is saying.
One way or another, get God’s word into you. Only then can the Holy Spirit speak through the Scripture.
Reading is only the first step. Unfortunately, that’s where most people stop. The most important step after reading is actually making a plan and if necessary having someone hold you accountable to follow through on that plan.
I wish hearing the voice of God was as easy as reading, but it’s not. It requires some meditation, prayer and contemplation. It’s only when we slow ourselves, remove the noise, unplug the headphones, and put down the phone that the Holy Spirit has time to speak.
GK Chesterton said this: “Christianity has not so much been tried and found wanting, it has been found difficult and left un tried.”
It’s not until you obey it, that it will transform your life.
I wonder what would happen if we all agreed to read one of the Gospels, until we came to a place that told us to do something, then went out to do it, and only after we had done it… Began reading again?
What would happen? God’s kingdom would come and his will would be done! That’s what happens when hearers of the word become doers of it.
Do it! Then see what God does!
References:
Building a Discipling Culture by Mike Breen, 2011
The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson
