Real Peole , Real Problems A Study Of 1 Samuel Part 3c, Benefits Of Hearing Series

Real People- Real Problems

A study of 1 Samuel

Hearing God- Part 3c

“Benefits of Hearing God”

1 Samuel 3:10

Happy Father’s day

Recognize Fathers – Oldest- Youngest- Most-est

Today we are going to take just a little different approach to father’s day

On Mother’s day we celebrate Moms

We glorify them a bit

Make them feel special

Which they are

But

On Father’s day

Typically we mash on Dad a bit

We talk a lot about how we as men of God

Should

Raise

Treat

Love and lead our Kids

Every once in a while you will get a sermon that makes a Dad glad he is a Dad

But mostly

Men get a

You can do it better sermon

And yes we all can

But

Today instead I am going to simply continue on in our series

In 1 Samuel about Real People with Real Problems

And more specifically with the series in a series

About Hearing God

I chose to not change directions

Not do a special Father’s day sermon

Because

I believe God’s word

Speaks with more authority than I do

I believe he has a far better plan than I do

And I find that where we are in this series in a series

Has direct application on how to be a good and Godly Father

And for you girls

How to be a good and Godly Mom

In the first of this miniseries we discussed

Through the story of Samuels call

How God speaks to us

Remember the Different ways the wranglers at Bishop called to their animals----

Same with Us

God uses many ways to speak to his creation

To recap

God speaks directly to our hearts through the Holy Spirit

God speaks to our minds though his written word

God speaks to our ears through his church

God speaks to our senses through his wonderful creation- in so many ways

I could spend vast amounts of time telling you about the wonderful way he speaks in the small things of this life

But he has spoken in this time and still speaks to us though his Son Jesus

Christ

The voice of God in the person of his Son Jesus shows us

True love

Shows us how to live a sinless life

Shows us True self sacrifice

True forgiveness

Jesus shows us the perfect example of how we should be striving to be

So we saw that God does indeed speak today in many ways

But

As we studied the next week we often have trouble

Hearing

Listening

And responding to God’s voice

I told you last week how inexperience can be a barrier

It was originally a barrier to Samuel

He did not recognize God’s voice

Because he had never heard God’s voice before

Or maybe he had heard the voices but did not understand they were God

I showed you how we develop experience by reading and studying God’s word

By seeking to hear his voice

By praying and asking his guidance and direction

We talked about the responsibility of those believers with experience to help the inexperienced gain the necessary experience- praying with and for the lost and new believers

Giving good Godly council- being available to answer questions

Next we talked about the lack of expectations

Samuel did not know it was God at first who was speaking

Because he was not expecting God to speak to him

He was a boy

He had no experience

He had no maturity

He was not a priest

He was Just a regular guy

But we saw how Samuel began expecting to hear the voice of God

And as a result

God began using him in mighty ways

And we discussed how God can and does speak to us

And that when we learn to get up every day expecting to hear God

He really begins working in and through our lives

Next we talked about wiliness or better yet

Unwillingness

When Samuel finally realized it was God speaking

He said

“Speak Lord, you servant is listening”

In simple terms

He said

Use me Lord

As Isaiah the prophet said

“Here I am send me”

He was willing to step up to the plate

He was willing to climb over the back of the chute sit down, slide up and nod for God to use him from a cowboy perspective

And we saw how we and those around us often don’t hear the voice of God

Or don’t respond to the voice of God

Because they are unwilling to hear or unwilling to respond to what they hear

Fear

Uncertainty

Selfishness

Pride

Arrogance

And so many more things can be the root of this unwillingness

But ultimately they miss the blessing of God

By missing the sound of his voice

Through the unwillingness to listen