"Speak, For Thy Servant Heareth” (1 Of 2)

There is a commercial on television by the Verizon phone company, where a man walks around with a cell phone in a large city, and he repeatedly says, “Can you hear me now?”

The purpose of the commercial is to show us that if you have this particular cell phone you can hear from anywhere.

One of the great needs of our life is for us to hear from the Lord in the various places we find ourselves. Many go to church each Sunday and hear the preaching of God’s Word. They hear it with their ears, but they do not really hear it.

This is a common problem for school teachers. They are teaching and the students are sitting there listening, but they aren’t really listening.

Illus: One day a math teacher saw one of her students “Day Dreaming” and said, “Billy, If you have five haystacks in one corner, five in another and two in another, how many would you have?” Little Billy said, “One big haystack!”

Illus: A history teacher saw little Susie “Day Dreaming” and said, “Susie, do you file your nails?” She said, “No, I just throw them away!”

Illus: Another teacher saw Joey “Day Dreaming” in her class and asked him, “What can we do to stop polluting our waters?” Joey said, “We can stop taking baths!”

Illus: Another teacher said to a child “Day Dreaming” in her class, “Mickey, stop your day dreaming.” Mickey said, “I wasn't day dreaming, I was taking a nap!”

But in all fairness, some children do learn in school.

One of the problems among people is that we hear but we do not really hear. Franklin Roosevelt was very much aware of this problem.

Illus: The story is told of Franklin Roosevelt, who often endured long receiving lines at the White House. He complained that no one really paid any attention to what was said. One day, during a reception, he decided to try an experiment.

To each person who passed down the line and shook his hand, he murmured, "I murdered my grandmother this morning."

The guests responded with phrases like,

• "Marvelous! Keep up the good work.”

• “We are proud of you!

• “God bless you, sir."

It was not until the end of the line, while greeting the ambassador from Bolivia, that his words were actually heard. The ambassador leaned over and whispered, "I’m sure she had it coming."

Now some folks do hear, but they have “Selective hearing.”

Illus: In a jury pool, Ann Ripp watched people trying to persuade the judge to exempt them from serving.

One man explained that he had a severe hearing problem and wouldn’t be able to follow the proceedings. “You’re excused,” the judge informed him. “What did you say?” the man asked. The judge repeated himself and motioned to the exit.

As the man reached the door, the judge told the clerk, “Juror No. 9 is excused, but he will still be paid for his time.” The man who was hard of hearing said, “Thank you, Your Honor!”

Some hear but they do not really hear, while others seem to have selective hearing.

God is trying to communicate with His people. The Word of God makes that clear. Look at:

• Rev. 2:29, "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches."

• Heb. 1:1-2, “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;.”

I must tell you that I have never had the Lord to speak to me in an audible voice. And it probably is best, because I am sure it would scare me to death if He actually did!

But God does speak! HOW DOES GOD SPEAK TO US?

I. HE SPEAKS TO US THROUGH PRAYER

This is difficult for some folks to understand because their prayer life consists of calling upon God when they have a need. They have a laundry list of things they want God to do for them, and when they get through, they jump up and more or less say, “I will talk to you later when I need something else!”

But notice, their prayer life consists of them doing all the talking and God doing all the listening.

Illus: Have you ever talked with someone and you could not get a word in edgewise? Isn’t that frustrating? They use ten thousand words for what could be said in 150 words. They start to talk and do not know when to stop!

That is exactly what many do with the Lord Jesus. The only kind of praying they know anything about is where they do all the talking and the Lord does all the listening.