How to Hear from God

• 1 Samuel 3; 1, “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.”

• The word of the Lord was precious or rare. Speaking to believers in Rev. 3; 20, Jesus says,” “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.

• In other words, the question isn’t whether Jesus is speaking. The question is: Are we listening?

• There’s no question God speaks. Psalm 29 tells us His voice is so powerful that it moves mountains and clears forests. The question is, are God’s people tuning in? Are they able to perceive & receive the word He speaks constantly?

• There are numerous voices speaking via radio & television waves traveling through any given location. The fact that we don’t hear them is not because those voices aren’t present, but because we’re not tuned in to them. Our antenna isn’t up, our TV sets aren’t on.

• The same thing is true spiritually (John 10; 27=27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.) Our Shepard speaks constantly. The question is, are we tuned in to His frequency? Am I picking up & receiving what He’s saying?

• I see four questions answered in the passage before us…

• To Whom Does God Speak? 1 Sam 3; 2” One night Eli, who was almost blind by now, had gone to bed.”

In the temple, there was an experienced, professional priest named Eli. He may have had all his seminary degrees, but he didn’t hear God’s voice. God bypassed him and spoke to a child instead.

Jesus said,” I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” Luke 18;17

• Children have an amazing receptivity:

1. Having the quality of receiving, taking in, or admitting.
2. Able or quick to receive knowledge, ideas, etc.: a receptive mind.
3. Willing or inclined to receive suggestions, offers, etc., with favor: a receptive listener.
4. Of or pertaining to reception or receptors: a receptive end organ.
5. (In language learning) of or pertaining to the language skills of listening and reading (opposed to productive).


& expectancy:
.
1. The quality or state of expecting; expectation; anticipatory belief or desire.
2. The state of being expected.
3. An object of expectation; something expected.


• As people get older & more knowledgeable, they begin to look down on hearing the voice of the Lord. “God doesn’t speak to us in that way today,” they say. Eli represents the old order & what can happen when one loses his sense of wonder & expectancy.

• Have you become an old professional? Are you saying in your soul,” I’ve heard all this. I know all that”? If so, you’ll not hear the voice of the Lord. It’s when you retain a childlike excitement about the things of God that He will speak to you.

• When did God speak? 1 Samuel 3; 3 the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was sleeping in the Tabernacle near the Ark of God. 4 Suddenly the Lord called out, “Samuel!”

• Samuel was ministering to the Lord when God spoke to him. Ministering to the Lord is different from ministering for Him. Ministering for the Lord is teaching a lesson, giving a sermon, helping someone in His name. Ministering to the Lord, on the other hand, is drawing near to Him personally & privately.

• Ministry to the Lord takes place not on stage, but in the pew. Ministry to the Lord is not about what others see us do, but what the Lord alone enjoys as we spend time w/ Him. Ministering to the Lord is the highest calling in life, & every single one of us can do it.

• I love my wife when she does laundry for me or makes dinner for me. But those things can’t begin to compare to the love I feel when she’s ministering to me. –being by my side, sharing w/ me, loving me. The same is true of the Lord. When you minister to Him, it’s a far higher calling than ministering for Him. (Ezekiel 44)

• 1 Samuel 3; 4b; “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.

• 1 Samuel 3; 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.

8 So the Lord called a third time, and once more Samuel got up and went to Eli. “Here I am. Did you call me?”

• Notice at this point, Samuel didn’t know the Lord personally. He hadn’t yet heard from the Lord audibly. But he knew about the Lord. Samuel knew that, as God, He deserved worship & affection. Samuel didn’t yet know the Lord, but here he is, year after year, ministering to the Lord.

• Ministering to the Lord before ministering for Him is also seen in the book of Acts…

• “13; 2 One day as these men were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Dedicate Barnabas and Saul for the special work to which I have called them.”

• This verse should be noted by anyone who wants to be a servant of Jesus Christ, for it was as Paul & Barnabas ministered to the Lord that He separated them for ministry.

Find ways you can minister to the Lord, where no one else sees what you’re doing, but where you are pleasing the Lord because He’s worthy.

• Where Did the Lord Speak?

1 Samuel 3; 8 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!”
And Samuel replied, “Speak, your servant is listening.”

• Samuel was in the temple. As a new believer, I heard the voice of the Lord through the teaching of His Word through my pastor as well as from other Christians. And as the years go by, I still hear His voice most clearly & most frequently in the temple/at church.

• If you want the Lord to speak to you and give guidance to you, be in the temple. As the days go by, you’ll discover that it’s the place He’ll speak to you most frequently.

Another help in hearing from God is taking notes during the message and then looking up the scriptures later on your own.

Acts 17; 11= and the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth.

• I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been around people after the service to hear how God has spoken to them through a message that my pastor has ministered to them through. Why do they hear them? Because, as He did to Samuel, it was God speaking to them in the temple.

• Why Did God Speak to Samuel?

– 1 Samuel 3; 11 =Then the LORD said to Samuel, “I am about to do a shocking thing in Israel. 12 I am going to carry out all my threats against Eli and his family, from beginning to end. 13 I have warned him that judgment is coming upon his family forever, because his sons are blaspheming God] and he hasn’t disciplined them. 14 So I have vowed that the sins of Eli and his sons will never be forgiven by sacrifices or offerings.”

• God didn’t speak to Eli. He spoke to Samuel. Why? I suggest it was because Sam got out of bed.

God talks to us in the middle of the night as well. But we think it’s the pizza or our husband’s snoring or the caffeine from the double latte we ordered earlier that keeps us up.

I’m convinced, however, the Lord speaks to our souls at night because it’s the only time our hearts are quiet enough to hear Him. The question is,” Will I respond?”


• When I do, I hear Him say,” There’s something I want to talk over w/ you. I have direction to give you. I have a word of correction for you.

If you want your dreams to come true, you’ve got to get out of bed! Four times in one night, Samuel got out of bed to check out what was going on. On the fourth time, he discovered it was the Lord all along.

God interrupts your sleep or your life, your plans & your schedule, because He wants you to hear from Him.

1 Samuel 3; 15-21- Samuel stayed in bed until morning then got up and opened the doors of the Tabernacle as usual. He was afraid to tell Eli what the LORD had said to him. 16 but Eli called out to him, “Samuel, my son.”

“Here I am,” Samuel replied.

17 “What did the LORD say to you? Tell me everything. And may God strike you and even kill you if you hide anything from me!” 18 So Samuel told Eli everything; he didn’t hold anything back. “It is the LORD’s will,” Eli replied. “Let him do what he thinks best.”

19 as Samuel grew up, the LORD was with him, and everything Samuel said proved to be reliable.

20 And all Israel, from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the LORD. 21 The LORD continued to appear at Shiloh and gave messages to Samuel there at the Tabernacle.

• God not only spoke to Samuel because of his responsiveness, but because of his tenderness. Samuel didn’t want to say to Eli,” Eli, you’re in trouble. You haven’t disciplined your sons. Now judgment is coming to you and your family. And it’s too late for any sacrifices to make up for what you’ve done.”


• Living in the temple, Samuel no doubt observed Eli’s sons and was aware of their immorality & problems. Therefore, he could have said,” Aha! At last these guys are getting what they deserve.” But that wasn’t the heart of Samuel. Nor was it the heart of Daniel.


• Before Daniel gave Nebuchadnezzar the interpretation of his dream, he said,” I wish this dream applied to your worst enemy rather than to you, for you’re going to go insane like an animal for seven years and eat grass like a cow in the fields. “


• Daniel could have said,” Great! It’s about time God brings Nebuchadnezzar down a notch or two.” But that wasn’t the heart of Daniel, nor is it the heart of anyone who is in tune w/ God.


• Whatever God speaks to you must be enveloped in tenderness & love. Even if the message is a difficult one, it’s always to be delivered in humility and kindness.