HEARING FROM GOD

By Doreen Lifard

It has been a while now since the last sermon we got to share. I am grateful to God for this opportunity that we have once again to get to explore His word. 

Today, we are going to talk about hearing from God. Can we really hear God in this period of time where there is too much noise around us? The answer is YES!

It will be very nice if you read the book of 1 Samuel chapter 3, the sermon will base on this chapter.

In summary, the story is about the first time when the prophet Samuel was called by God. If you are a good student of the word of God you will be aware of how Samuel was born. He was the answer to his mother's (Hannah) prayers. 1 Samuel 1:11 says "And she made a vow, saying, "O Lord Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head." "

Samuel was taken to the house of the Lord at a very tender age, the bible says after he was weaned (verse 22 of the first chapter).

Back to chapter 3. The bible says the word of God by then was  rare and there were not many vision. God called Samuel four times before starting to speak to him, and the first three times, he responded to Eli until the moment when Eli told him what to say so as to give God a chance to say what He wanted to say to him.

Verse 7 of the third chapter says "Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him"

We see in verse 9 and 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.”"

What I want us to grasp from this chapter concerning hearing from God is that

1.   God wants to speak to us, He longs to speak to us even though the word of God may be rare to others or you may be around people with no vision.

2.   Your age does not matter, God can still speak to you. For example, Samuel was only a small boy.

3.   We need to know the word of God to measure against what we here because God will never say anything to you that is against His own word from the bible.

4.   The more we respond to what God says, the more we hear from Him. For example when Samuel responded to the call, God started to speak and told him so many things.

5.   We need some teachings, a teacher or let’s say a mentor can help us learn more on how to hear from God. Take an example of Samuel and Eli, Eli was there long before and he has been working for God for so long and so Samuel had so much to learn from Eli. Eli was the one who taught him how to respond.

   6. God speaks to us often; I came to notice that there were so many times when I came to realize that at so and so moment God spoke to me about a certain thing. Put more focus on what you hear from within you. God speaks to us more often than we think. Sometimes we think it is just our thoughts but in real sense, God drops His ideas into our mind so many times. God speaks to us through some other people around us. God speaks to us through nature and all that is around us. God speaks to everyone, getting closer to God helps us hear Him even louder. Work more on your relationship with God!!!

Have a good time and God bless you so much!!!

MORE AT: http://lifarddoreen.blogspot.com/