SPEAK LORD!
FOR THY SERVANT HEARETH
I Samuel 3:7-10
“Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, neither was the word of the LORD yet revealed unto him. And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the LORD had called the child. Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go lie down: and it shall be, if He call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, LORD; for Thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in His place. And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for Thy servant heareth.”
Learning how to hear the voice of God is the solution to so many of our problems that we face today.
• His voice is LOVE
• His voice is POWER
• His voice is HEALING
• His voice is WISDOM
• His voice is JOY
Is God’s voice the loudest in our lives?
Everyone wants to have his or her voice heard, but has so little to say, because we do so little listening, especially to God. If we are not willing to listen to everything God has to say to us, we eventually will not hear anything He says.
COME CLOSER
When God wants to be heard, when he wants to say something really important, He often speaks in a whisper, just above the absolute threshold of hearing. Whispering is typically employed for the sake of secrecy. No form of communication is more intimate than whispering. When God whispers, He expects us to lean towards Him to hear Him. Just like how people lean in to hear what another person whispers, to hear what the latter has to say carefully.
Listening to the Heavenly Father’s voice is not only about hearing His voice, but it’s also about intimacy with Him. He wants us to know how much He loves us!
What a gentle God we have!
The Almighty God could intimidate us with His outside voice, but He woos us with a whisper, to let us know how special and a peculiar people we are to Him. And His whisper is the very breath of life, because God used His breath to whisper into the dust to make Adam in His image. We are all the living Whisper of God.
When we hear God’s voice and walk according to His commands, we may do some things that will make people think we’re crazy, but so be it. The main thing is to obey the voice of God and see God work miracles.
I Kings 19:11-13
“And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?”
A HIDING PLACE
Psalms 32:7
“Thou art my hiding place; Thou shalt preserve me from trouble; Thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance.”
It is always effective to shush a crowd with a 'shhh' than yelling on the top of our voice. That’s the method God employs. His whisper quiets us, calms us, and stills us. When our lives get loud, with noise filling every frequency, we lose our sense of being. We run the risk of turning into human 'doings' rather than human 'beings'. And when our schedules get busy, we lose our sense of balance, which is a function of the inner ear.
Silence is proactive listening. And each day God’s voice gets louder in our lives until He’s all we can hear. If we want to hear the heart of God, silence is key. If we want the Spirit of God to fill us, be still.
One of the psalmists refers to God as the “Hiding place”. God is singing songs of deliverance all around us all the time. We can’t hear them because they’re outside our range of hearing. Those songs of deliverance are powerful enough to break any bondage, overcome any addiction, and solve any problem. We should learn to discern God’s voice. When we do, His songs of deliverance can set us free! We should quit hiding from God and hide ourselves in Him.
Disclaimer: This is a modified excerpt from "Whisper: How to hear The Voice of God" by Mark Batterson from the Youversion reading plans.