We are beginning a 7 week series on prayer today, and I have to admit I’m pretty excited! I hope that over the course of these next few weeks, you establish both a greater understanding and passion about what prayer is and what it isn’t - I really feel that if we can help every person at Restoration connect with the voice of God, then you will have everything you need to access the power we talk about every week – I say it often, but the simplest view of the spiritual life is this: hear the voice of God, and do what he says.

At the outset, let’s get a good definition of prayer: Communication with God – I talk, he listens (we’re too familiar with this), and he talks, I listen (we are less familiar with this) – think of it this way: if you have people in your life that tend to talk at you and not with you, you probably either endure those relationships, or limit your exposure – So, prayer is not simply MONOLOGUE, but DIALOGUE –

The Bible is full of stories of God’s interaction with his people, and he spoke in many different ways, through a burning bush, through prophets, visions, angels, through his audible voice – today is no different – since the beginning of the year, people have shared with me that they have heard God speak through a song on the radio, through scripture, through a vision or dream, through an impression, through a circumstance in their life – last week, I got super emotional during our last service – 5 services over two days was a lot, and I really wanted the last service to be as impactful as the first – what started as emotion turned into a cryfest on the front row, and by the time I got up on stage, I was a mess – the whole time I am trying to determine why I’m so emotional – I realize I’m overwhelmed by his presence – Just as I got on stage, I heard the voice of the Lord say “John 2 – I’ve saved the best for last” – John 2, wedding at Cana, Jesus turns water into wine, and when the master of the banquet tasted it, he said, “you have saved the best till now” – God was reminding me that this is his church and he has the endurance to move and speak as he pleases.

I want us to begin our series with a look at how God interacted with a boy named Samuel – 1 Samuel 3:1-10

V1 – Eli was a priest who was known for a couple of things: blessing Hannah, Samuel’s mom, when she was praying to conceive a son (prays a famous prayer in chapter 2), and having two evil sons, Phineas and Hophni, who were eating the best part of sacrifices and sleeping with women in the tabernacle – 1 Samuel 2:12 - scoundrels – at the end of chapter 2, God prophesied to Eli that the lineage of priest would no longer go through his bloodline because he allowed them to continue robbing God – he will raise up a new priest.

Samuel was a young boy, probably 12 or 13, and he served under Eli – and not many people were hearing or seeing God during this season – this tells us something: leadership matters – the so-called spiritual leaders were not actually fostering an environment where people could hear or see God- And God is about to move in spite of the fact that the spiritual leaders had lost their way – This is a great reminder in a season where we see famous pastors seemingly dropping like flies – God wants to use people, but he is perfectly capable without them.

V2-3 – Eli was losing his sight, both physically and spiritually, and he was laying in his room in the tabernacle, and Samuel was sleeping in a room nearby in close proximity – because Eli was going blind, maybe Samuel was staying close in case he was needed in the middle of the night – and the writer makes sure we know that the ark of God was there – this is not Noah’s ark ( a boat), but a casing, similar to a coffin, that carried the presence of God - 3 things in it – the rod of Aaron, the stone tablets with 10 commandments on them and a jar of manna – (the POWER, LAW and PROVISION) –

V4-5 - the Lord called to Samuel – Here is the first thing we need to see: God’s voice sounded like the voice of an ordinary man – This is so important – We tend to think that God’s voice is like a clap of thunder, or James Earl Jones, when in reality, he speaks in a voice we can easily understand.

Pete Greig, pastor and author, in book How to Hear God (show BOOK COVER image) said this: (Read pg 126-127) – this is SO GOOD and SO NEEDED for us to understand – God is always speaking, we just have to learn to recognize his voice, and once you do, you find that he’s been speaking to you all along – “most of the time we miss the voice of God not because it’s too strange but because it’s too familiar” –

Samuel mistook God’s voice for Eli’s, but I love that Samuel was predisposed toward obedience – his response was to run to Eli, ready to do whatever he needed.
V6-7 – God calls Samuel a second time, and again mistakes his voice for Eli – “Go lay back down” – “Samuel did not yet know the LORD. The word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him” – If we take Samuel and drop him into 2022, I think he would fit well in the church – he was passionate about serving God, ready to do whatever at a moment’s notice, but didn’t yet recognize God’s voice, so oriented himself to follow Eli’s voice.

Now, every one of us needs a spiritual mentor – you need someone to inspire, encourage and challenge you in your relationship with God – and, at times, God will use those people to speak to you – but they should NEVER be a replacement for God himself – he wants to speak to you directly, just as he was trying to do with Samuel.

A friend of mine, hears God’s voice – go to him often for wisdom – but he cannot be replacement for the voice of God in my life – God may use him to speak to me at times, but I need to also be orienting my life around hearing him directly in the secret place, where I sit, ask questions, and then journal what I’m hearing.

V8-9 – 3rd time, God calls Samuel – God is persistent – he continues to call – Eli clearly had heard God’s voice in the past, because he now realizes what is going on – the prophecy is coming to fulfillment – God is calling Samuel – and he tells him to simply say, “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening”.

This is the crux of the message this morning, and the most underused part of prayer – LISTEN.
We live in a culture of white noise – the TV is always on in the background, or music always playing in public spaces as white noise – I sleep with a fan – I can’t sleep in silence, and maybe I wasn’t meant to – Because when there is silence, and I am alone with my thoughts, that is when the voice of God is most discernable – I have to learn to practice Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God”

Here is how I practice the art of listening – I get still and quiet, I ask God questions, and I sit, journal ready, to write down whatever I am hearing – sometimes it is scripture - if it is God, it will always align with his word – sometime it is an encouragement or a direct answer to a question – here is the thought – If I am asking God questions, why am I not expecting an answer?

Talking to someone the other day about a decision they needed to make – asked them what they felt God saying – said, “I am hearing that I should do it, but I think that’s just me, because it’s what I want” – my response: “Why do we automatically assume that if God speaks, it will be against the desire of my heart?” If you are pursuing God daily, he is aligning your life with his life, so your desires become his – he wants good things for you – move in obedience to what you think you are hearing.

V10 – “The Lord came and stood there…” – this is pretty cool – remember last week, I said if you want to see Jesus in the Bible, he’s on every page – here he is in the life of Samuel – God stood in the room – what does God look like in the physical? Colossians 1:15 says Jesus is the image of the invisible God – John 1:14 says that the Word (Jesus) became flesh and made his dwelling among us – Hebrews 1:3 says that Jesus is the exact representation of the Father – so, when the Lord revealed himself to Samuel, he probably looked like Jesus! How cool is that?

God goes on to call Samuel to be a prophet, a mouthpiece for Israel – He uses him to anoint Saul as the first king of Israel, to rebuke Saul and to anoint David as King – Samuel had a great adventure with God, but he could easily have missed it had he not made himself available and learned to recognize his voice.

Close:
1. God wants you to be understood. Remember, God wants his voice to become familiar to you. He wants to interact with you. “He impregnates the natural with the supernatural and makes the mundane holy. …and he comes to us, disguised as our own life.” – Jeremiah 29:11-14

2. Learn to LISTEN expectantly. Assume that God wants to speak to you, and be prepared to journal when he does. Remember, this is DIALOGUE nor MONOLOGUE – also remember, he never contradicts his word.

3. Practice moving in BOLD OBEDIENCE to what you hear. Hearing is one thing. Obedience is what unleashes the power of God. If you want to experience the power of God in your life, move in obedience to his voice.