HEARING THE VOICE OF GOD
By Warrior Richardson
“Then the Lord called Samuel. Samuel answered, ‘Here I am.’ And he ran to Eli and said, ‘Here I am; you called me.’ But Eli said, ‘I did not call; go back and lie down.’ so he went and lay down. Again the Lord Called, ‘ Samuel!’ And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, ‘Here I am; you called me.’ ‘My son,’ Eli said, ‘I did not call; go back and lie down.’ Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord; The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. The Lord called Samuel a third time, and Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, ‘Here I am; you called me.’ Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. 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.’” (1 Samuel 3:4-10)
God spoke to Samuel three times, but Samuel did not realize it was God talking to him until he began to listen. So often, we expect God to speak to us in a spectacular, sensational manner yet he so often speaks to us in a “gentle whisper” (1 kings 19:11-13). If you want to hear God you must listen. You must get acquainted with him. You must establish a close, intimate relationship with him like a close friend. The more you think about him, talk to him and listen to him the closer you get to him, the more familiar you are with his ways and his voice. Its like a relationship with a close friend. A close friend doesn’t need to explain himself to you because you are so familiar with him you know what he means. When you get to know a close friend you understand what he says even before he finishes his sentences. And you are quite familiar with his voice.
God is talking to us all the time. We just need to listen. I’m sure you’ve been in a room with someone who was talking and you heard them but you weren’t paying attention; so, you didn’t understand a word they said. They were talking and you heard them but you didn’t understand them because you weren’t listening. You may not have even been aware that they were even talking. And if anyone had asked you what they said you would not have been able to answer them.
People who want to hear God do hear him. People who don’t want to hear God keep themselves so busy they never have time to sit still and hear him. They don’t want to hear him. They want to keep doing what they know is wrong and don’t want to hear God because they don’t want to feel guilty about what they are doing. They surround themselves with activities and people so they will never have any quiet time when they are alone with their thoughts and certainly not alone with God. The more we sin, the more we want to hide from God, and the less we want to hear him.
If we want to hear God all we need to do is sit still, be quiet and listen. He is talking to us twenty-four seven (Isaiah 30:21). All we have to do is listen.
It is obvious to everyone that there is a God (Romans 1:20, Psalms 19:1-4) and everyone knows the difference between right and wrong (Romans 2:14-16), and God is forever asking us to let him into our lives. “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” (Revelations 3:20)
We have the plain truth right in front of us everyday, all day. Some accept it and some reject it. This should make the implications of the following passage from the bible very clear.
“The [basis of the] judgement (indictment, the test by which men
are judged, the ground for the sentence) lies in this: the Light has come into the world, and people have loved the darkness rather than and more than the Light, for their (deeds) were evil.” (John 3:19, The Amplified Bible).
This is why some people go to heaven and some go to hell. Where do you want to go?
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In this blog I take a close look at a wide variety of topics using the Bible as my lens. When we look at the world through the lens of scripture we discover life-changing truth that transforms us. We discover our
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