Does God speak?
Can you hear the voice of God?
“Your prayer must be turned inwards, not towards a God of Heaven nor towards a God far off, but towards God who is closer to you than you are aware.”
– Anthony Bloom
I don’t know about you, but one the most annoying problems I face from time to time is whenever I have a bad cell phone connection with someone.
I was on a phone call with a friend of mine the other day who lives in Nashville, TN. And I don’t know if the problem was on my end or on his end. I think he was driving and the connection wasn’t just bad, it was terrible. There was all this static coming through and then this high pitched noise. I could hear him, and then I couldn’t hear him.
So finally, you know what I did? I ended the call! I couldn’t take it. The bad connection made it almost impossible to have a conversation.
There’s nothing worse than trying to have a conversation with a friend and NOT being able to hear or understand what it is they’re trying to say!
Bad Connection?
For a lot of us, that may describe our relationship with God.
We want to hear from God, we want to hear His voice, we want to know what He wants to speak over our lives but whenever we pray, whenever we try to listen, it feels like we’ve got a bad connection.
We’re not even sure people can hear from God, and if people can hear from God, if God would speak to us.
And I want to be clear, I’m not sure I’ve ever heard the audible voice of God. I’m not saying that’s impossible. God speaks to people all throughout scripture and I know God speaks to people in a variety of ways.
What I am certain of is that God does want to speak over our lives, into our lives, God has words for us, wisdom for us, and while we sometimes get caught up in the question, “Does God still speak to people today with an audible voice?” maybe the better question is, “Do we have ears to listen?”
Are we open to hearing from God?
Do we have the heart posture that’s open to hearing from God, that’s open to spiritual discernment, that’s open to God changing our heart, changing our mind, and changing our lives?
Messages & Visions were Rare
All throughout scripture God changed people’s hearts, God changed people’s minds, and God changed people’s lives. People who believed they could hear from God and who were open to listening to God and to saying, “Yes, Lord!”
One of those people who heard God speak was a boy named Samuel.
When Samuel was about 12 years old something happened that changed everything for him.
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. 2 One night Eli, who was almost blind by now, had gone to bed. 3 The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was sleeping in the Tabernacle near the Ark of God.
Just imagine this moment… The lamp of God was still burning which means it’s the middle of the night. Every night they would light this seven-branched lampstand (Ex 25.31-37) and fill it with olive oil (Ex 30.8) as the sun was setting. It would have enough oil to stay lit all night until sunrise the next morning.
But it’s purpose wasn’t just to give light. Its purpose was to testify to the nations that the presence of God dwells among Israel. What’s interesting is that in this tabernacle and later in the Temple that would be modeled after it, there weren’t many windows that let light in. Rather, the light of this lampstand was positioned so that its light would shine outward!
So Samuel is literally sleeping in the presence of God. He’s closer to God than he realizes. God isn’t up in Heaven or in some far off place, God is closer than he is aware!
Under the light of God’s presence, and near the Ark of God which symbolized the presence of God, Samuel is sleeping.
Speak, Lord!
4 Suddenly the Lord called out, “Samuel!”
“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.
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?”
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.”
Because Samuel prayed, “Speak, your servant is listening,” in the middle of the night, in the middle of his youth, in the middle of his confusion, in the middle of his uncertainty, God spoke to Samuel and God kept speaking to Samuel.
In fact, God would continue to speak to Samuel and speak through Samuel to the people of God. Samuel would rise up as a leader for Israel. He would be known as a man of God held in high honor (9.6). He was the one who would anoint Saul to be the first king of Israel. Later he anointed David, the shepherd boy, and one day through the line of David the King of kings would be born. Jesus! Samuel was known as a man of prayer (Psalm 99.6, Jeremiah 15.1).
He was known as someone who listened to God. Who prayed, “Speak, your servant is listening.”
Because God spoke to Samuel and Samuel listened, and because Samuel then had the courage to share the word of God and the will of God with the people of God, an entire nation had an opportunity to hear the word of the Lord.
And if you ask me, that’s a powerful thought.
Can You Hear Me Now?
Who does God want to speak to through you? Who needs to hear a word from God through you?
What would happen if you were to pray, “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.”?
It was March 10, 1876 when the very first phone call was made.
As the story goes, Alexander Graham Bell, the person credited with inventing the telephone, made the phone call from his laboratory in Boston to his assistant in the next room. He called over his newly invented telephone, “Mr. Watson–come here–I want to see you.”
About 100 years later, the very first cell phone call was made on April 3rd, 1973.
The Motorola DynaTAC 8000X weighed 1.75 lb, stood 13 in. high, stored 30 numbers, took 10 hours to recharge and cost nearly $4000!
A Motorola employee named Martin Cooper stepped out onto the street in New York City, between 53rd and 54th Streets, and placed a call to Bell Labs headquarters in New Jersey. While he can’t remember exactly what he said in the call, he remembers asking something along the lines of, “I’m just calling to see if it sounds good on your end.” Basically, he was the first guy on a cell phone to say, “Can you hear me now!?”
What if God Wants to Speak Through You?
Maybe you think you’re too young, maybe you feel unprepared, maybe you don’t think God needs you, that God couldn’t use you, that you are even someone that the God of the universe would want to use.
God spoke to Samuel when he was young and Samuel spent all his days listening to God and speaking the word and the will of God for the people of God.
God spoke to Moses when he was about 80. God spoke to Abraham when he was 90! And God spoke to his wife Sarah when she was 90! God spoke to Mary when she was a teenager. God spoke to David, to Noah, to Adam and Eve, to Elijah, to Paul, Philip, to Peter, and the list goes on.
God spoke to Jesus, and Jesus spoke to his disciples and to the multitudes and if you’re wondering if God still speaks and if he does, if He would speak to you, here’s the good news of the gospel:
You have already been chosen, you are already loved, you have already been commissioned to make a difference in this world for God.
You have the Spirit of the Living God living within you who speaks for you in prayer (Romans 8:26-27), who speaks through you to others (John 16.13-16, Acts 1.8, 2.18, 4.8, 31) and who will guide and direct your life (Acts 8.29, 9.11). The only question is…
Will you, like Samuel, say YES to God’s will and desire and calling on your life?
Will you pray, “Speak, your servant is listening.”
Will you allow God to use you to bless, encourage, instruct, teach and speak words of love to others?
Someone Needs to Hear…
Someone needs to hear a word from God through you.
Someone needs to hear the words, You are forgiven. You are loved.
Someone needs to hear the words, You are appreciated.
Someone needs to know, God is not done with you yet.
Someone needs to hear, What you’re going through is hard, but God is with you and He is for you.
Someone needs you to put a hand on their shoulder, look them in the eye and say, God loves you more than you know.
How do you know who God wants to speak to through you?
First, you might want to pray, “Speak, Lord, I am listening.” Then ask who it is that needs encouragement. And what it is they need to hear from God through you.
Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 2.4 that “we speak as messengers approved by God entrusted with the Good News.” And then he says, “…encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.” (5.11).
Speak, Lord, I am Listening
May you take time to pray, “Speak, Lord, I am listening.”
And may God give you the words, the courage, the humility, and the wisdom to speak the love of God into the lives of others.
May we always speak of Jesus who loved us, died for us, who has risen and who will soon return.
Want more from this Series… Click here.
