Hey God...Speak Up - Martin Wiles

So he said to Samuel, “Go and lie down again, and if someone calls again, say, ‘Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.’” 1 Samuel 3:9 NLT

“And to think, I’s glad when you learned to talk.”

Opie wasn’t happy about his long-time housekeeper marrying someone else. So when Andy, who served as the Justice of the Peace, gave the option for anyone in the crowd to express a reason why the couple shouldn’t get married, Opie tried to speak up. After several interruptions—and Barney finally clasping his hand over Opie’s mouth—Andy finished the wedding—and made the above statement to Opie (“The New Housekeeper”).

I can identify. All parents get excited when their children speak their first word, especially if it’s Ma Ma or Da Da. But somewhere down the line—if they are a typical child—they’ll say something, perhaps many things, that parents wish they wouldn’t. I remember quite a few things I said to my parents that I later wished I could take back. And some things I uttered under my breath that they didn’t hear.

Israel had just passed through a dark period in their history where judges ruled the various tribes and war happened regularly. Everyone did what was right in their own eyes. Wickedness prevailed. The judges did the best they could under the circumstances, but somebody needed to speak up for God. God chose the final judge and prophet, Samuel, to do that.

God called him when he was only a boy. Since Samuel had never heard the Lord speak before, it took his mentor, Eli, to tell him what to say the next time he heard the voice: “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.”

God may not always speak in some of the ways He did during the Old Testament period … but He still speaks. We can’t box Him in—He’s God and free to communicate any way He wants—but the most common ways are through His Word, prayer, other believers, and circumstances.

If we want to hear God—and take advantage of all He wants to do in our lives—we have to listen, which means spending regular time reading the Bible, praying, hanging around with other Christians, and paying attention to our circumstances.

God speaks through the still small voice of His Spirit to those who choose to follow Him, and when we ask Him to speak to us—as young Samuel did—He will. What we have to do after that is obey.

If you’re not hearing God, ask Him to speak. He will. And He will always give words that will make your life better if you obey.

Prayer: Father, speak to us clearly, and then give us the will to obey.

Tell us how you hear from God. 

Tweetable: Are you hearing God? 

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