Mensa Otabil - Responding to God's Voice
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Welcome to day number 10 of our 40 Days of Power. All too soon, we’ve completed 10 days, or we are on the 10th day-uh, that’s a quarter of the distance. So if you’ve come this far, the Lord will help you through to the end. We’re talking about guidance, and today we’re looking at godly counsel as part of the guidance we need to do God’s will.
1 Samuel 3:8 — 9: «The Lord called Samuel again the third time. So he arose and went to Eli and said, 'Here I am, for you did call me.' Then Eli perceived that the Lord had called the boy. Therefore, Eli said to Samuel, 'Go lie down, and it shall be, if He calls you, that you must say, „Speak, Lord, for your servant hears."' So Samuel went and laid down in his place.»
The Lord spoke to Samuel when he was both young in age and young in ministry. God spoke to him. Samuel could hear the voice of God, but he couldn’t determine the source of the voice. He couldn’t be sure who was speaking to him; he thought it was Eli, his mentor. So several times, God would speak to Samuel, but he would miss it. He would think, «This is Eli speaking to me,» until Eli discerned that God was speaking to Samuel.
So part of our discipline in guidance is that sometimes God may be speaking to you. You hear the sound, but you may not be fully able to discern the source and the meaning of the sound. Sometimes you need a mature Christian to help you to discern the voice of God and to know to make the right choice. So part of the means that we discern the will of God is to listen to godly Christian counsel, and the operative word is «godly.» Not everybody who is a pastor is godly, and not everybody who is old in Christendom is godly. Some people have known the Lord for a long time and have been Christians for a long time but do not live a godly life, and if you listen to them, they will mislead you.
But here was Eli, who was a godly Christian leader, who could guide Samuel to discern the voice of God. Eli gave Samuel a three-step way of responding to God’s voice. The first is relationship. Eli said to Samuel, «When you hear this voice again, say, 'Speak, Lord.'» Now, Samuel had been trained in the ways of the Lord, but he didn’t have a personal relationship with the Lord. So Eli said to Samuel, «If you’re going to hear further from God, you must have a relationship with Him. He doesn’t have to just be the God of Israel; He must be your Lord. He must be your overlord, the one who rules over you.»
If we want to walk in the guidance of the Lord, we must have a relationship with Him. " Speak, Lord,» He must be your Lord. Then the second is a request. He says, «Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.» Samuel is the one who is now speaking to God. Remember earlier, God is the one speaking to Samuel. Samuel couldn’t get it well, but Samuel is asking God to speak to him. What does this teach us? Our relationship with the Lord is two ways: sometimes He speaks to us, and sometimes we can ask Him to also speak to us. So there is a conversation going on, a request for God to speak to him.
Then the third: " Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.» There has to be a readiness to listen and a readiness to follow. Because if God is speaking to you and all you’re doing is just entertaining the voice of God and have no readiness to hear what He wants to say and do what He wants you to do, then the Lord is not going to speak to you any further. So Samuel understood that if God is going to give him further instruction beyond just mentioning his name, then he has to be ready to listen further and obey what He has called him to do.
So let’s have a relationship with the Lord, let’s talk to Him as He speaks to us, and let us have a readiness to hear more and to obey Him. Let’s pray. Say with me: Heavenly Father, give me godly counselors who will help me to know You better. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.