"... 'Listen to me, you wise men. Pay attention, you who have knowledge'" (Job 34:1, NLT).
"Now listen to me if you are wise. Pay attention to what I say" (Job 34:16, NLT).
"Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart..." (Jer. 15:16, ESV).
Samuel was advised to assure God he was listening under the condition that God would surely speak and he was God's servant. God speaks to His servants! Samuel was all ears, so to speak, and was attentive to God's message from then on: "Speak, for your servant hears." For at Shiloh God revealed Himself to Samuel through His Word (cf. 1 Sam. 3:21)--the primary channel of communication. People often have a failure to communicate with God and turn a deaf ear to Him; however, God says that "to hearken is better than the fat of rams," (cf. 1 Sam. 15:22). We must always be ready and have the communication link open to God in prayer, as we walk with God and "practice the presence of God", like Brother Lawrence, a seventeenth-century Carmelite monk, wrote about and experienced.
When we are in sync with God and in tune with His will He speaks through the Word, which is exalted above all (cf. Ps. 138:2) and we rejoice as one who finds great spoil (cf. Ps. 119:162). Jeremiah rejoiced at God's Word and delighted in what he read as you might call an "Aha!" moment (cf. Jer. 15:16). God hasn't retired dreams or visions (cf. Joel 2:28), but He chooses to teach us and speak through His Word primarily. Jesus said that His sheep hear His voice and those who are of the truth hear Him (cf. John 10:27, 37). We learn to listen up as God speaks to us and is ready, no matter the means of communication.
Just because we have the written Word doesn't preclude God's audible voice today--God can speak through an air vent or duct if He so chooses, but this is highly unusual. "For God does speak--now one way, now another --though no one perceives it--in a dream, in a vision of the night when deep sleep falls on people as the slumber in their beds, e may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings," (cf. Job 33;14-16, NIV). The command is given to Israel which became their credo was called the Shema or "to hearken" in English (cf. Deut. 6:4). We are not to get mystical and seek experiences with our emotions or extra-biblical revelation. C. S. Lewis said, "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world." We can grow spiritually hard-of-hearing and need to be disciplined by God to get back on track and in His will.
God promises that His Word "will not return void " and He will honor it wherever it goes (cf. Isaiah 55:11). Sometimes we are the ears and voice of God and He uses us to get through to stubborn, prodigal, or wayward children. The Bible is to be taken seriously, as also Bible study and church preaching and it's not entertainment, a way to pass time or just something to do in our boredom. To turn away from hearing God makes our prayers an abomination (cf. Prov. 28:9). We are to pay attention to God's plumb line of our spiritual progress and not grieve the Spirit or ignore the Word. We have the privilege of interpreting the Word, but with this comes the responsibility of doing it right.
No one has a monopoly on wisdom and no prophecy is of any private interpretation (cf. 2 Pet. 1:20); God will not reveal some far-fetched revelation to us from some isolated passage that He shows no one else or belongs only to you. There is safety in the multitude of counselors and he who heeds advice is wise, not thinking he knows it all or is wise in his own eyes.
Prayer is a two-way link with God, whereby we boldly enter His throne room (cf. Heb. 4:16) and into His dimension and God will speak to us in that inner voice if we listen (cf. Isaiah 30:21, "You shall hear a voice behind you saying, this is the way, walk in it"). We are all called to be listeners and sometimes listening is a greater gift than speaking and someone may need a sympathetic ear. We can tell them, "I hear you!" We should be all ears and readily offer love by listening. Jesus told John that whoever has an ear to hear, should hear what the Spirit says to the churches. If we don't listen, God will harden our hearts and we will become insensitive and stubborn (cf. Isaiah 6:10).
God can speak through anyone He chooses and we are vessels of honor and can be used: Augustine heard the voice of a child say, "Take and read, take and read." This led to his conversion and he was convinced God spoke through that child to his inner need. Remember, it's an honor to be used by God and be ready to offer a listening ear and say, "I'm all ears," to anyone in need. We are always vigilant and prepared to obey God's voice no matter the message: Do you hear what I hear? or just what you want to hear? Soli Deo Gloria!
"Now listen to me if you are wise. Pay attention to what I say" (Job 34:16, NLT).
"Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart..." (Jer. 15:16, ESV).
Samuel was advised to assure God he was listening under the condition that God would surely speak and he was God's servant. God speaks to His servants! Samuel was all ears, so to speak, and was attentive to God's message from then on: "Speak, for your servant hears." For at Shiloh God revealed Himself to Samuel through His Word (cf. 1 Sam. 3:21)--the primary channel of communication. People often have a failure to communicate with God and turn a deaf ear to Him; however, God says that "to hearken is better than the fat of rams," (cf. 1 Sam. 15:22). We must always be ready and have the communication link open to God in prayer, as we walk with God and "practice the presence of God", like Brother Lawrence, a seventeenth-century Carmelite monk, wrote about and experienced.
When we are in sync with God and in tune with His will He speaks through the Word, which is exalted above all (cf. Ps. 138:2) and we rejoice as one who finds great spoil (cf. Ps. 119:162). Jeremiah rejoiced at God's Word and delighted in what he read as you might call an "Aha!" moment (cf. Jer. 15:16). God hasn't retired dreams or visions (cf. Joel 2:28), but He chooses to teach us and speak through His Word primarily. Jesus said that His sheep hear His voice and those who are of the truth hear Him (cf. John 10:27, 37). We learn to listen up as God speaks to us and is ready, no matter the means of communication.
Just because we have the written Word doesn't preclude God's audible voice today--God can speak through an air vent or duct if He so chooses, but this is highly unusual. "For God does speak--now one way, now another --though no one perceives it--in a dream, in a vision of the night when deep sleep falls on people as the slumber in their beds, e may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings," (cf. Job 33;14-16, NIV). The command is given to Israel which became their credo was called the Shema or "to hearken" in English (cf. Deut. 6:4). We are not to get mystical and seek experiences with our emotions or extra-biblical revelation. C. S. Lewis said, "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world." We can grow spiritually hard-of-hearing and need to be disciplined by God to get back on track and in His will.
God promises that His Word "will not return void " and He will honor it wherever it goes (cf. Isaiah 55:11). Sometimes we are the ears and voice of God and He uses us to get through to stubborn, prodigal, or wayward children. The Bible is to be taken seriously, as also Bible study and church preaching and it's not entertainment, a way to pass time or just something to do in our boredom. To turn away from hearing God makes our prayers an abomination (cf. Prov. 28:9). We are to pay attention to God's plumb line of our spiritual progress and not grieve the Spirit or ignore the Word. We have the privilege of interpreting the Word, but with this comes the responsibility of doing it right.
No one has a monopoly on wisdom and no prophecy is of any private interpretation (cf. 2 Pet. 1:20); God will not reveal some far-fetched revelation to us from some isolated passage that He shows no one else or belongs only to you. There is safety in the multitude of counselors and he who heeds advice is wise, not thinking he knows it all or is wise in his own eyes.
Prayer is a two-way link with God, whereby we boldly enter His throne room (cf. Heb. 4:16) and into His dimension and God will speak to us in that inner voice if we listen (cf. Isaiah 30:21, "You shall hear a voice behind you saying, this is the way, walk in it"). We are all called to be listeners and sometimes listening is a greater gift than speaking and someone may need a sympathetic ear. We can tell them, "I hear you!" We should be all ears and readily offer love by listening. Jesus told John that whoever has an ear to hear, should hear what the Spirit says to the churches. If we don't listen, God will harden our hearts and we will become insensitive and stubborn (cf. Isaiah 6:10).
God can speak through anyone He chooses and we are vessels of honor and can be used: Augustine heard the voice of a child say, "Take and read, take and read." This led to his conversion and he was convinced God spoke through that child to his inner need. Remember, it's an honor to be used by God and be ready to offer a listening ear and say, "I'm all ears," to anyone in need. We are always vigilant and prepared to obey God's voice no matter the message: Do you hear what I hear? or just what you want to hear? Soli Deo Gloria!
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