Lord, Speak To Me

Lord, Speak to Me

I Samuel 3:1-10

Psalm 139:1-5,12-17

I. Placards (hold up and give everyone a chance to read)

II. Intro

A. Prayer – monologue

1. we talk, God listens

B. Wrong!

C. Prayer – conversation

1. You know conversation

a. we talk, other listens

b. other talks, we listen

2. same with God

a. we talk, God listens

b. God speaks, we listen

D. we need to learn to listen to God

1. many find that difficult to do

2. “I would listen to God if God would just speak out loud to me.”

3. “I would do a better job of listening,

if God would do a better job of speaking.”

E. Perhaps God is speaking

1. We are not listening

III. Brain Teaser

A. If heard, don’t spoil it for others

1. If you get it, keep your thoughts to yourself

B. Here goes:

1. You are driving a bus. You go east 12 miles, and then turn south and

go 2 miles and take on 9 passengers, and then you turn west and

go 3 miles and let off 4 passengers. How old is the bus driver?

C. If you are totally confused, I understand

1. I had to read this several times before I got it

2. If you still have got it – the answer is you are driving the bus

D. Why not able to answer

1. not listening

2. we latch on to what we think is important information

3. miss the most crucial details

E. Listening so important to life and relationships

1. get so distracted

2. don’t listen to others

a. leads to disagreements and then people will not speak to one another

3. don’t listen to God

IV. Scripture

A. verse 1: “The word of the LORD was rare in those days; visions were not

widespread.”

1. some may think that is like these days

B. root of problem no one was listening

1. preceding chapters tells about Eli and his sons who “had no respect for

the Lord.”

2. did whatever they wanted and didn’t care about God

3. they ignored God

4. they weren’t listening

C. Same true for our times

1. we don’t listen

D. back to story

1. God calls out to Samuel in the middle of the night

2. think about it, when are most likely to hear something

a. when quiet, away from our busy schedules

3. Samuel thinks Eli is calling for him, rushes to him

a. “Here I am. You called me?”

b. “Go back to bed, I didn’t call you.”

4. happens again

5. then again

a. Eli finally realizes what is happening – that God was speaking to Samuel

b. Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak,

LORD, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his

place.

c. Now the LORD came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!”

And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

d. from then on, God spoke to Samuel on regular basis

1. He listened

2. He became a prophet that everyone respected

3. because God was speaking to Samuel and Samuel was listening

V. Distractions

A. We don’t listen because we have too many distractions

B. Our schedules are busy and crazy

1. don’t stop and take time to listen

2. Ps. 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God.”

3. how often are we still and take time for God?

4. Hardly any time when still and quiet

a. tvs, cell phone, ipods – yesterday – unplug day

C. Focus on the wrong things

a. like brain teaser

b. think that God will only speak in big, dramatic ways

c. I think God speaks to us in simple ways most often

VI. Telegraph story

Back when the telegraph was the fastest method of long-distance communication, a young man applied for a job as a Morse Code operator. Answering an ad in the newspaper, he went to the office address that was listed. When he arrived, he entered a large, busy office filled with noise and clatter, including the sound of the telegraph in the background. A sign on the receptionist’s counter instructed job applicants to fill out a form and wait until they were summoned to enter the inner office.

The young man filled out his form and sat down with the seven other applicants in the waiting area. After a few minutes, the young man stood up, crossed the room to the door of the inner office, and walked right in. Naturally the other applicants perked up, wondering what was going on. They muttered among themselves that they hadn’t heard any summons yet. They assumed that the young man who went into the office made a mistake and would be disqualified.