"ENROLLING IN THE SCHOOL OF PRAYER: TWO WAY PRAYER"
I Samuel 3:1-21
Introduction: On February 9 the submarine USS Greenville, while on a training exercise just off the island of Oahu, Hawaii surfaced directly underneath a Japanese fishing boat. The collision between the sub and the boat ripped the boat apart resulting in the death of nine on board the Japanese boat. Since that time the US Navy has sought to determine how something so tragically foolish could happen. From all indications, the error and responsibility lies with Cmdr. Scott Waddle’s failure to receive, retrieve and react to communication procedures. It has been perceived that Waddle was distracted by guests on the sub and was in a hurry to get home. How accurate those accusations are we do not know. The reality is nine people died because somebody wasn’t listening.
This past Monday, March 12, flying on a practice bombing run in the Kuwaiti desert an Air Force pilot dropped a 500 lb. bomb on a group of five U.S. Army soldiers and one New Zealand soldier. All six were killed. The pilot had been cleared to release his ordinance but was then told, "Abort. Abort!" but it was too late. Whoever is at fault, six people died because somebody wasn’t listening.
Who has paid the price because you didn’t listen? It is doubtful that the mistakes we make when communication breaks down are as serious as these incidents. Usually we regret not listening but it’s not a life and death situation. Yet is it more serious than we are willing to admit? If I had listened more carefully could the hurt or pain that resulted been avoided? If I had paid more attention could I have been more helpful? If there hadn’t been so much "noise," would the incident have happened at all? Who has paid the price because you didn’t listen? Your spouse? Your children? Your friendships? Your co-workers? Your clients or patients?
Let me ask this on a spiritual level. "Who pays the price because we are not listening to God in prayer?" One devotional writer says, "The main thing God asks for is our attention." Unfortunately, that is the last thing we are willing to give to anyone much less God. As we have talked about prayer on these past Sundays we discussed many aspects of it. Yet one thing we have not said about prayer is that prayer is more than me talking and God listening. It is a two-way proposition—God talks and I listen. So the question then becomes, "Who pays the price because we are not listening to the voice of God in prayer?"
The story of God speaking to the boy Samuel is perhaps one of the most familiar Old Testament stories. Yet it also illustrates for us the power of two-way communication with God and the tragic result that someone pays the price when we do not listen to the voice of God. This morning I want to suggest to you a three-step process for two-way communication with God. Step One is that we admit we’re not listening for God’s voice. Step Two is understanding that God wants to speak to us and Step Three is developing a heart that is continually willing to listen to God’s voice.
I. Step One for Two-Way Prayer: Admitting that we’re not listening for God’s voice. (I Samuel 3:1).
I. Samuel 3:1 immediately outlines for us the characters, context and concern of our story. The characters are two—Eli, the elderly priest of God, and Samuel, a young boy in Eli’s care who has a special sensitivity to God. The context is the result of Samuel’s being placed in Eli’s care by his mother when he was round three or four years old. Samuel’s mother was Hannah, who had previously been unable to have children. She had gone to the place called Shiloh where the temple, or really tent, of God was located, asking God for a son. God honored that request and she dedicated her son to God, leaving him with the priest, Eli, when he was old enough. Since that time he has been assisting Eli in the functions of his duties as priest.
The concern, however, comes in the statement, "And the word from the Lord was rare in those days, visions were infrequent" (3:1b). This tells us that something that was common was now uncommon. What was common was that God would reveal His will and His word to others through special people who uniquely listened to Him. Eli was that one to whom God had previously chosen to speak. Yet now that wasn’t happening. It was uncommon. The question is why.
To answer this question let’s look back at I Samuel 2. For what reason Eli became deaf or dull to the voice of God we don’t know. What we do know is the result. I Samuel 2:12 shows us that he failed to communicate with his sons the depth of his relationship with God. They, in turn, were abusing the sacrifices for their own gain (I Sam. 2:17) and they obviously considered a relationship with God as something unimportant and unnecessary. They also were using the women who served in the temple for sexual favors (2:22). Eli tried to address their evil practices but it was too late. I Samuel 2:25 says, "But they would not listen to the voice of their father."
Ultimately, God would send another man of God to Eli to tell him essentially, "You wouldn’t listen to God’s voice so now God will find someone who will." He conveys to him God’s promise that Eli and his sons had rejected his voice one too many times and now they would pay the price. He says, though, that what God was wanting was "a faithful priest who will serve me and do what I tell him to do" (2 Sam. 2:35). I am wanting someone who will listen to my voice!
The bottom line was: God wasn’t speaking because he had no one who would listen. Eli and his family paid the price because he wouldn’t listen to the voice of God.
I wonder if God looking for anyone that different today? If God is looking for someone who will serve him and do what he tells them to do, then are you that person? Are you listening for the voice of God? The voice of God is not an audible voice that that inner, quiet, strong impression that breaks through all the other voices in our soul. Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones describes it this way: "God speaks to me by speaking in me. He can so lay something upon the mind that we are certain of the answer. He can impress something upon our spirits in an unmistakable manner. We find ourselves unable to get away from an impression that is an our mind or heart; we try to rid ourselves of it, but back it comes." (D. Martin Lloyd-Jones, Faith—Tried and Triumphant, p. 30). Are you hearing that voice in you? If not, why not?
If I am ever going to hear God’s voice I must first admit I am not listening. Why am I not listening? More often than not we are plagued with the disease of busyness or hurry sickness. Hurry sickness is trying to do everything aster, doing or thinking more than one thing at a time, allowing our lives to be filled with endless clutter, giving the ones we love most the leftovers of our time and emotions and being impaired in our ability to relate in love to anyone. Carl Jung said, "Hurry is not of the devil, hurry is the devil." Jesus rebuked Martha because she was a victim of hurry sickness.
If every other area of my life reflects the fact that I’m a victim of hurry sickness, why should I be surprised that it shows up in my relationship with God? If I don’t slow down long enough to pray where he speaks and I listen, how can expect to hear his voice?
II. Step Two for Two-Way Prayer is understanding that God does want to speak to us. (I Samuel 3:2-10)
When you read that God chose to speak to Samuel it really should come as no surprise to us. Samuel was the kind of person that God was looking for who was responsive to His voice. Samuel was born out of prayer. Hannah had come to God praying for a son (1:11). When that son was born she dedicated him to God and Samuel is described as a child who "worshipped the Lord" (1:38), was "ministering before the Lord" (2:18), "grew before the Lord" (2:21), "growing in stature and in favor both with the Lord and with men." (2:26), "ministering to the Lord before Eli" (3:1) and "lying down in the temple of the Lord" (3:3). The impression is that this boy had a passion for his connection with God. Therefore, when God called for Samuel his heart was so prepared that he heard that voice clearly. (3:4, 6, 8). When told by Eli that it was God’s voice Samuel would say, "Speak, for your servant is listening" (v. 10). God spoke to Samuel because he had a heart ready and waiting to listen!
How does God speak to us today? God speaks to us in many ways and through nature, circumstances, the Bible, the church, other people, but especially He speaks to us by His Holy Spirit within our lives. I believe that God speaks uniquely to our lives through the direction or leading of His Holy Spirit. Jesus said "John 14:16, 17, 26"
I realize that when we talk about his there is always the danger of abuse. A person may say, "God told me to do…" and it is obvious that they should question who is peaking. Yet we can’t allow the abuses to cause us to deny that God still speaks by His Spirit to His children.
Why is this so important? Because our Christian life from beginning until we go to join Christ in eternity is shaped by our response to the direction or leading of the Holy Spirit:
III. It is at this point where Step Three fits. Step One is admitting I’m not listening to His voice. Step Two is understanding that God wants to speak to us. Step Three is developing a heart that is continually willing to listen to God’s voice. (I Samuel 3:19-21)
Thinking back on all that was necessary for Samuel to hear God’s voice when he called involved three things: He was as close to God as spiritually possible, physically possible and mentally possible. His spirit, body and mind were all engaged and prepared to hear God’s voice. As a result of that closeness the communication with Samuel continued to grow and mature. The Bible points out that God’s presence empowered Samuel’s words, that power was evident to everyone else. Also, God and Samuel continued to communicate to one another in such a way that when Samuel talked, God listened and when God talked Samuel listened.
How can this happen for us? How do we develop a heart that is continually willing to listen to God’s voice? We do it by developing the discipline of being spiritually, mentally and physically still in God’s presence. Psalm 46:10 says, "Be still and know that I am God." The NASV says, "Cease striving and know that I am God." The NLT says, "Be silent, and know that I am God." However you want to say it we must stop our activity, our expending of energy and our noise in order to be open to the reality of who God is! There is no way to get around the truth that people who are really interested in hearing from God must pay the price of disciplining themselves to be still before God.
Bill Hybels writes in his book Too Busy Not to Pray that he has a problem with the RPM’s of his mind kicking in early and staying up all day. His solution to lower his mind, spirit and body was to spend a half hour to an hour every morning in a secluded place with the Lord. He writes, "I don’t do this to earn merit badges from God. I do it because I grew tired of leading an unexamined life. I used to try to pray and receive God’s leadings on the run. But it became obvious to me that the pace of my life outstripped my capacity to analyze it…no one can become an authentic Christian on a steady diet of activity. Power comes out of stillness; strength comes out of solitude. Decisions that change the entire course of your life come…out of your times of stillness before God" (p. 147).
So how do you do this? Let me tell you what I do or seek to do consistently. You must understand that being still in God’s presence is an intentional discipline. There will be times when you are more compelled to draw near to Gods presence than others but it is the daily time that is crucial. I first, then, prepare myself physically by getting up at the same time and going to the same place for the same purpose. I do this in the morning before there are any other distractions. Next, I prepare myself spiritually by just breathing deep "the breath of God," in other words just acknowledging I’m in His presence. Then I feed and focus my mind by reading a scripture portion, writing in my journal and when I start to fret about other things, I write those down on a "worry list." After this, I pray (lately I’ve been using The Book of Daily Prayer as a help) speaking to God and stopping to listen for the impression of His Spirit.
This is what has worked for me for almost twenty-five years. It is the only spiritual habit that I feel any true sense of consistency. It is for me the source of my own spiritual strength and energy. I don’t want to imagine what my life would be like without this. You have got to do what works for you. Create your own approach that will still your racing mind and body, soften your heart and enable you to hear God’s still, small voice. What God is looking for from you and me is what Samuel said, "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening" (II Samuel 3:10).
Conclusion: He told them but they didn’t listen. Neil O’Grady laughed about the idea. Josh Stevens heard him but couldn’t believe he was serious. Chris Reynolds knew about it two days in advance. He told them but they didn’t listen. So on March 5 fifteen year old Charles Andrew Williams loaded an eight-shot .22 caliber handgun, took it to school, killed two students and wounded thirteen others. Someone paid a price because someone wasn’t really listening.
Who are the "someones" in your life that are paying the price because you are too much in a hurry to spend time listening to God’s voice? Are you the someone who is spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically exhausted but still won’t stop? Are your spouse, children, friends or co-workers deprived because you are too preoccupied to hear God tell you to pray for them? Is the kingdom of God suffering because you are just too lazy to pray? Who is paying the price because you just won’t take the time to listen?
You know what’s sad? What’s sad is that the same disconnect that occurred with Eli and his sons happened to Samuel. It says, "But they were not like their father, for they were greedy for money. They accepted bribes and perverted justice" (I Sam. 8:3). Who stopped listening? We really don’t know. The principle is true; someone always pays a price when someone doesn’t listen. Who will pay the price because you wont’ stop and listen to God in prayer?
Sunday, March 18, 2001
Dr. Bruce Tippit, Pastor
First Baptist Church
Jonesboro, Arkansas