God's guidance: listening

Let's say we've taken yesterday's advice and got over our discomfort to ask God to guide us. What's next? Well, listening. There's no point in asking a question if we're not ready to listen.

And listening is a process that takes practise. Let's look at 1 Samuel 3. God called Samuel twice, and he went to Eli (his mentor) thinking he was the one calling. It took a third call from God and some advice from Eli for Samuel to even realise it was God speaking to him. From there, he received an epic message. It's about consistently taking the time to say, 'Speak, Lord, for your servant hears' (1 Samuel 3:9 NKJV). Now, it's worth pointing out that God still speaks to us today. Not always with a booming voice, but he most definitely is still 100% interested in communicating with us.

A really good place to start listening for his voice is Scripture. Even if God isn't speaking to us audibly/visibly/in any heart-stopping way today, he is speaking to us through his word, written down centuries ago. The Bible is always ready to be heard, in our situation, at any time. It's a great place to begin to build (or re-build) that openness to hearing God speak, after having asked him to.



So what now? Try memorising bits of the Bible. Unsure where to start? Try the famous Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1 - 7:28). Then, in future, see how God brings verses back to mind when you need them - that's listening.





— SCRIPTURE —

'Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.' 1 Samuel 3:9 NKJV
— SOULFOOD —

1 Chr 26:20-29:30, Mark 4:26-41, Ps 119:25-32, Pro 20:25-27