1 Samuel 3:9 – GREAT ADVICE
I have received and have given some good advice in my team.
One good word of advice came from my Dad when I was dating her. He said, “If you let this one get away you’re crazy.” I didn’t. We’ve been married for 28 years.
In pre-marital counseling I give what I feel is a good piece of advice. I tell the future husband to eat whatever his wife serves him for a year without complaining. He’ll make a great cook!
In 1 Samuel 3:9 Eli the priest gives the young boy Samuel a piece of great advice, that we should take as well. “Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, LORD; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place.”
There are several lessons that we learn from this passage and other Scriptures.
GOD SPEAKS AT QUIET TIMES
When God spoke to Samuel it was at night.
When God spoke to Joseph, or Daniel it was often in a dream.
When God spoke to John it was at a quiet time. He was “in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day.” (Revelation 1:10)
When God spoke to Elijah on Mount Horeb, it was with a still, small voice (1 Kings 19:12).
It seems that it is during the times of solitude and quiet. Psalm 46:10-11, Isaiah 30:15
GOD WOULD SPEAK TO US REGULARLY
Once God started speaking to Samuel, He continued to communicate. 1 Samuel 3:19-21
God wants to communicate with us regularly as we abide in Christ. John 15:4-7
GOD WANTS A WILLING LISTENER
Eli told Samuel to say to the Lord, “Speak.”
In other words, Samuel was to be willing to hear from the Lord.
God wants a willing listener.
God wants his servants to listen for His voice.
GOD WANTS A YIELDED LISTENER
Eli told Samuel to say “Speak Lord; for thy servant heareth.”
Jesus is Lord and He has every right to instruct and command us.
We are also are the Lord’s servants. If we are the Lord’s servants, we must therefore be yielded to His plans for our lives.
GOD WANTS AN ATTENTIVE LISTENER
Samuel was told to say “Thy servant heareth.”
In other words, Samuel was to be alert.
He was to be desirous of hearing what the Lord had to say.
He was to listen with a “ready ear”.
We are to listen to God, trying to get as much from Him as we can. Go to speak, we are to hang on every word.