3 encouragements when you accept the life changing invitation to listen to the voice of God

Ocean

I have spoken elsewhere about the amazing prayer of Hannah that brought Samuel into the world. But even with a Godly heritage we still need to journey for ourselves into our relationship with God. J I Packer in his great book, Knowing God, warns about the danger of only learning things second hand about God. Even though I have Christians in my family tree going back at least into the 1800s I still need to personally build my friendship with Jesus.

I love the story of when Samuel begins to hear the voice of God. It can be a great encouragement for me you and I as we learn to hear from God. Here are 3 things to get you started.

There is an invitation of God for us to listen.

God thinks that it is very important for us to have the opportunity to listen to him. God could have made it very hard to hear from Him. But His heart is to be close to us. Actually the Gospel of John say, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” (1:14) God went to great length to invite us into conversation. Samuel heard that invitation from God.

God was persistent in His speaking while Samuel is figuring it out.

What a scene it must have been as Samuel ran back and forth to see if Eli was the one that was  calling him. I love God’s patience and persistence in this situation. God did not say, “Samuel” once and then say, “I guess he missed it. Time to move on.” He didn’t give up on Samuel in his season of learning and He won’t give up on you if you keep trying.

[tweetthis]God wants you to learn His voice more than you do.[/tweetthis]

We don’t have to understand everything for God to speak to us.

It is easy in the process of learning God’s voice to get frustrated and give up because everything doesn’t make sense. 1 Peter reminds us that even the prophets didn’t understand all that God was saying because it was those later that would understand (1:10-12) So if God speaks to you and it takes a while to understand you are in good company. Samuel just started the process and grew in his relationship over time.

A key take away for me from the story of Samuel is how much God will work with us if we are willing to listen. It is His desire for us to hear His voice. It is His desire for that conversation to grow and develop over time. He is just looking for people like Samuel who will say, “Here I am.” Will you be one of those people?

How many people does it take to start a revival?

Math

Maybe it is the nerd in me but the math of this question is interesting for me to think about. The other part to the nerd in me is that I have probably read more than my share of church history and looked at the story of revival. I even updated Charles Finney’s Lectures on Revival for today’s reader. But I don’t want to just read about revival, I want to see the church experience it at whole new levels.

For part of my teenage years I went to a youth group with a motto of: We don’t want to be the youth group know for the largest ice cream sundae, but as the youth group that goes after God. With that attitude even as a teenager we experienced some amazing things and saw people far away from God come to Him. It put an imprint on my mind that Christians no matter the age can make an impact if they seek the Lord.

But how many people does it take to start something new for God? Let me challenge you with a thought. It is probably less than you think. I have written elsewhere about how people can make an impact on line for God in this day and age. God even taught us in the story of Gideon that it is important to Him that there is not too many people when God starts to save.

In the story of the Bible and the story of history it often starts with a small number. It is Gideon’s soldiers that I mentioned but also the 12 that Jesus called to be his disciples. It was 24 men and 24 woman that started the Moravian 24/7 prayer meeting that lasted for 100 years. It was a small group of people that met in a home that started the Azusa Street revival. It was a small group of writers and preachers that 500 years ago started the Protestant Reformation.

[tweetthis]You and your friends may be the spark of the next movement that God has for his church[/tweetthis]

All of this should encourage us. You and your friends may be the spark of the next movement that God has for his church. Your love of your neighbor may bring about the awakening that your neighborhood needs. God is just looking for people like Moses, Samuel and Isaiah who say, “Here I am.” Will you be one of those people?

Three principles of moving from reactionary faith to strategic faith

Faith

Last night I was at the prayer service at my home church. Part of this service is a short devotional thought from one of the pastors. Worship director Mark Alan Schoolmeesters was sharing from the Lord’s Prayer on the phrase, “Lead us not into temptation.” I have written elsewhere on this important prayer, but Mark had a great line that really caught my attention. He said, “Are you strategic or reactionary in your faith?”

This question got me thinking and my mind spinning with the stories of faith from the Bible. Not sure all of Mark’s intention, but where it took my thinking could be revolutionary to your faith. When I think of strategic faith it is a faith based on the truth of God’s word that moves us into bold decisions to follow Jesus. Reaction “faith” reaches out to God based on the crisis at hand and sometimes may not be faith at all. Here are some principles of God’s word that can move you into more strategic faith.

Strategic faith is forward looking while reactionary faith is focused on the current crisis.

Often our faith is based on the difficulty of the moment. It may be the current temptation we are facing or the problem that seems to be overwhelming us. Abraham however had strategic faith, “For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” (Hebrews 11: 10) In what areas is your relationship with God drawing you to take steps beyond your current circumstances? Caleb and Joshua called the Israelites to strategic faith even the circumstances said otherwise. 

[tweetthis]I want to move beyond today’s crisis to take steps of faith that could impact generations. [/tweetthis]

Strategic faith is based on the promise of God and reactionary faith is based on the appearance of circumstances.

Abraham again is a great example of both sides of this story. When he had Ishmael with Hagar he was acting based on the appearance of things. Isaac however was born based on the promise of God. What are the promises of God that He has spoken to your life that should be guiding your life? Maybe you need to go back and take hold of them again.

Reactionary faith may help me out of my current difficulty, but strategic faith puts me in a situation to change the course of my life and those around me.

I am not saying that there are not times when reactionary faith is important. When we are in temptation that is the time to call out to God for help not simply wish we had prayed earlier, “Lead me not into temptation.” When we are sinking in the sea, like Peter, that is the moment to simply reach out in faith and say, “Lord save me.” The difference is we also need strategic faith that gets us out of the boat in the first place.

An easy illustration of this is to compare reactionary faith to caffeine-coffee, tea and energy drinks. When you are tired these can help you get through the day. Strategic faith is like a health lifestyle that gives you energy every day. It is not that you might not have a day where you have a bad nights sleep and drink a cup of coffee, but the healthy lifestyle gives you the energy for normal days. Crisis will come and we should react to reach out to God in faith, but may we grow in taking strategic steps of faith that change the direction of our lives.  How are you going to grow in taking strategic steps of faith?