Friday, September 11, 2015
Download MP3 (right click to save)
Well, depending on what generation you might be from, there's a bunch of us who would have never imagined we'd get a telephone call from a computer. But here we are, and we've all at one time or another answered a call and there was a computer on the other end. But it's really not a meaningful communication experience. The computer does all the talking. You ever tried to say, "Hello! Hello! Who is this?" There's no answer. Don't even try to talk to that computer caller. He only does one-way communication. You know that God gets a lot of calls like that?
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Talking With God - Monologue or Dialogue."
Our word for today from the Word of God; we are in the life of Samuel. Not when he is that great judge of Israel, but when he is just a young boy in training in the home of Eli. Eli is the Priest at the temple, and we read that several times during the night young Samuel has heard a voice calling for him. He thinks it's Eli, and Eli says, "Not me. Go back to bed." Finally he discovers on the third call who it is that has been calling him. "The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, 'Samuel, Samuel?' Then Samuel said, 'Speak, for your servant is listening.'" (1 Samuel 3:10)
Now that's the right approach. But a lot of times we rewrite that, "Listen, Lord, your servant is speaking." I mean, look, we've got busy lives. We run into the Throne Room from which the universe is governed, dump what we have to say and run out again-sort of like that computer-before the Lord can say what He has to say.
Now if I came to your house and I sat down in the living room and talked for an hour solid-never let you say anything, never let you ask anything, went to the door and walked out, you'd say, "Man, that Hutchcraft guy is rude!" Well, we do that to God all the time and it is rude. He says, "Be still and know that I am God. Wait on the Lord." Elijah found out that God's voice was not in the wind, not in the fire, not in the earthquake, but was a still, small voice. God speaks when you give Him space to do it, when you give Him silence to do it.
We're uncomfortable with silence. We feel like nothing's happening. But with God, silence is where it happens. Feel free to give God your thanks, and your needs, and your hurts, and your praise, and your questions. But then, allow time to be quiet. Linger in God's presence.
That gives Him opportunity to show you a perspective you didn't have before; to break a log jam in your mind; to show you a solution or an insight; to speak something to your heart-a new way of looking at a person or a new way of looking at a step you ought to take or a situation you have to manage. Those are blessed moments; moments that we busy Christians often miss out on. "Speak, Lord, your servant is listening."
If you're like me, listening to God is going to take a lot of self-control and a little practice, but it is so worth it. God has so much He wants to show you, but He probably won't interrupt you while you're talking. So would you let prayer be a dialogue, not just a monologue? You're not a computer caller are you?
Listen and let God write His thoughts on the blank slate of your waiting heart.