Beyond the Weekend

September 24 | Listening

September 24, 2014

Text: 1 Samuel 3.1-21

At Ada Bible Church we talk often about having a “relationship with God.” That’s a tricky statement for the simple fact God is invisible—we don’t actually see him. This reality was also difficult for Samuel. As a young boy, in the service of the temple priests, God spoke to Samuel while he was sleeping.

While not being able to see God made his relationship a little more complicated, Samuel eventually learned to listen to God and became a great spokesman for God to the people of Israel.

In our relationship with God we, too, need to learn how to listen to the invisible creator God—a God who wants to have intimate and regular conversation with us. A primary way God speaks to us is the Bible; hence the Bible is often referred to as “God’s Word.”

One way of listening to God from the Bible is the practice of contemplative prayer: intervals of prayer revolving around one specific passage of Scripture.

Today, spend some time praying over Psalm 1. Try reading the passage, asking God to teach you from it, and then simply meditate on the text. Repeat the process focusing on different portions of the passage. Try reading it in different translations of the Bible. The goal of this exercise is to quiet all the other voices competing for your attention and just listen to God speaking through his Word.

Sept-24-14

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