Willingness to Listen

“The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times,

‘Samuel! Samuel!’ Then Samuel said, ‘Speak, for your servant is

listening’ ” (1 Sam. 3:10, NIV).

Have you ever heard that still, small voice of the Holy Spirit but

ignored it? Consequently, everything went wrong, and you thought to

yourself later, Oh no, why didn’t I listen?

First Samuel describes the story of an old man and his two wicked

sons who didn’t listen to the Lord and a little boy who did. Though

there were strong warnings from God, those who needed to change

their course didn’t.

Read their story in 1 Samuel 2:12–3:18. What contrast is made appar-

ent here between those who listen to God and those who don’t?

Eli’s sons had other things on their minds than the things of God.

And even when Eli, after hearing what God wanted, spoke to his sons,

he didn’t seem to do anything else. And his sons were obviously not

ready to submit the details of their lives to God’s will. What a contrast

to the young Samuel!

Preacher Charles Stanley describes how essential it is to cultivate

openness to God’s voice in what he calls “shifting into neutral.” He

says: “The Holy Spirit . . . does not speak for the sake of passing along

information. He speaks to get a response. And He knows when our

agenda has such a large slice of our attention that it is a waste of time

to suggest anything to the contrary. When that is the case, He is often

silent. He waits for us to become neutral enough to hear and eventu-

ally obey.”—The Wonderful Spirit-Filled Life (Nashville, TN: Thomas

Nelson Publishers, 1992), pp. 179, 180.

What do you think Stanley means by becoming “neutral enough”?

When you think about your openness to God, what things often

prevent you from being “neutral enough to hear and eventually

obey”? What do you need to do in your life to cultivate openness

to God’s voice and a decisiveness to be obedient to His direction?