Speak Lord, Your Servant Is Listening

In one paragraph

Amanda Lack brought the Mother's Day message, teaching from 1 Samuel 3 on the story of Samuel's calling. Her central point was that God is looking for hearts that are open and available to him, and that the posture "Speak, Lord, your servant is listening" is not just a phrase but a way of living. Brian and Lissa were out of town for a wedding in North Carolina. Before getting into the text, Amanda...

Read together

1. Judges 17:6 quoted to describe the era before Samuel: 'there was no king of Israel and every man did right by his own eyes'
2. 1 Samuel 1 cited for the story of Hannah, Samuel's mother, who was barren and prayed for a son
3. 1 Samuel 2:27 referenced as where a prophetic word of judgment was given to Eli about his house
4. 1 Samuel 3:1-21 the primary text read aloud in full, covering God calling Samuel and the message of judgment on Eli's house
5. John 10:27 quoted to support knowing the shepherd's voice: 'my sheep know my voice, and I know them, and they follow me'
6. 2 Timothy 4:3 quoted as a contrast to listening ears: people gathering teachers 'to say what their itching ears want to hear'
7. Isaiah 30:18 shared from the congregation: 'the Lord must wait for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion'
8. 1 Kings 21:25-29 cited to show that even Ahab, the worst king, received delayed judgment when he humbled himself before God
9. Psalm 103 referenced for the phrase 'his love and mercy endures forever, to those who fear him'
10. Deuteronomy 29:29 quoted: 'the secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever'

What was said

• Set aside a few minutes this week to sit quietly before you open your Bible and actually say out loud, 'Speak, Lord, your servant is listening,' before you start reading.
• When you sense the Holy Spirit nudging you toward something small and inconvenient this week, do it right away instead of negotiating with yourself about it.
• Pray specifically for the kids and students in your life by name, that they would rise up in obedience to what God is calling them to and not be pulled off course by the noise around them.
• If there is something God has been asking you to do that you have been putting off, take one concrete step toward it this week and be quick to repent for the delay.
• Pay attention this week to whether something keeps coming up from more than one direction, a conversation, something you read, something said on Sunday, and treat that repetition as worth stopping and praying over.

Talk about it

1. Amanda talked about how messages from God were rare in Samuel's time partly because Israel's obedience was in a downward spiral. Where do you think you land on that kind of scale right now, and what do you notice about the connection between obedience and hearing from God in your own life?
2. Samuel ran to Eli every time he heard the voice, and God kept calling even when Samuel kept getting it wrong. Can you think of a time when God had to repeat himself to you before you recognized what he was saying, and what finally helped you hear it?
3. Amanda drew a sharp line between hearing and listening, saying hearing is comprehending words while listening is a heart posture. What does it actually look like for you, practically, to move from just hearing God to genuinely listening?
4. Eli told Samuel not to leave anything out of the message, even though it was hard news about Eli himself. Amanda said real obedience sometimes means speaking truth over sparing feelings. Have you ever been in a situation where obedience to God cost you a relationship or a comfort, and how did you handle it?
5. The sermon closed with the idea that before Samuel was ever called to public ministry, he was marked by private obedience, and Amanda used the shopping cart as a small personal example. What is one area of private obedience, big or small, that you feel the Holy Spirit nudging you toward right now?