Samuel
Prayer is - you must hear and then only you can communicate
- The moment you hear god' sword seriously -> that's the moment HS works
Indifference - eve though know the truth, still not responding (submission) --> heart x revering lord
Background ( Sam 3)
- Dark era (nobody reveres or place importance in the word of God, church is dead; Eli and his family, although lstay in temple, were equivalent to dead)
- Divine silence (god's judgment -- if your loved one stop taking to you, meaning he is very angry and it is worse than rebuking you)
- Eli, although he was the priest, god didn't talk to him
- Today had an impact to eternity (so mustn't look down on the word today)
- From where Samuel is (where you are) --> leads to the ends of the world (beyond boundaries, 4G)
- god is the greatest God who takes note of the smallest thing
*turning point - word of God (v1,21)
- When there is lack of word of god -> grace is lost
- When the word of god surface --> favour returns
- Jn 8:32; Heb 4:12
- Where the truth is --> lies reduce, FOD crushes : real authority and true wisdom
- Not about your conditions (more senior? More gift)
- Seek to develop our thinking on the basis of the truth
- God loves us, and has a plan for us
- Ironical things? When you think from here, can you not find answer?
God's initiation
- Not by human merits or actions (God called upon Samuel not only once, but repeatedly!)
- god is always reaching out to you, so that we are without excuse that he didn't come and seek us
- God is not far, He always appear us in the normal way
- Not when you are doing presentation, during critical moments
- God finds Samuel / you in whatever you are doing, wherever you are
- Know --> look out for God's presence
- Connect God with our living (when you are studying, working, reviewing...)
Human participation
- Eli
- Knew and believed in God's word
- Compromise (why do we always compromise?
- Indifference / stay in comfort zone (complacency)
- Samuel
- Ready and willing
- Believe
- Obey - this is the element of completing the whole course of faith and enjoying added grace
Sometimes, we are like Eli, because of our fallen nature (saved, but have no power to submit because succumb to compromising to his flesh, because he never dealt with it through deep prayers).
Ask: is the word of god an anchor in our life?
Do you take God's word seriously? If you are, wherever you are, there will be authority
Do we want to be Eli? Shaken because we do not root ourselves in the word, and never pray to have courage to submit. (Weak in truth eg knowledge --> spirituality - believing heart --> sensibility and submission)
salvation is god driven. To enjoy grace and anointing to the fullest, you need to participate eg immerse yourself in the environment of word, test and approve through daily living and developing our thinking based on the truth --> confirm! have u tasted the sweetness?