BE A GOOD LISTENER, YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT



By Rev.Michael Benson Ajayi 

1 Sam 3:1-10 TLB “the boy Samuel served the Lord by assisting Eli. Now in those days messages from the Lord were very rare, and visions were quite uncommon. One night .. Suddenly the Lord called out, "Samuel!" "Yes?" Samuel replied. "What is it?" He got up and ran to Eli. "Here I am. Did you call me?" "I didn't call you," Eli replied. "Go back to bed." So he did. Then the Lord called out again, "Samuel!" Again Samuel got up and went to Eli. "Here I am. Did you call me?" "I didn't call you, my son," Eli said. "Go back to bed." Samuel did not yet know the Lord because he had never had a message from the Lord before.  So the Lord called a third time, and once more Samuel got up and went to Eli. "Here I am. Did you call me?" Then Eli realized it was the Lord who was calling the boy. So he said to Samuel, "Go and lie down again, and if someone calls again, say, 'Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.'" So Samuel went back to bed. And the Lord came and called as before, "Samuel! Samuel!" And Samuel replied, "Speak, your servant is listening."
       God wants to have a personal relationship with you.He is speaking to you this very moment. Communication is the bedrock upon which great relationships are built, through it faith is formed and: whenever there is no communication, suspicion and fear takes over. In Samuel’s time the culture of studying of God’s word was at a low ebb. It was replaced with sacrifices like it is today; many Christians have substituted giving offerings for listening to God’s word. It is common to see persons preferring to give offerings to a priests and show less concern for the gospel because of what is considered as a more important business.
     What could be more important than learning the art of listening to God’s word .The way we treat God’s word reflects on the way we communicate with each other. Communication involves listening, hearing, understanding and responding. Many married persons struggle with poor communications skills, despite the fact that they live together, they feel distant apart because they are not truly communicating. This starts spiritually then manifests physically in marriages and relationships ;a habit developed from childhood. Eli’s family was destroyed due to poor listening skills. Samuel on the other hand was trained by a mother who was a good listener – she often spent time with God’s word in prayer and meditation.  Parental influence in the development of listening skills cannot be over emphasized. Whenever a husband walks away while his wife is still speaking and vice versa, children take note of this and tend to replicate same in their adult lives leading to marital crisis. It also affects their academic performance. The same happens when parents habitually walk out on a preacher while a sermon is ongoing, children take note and replicate same with disastrous consequences. When quality time (average of an hour ,Mark14:37) isn’t giving to the preaching of the gospel parishioners develop a weak listening capacity. We need to listen to each other more attentively to avoid family crisis.
    The world is becoming noisier with the advent of phones, radios, TVs , social media with people talking and its becoming more alien for people to create quiet time to listen to God .It was Samuel’s tradition to listen in the temple that made it possible for him to know his life’ purpose as a prophet . We should seek for ways to create time to here from God with a view to understand His purpose for our marriages, businesses, jobs and ministries. This is what gives life to the soul , strength and victory in the midst of crisis .  Isa 55:3  says"Come to me with your ears wide open. Listen and you will find life”. 
Prayer : Heavenly Father forgive me of my sins against you I believe Jesus Christ died and was raised again for my salvation I receive him as lord and saviour and receive grace for stability, creativity, productivity  and breakthroughs in Jesus name.
  Prayer /free counseling +2348098536911, +2348035536911 email:michaelbensonajayi@gmail.com
pics credit : pixabay .com    

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