Q2. Listening to the Spirit

[Bill1]

When we listen carefully to God's voice, we can fulfill his desires for us.

Our instinctive way to discern is usually visual...summing someone up on the outside.  What they look like, sound like, how they are dressed, etc. 

God wants us to discern the heart, and put away what we see on the outside.  We have to look inside to see the heart and hear the heart.

We learn to listen to the Spirit by listening over and over again to the soft, still voice.  Learning to hear it above all else

[WinstonY]

Q2. (1 Samuel 16:3-12) How does this story teach us the importance of listening carefully to God’s voice? What is our instinctive way of discerning? How is God teaching us to discern? How do we learn to listen to the Spirit?

Just as Samuel did not listen closely enough to God when he was choosing Saul as king so here also is Samuel begins to think and to follow his own instructions- to look at the outside of the young men rather than the heart so we also tend to follow our own instincts rather than to put our trust completely and wholly in the hands of God.

We as Samuel judge people in situations by their outward appearance instead of the innermost heart of the situation and do not depend on God then evil comes into the world.

We can learn to discern the holy spirit of God through prayer comma contemplation and study.

 

[raynaonline]

What God says, may not always we think is best or right.  Through having a relationship with him like Samuel did, we can challenge our own views and thinking to ensure it lines up to God’s Word and His will.  Samuel didn’t always get it right, but God helped him - told him when he was wrong and which way to go. You only get that level of insight through regular communication with God.

Instinctively, we go with our ‘gut’. But we should really be tuned into the frequency of God and follow His voice.  Here, God is teaching us how things ‘look’ isn’t necessarily how they ‘seem’. There’s a reason it was David over the others, he didn’t look right but he was the chosen one.  We really need to trust God and build up that relationship with him that navigates us through right and wrong. We should talk to Him more - He’s our friend. Consult Him first, rather than others.  He’s our friend AND Father.  LISTEN - wait, and listen. Don’t bulldoze ahead. Be prayerful, fast and subject yourself to the Voice of God.

[Adam Snyder]

In response to the forum member who said that they said that they found it difficult to understand or comprehend of a G-d who rejects, I will say that, in reference specifically to Saul, G-d rejected him as king over Israel, but I wouldn’t draw the conclusion that G-d had rejected Saul as a person in an ultimate sense. 

 

[Buzz]

Q2. (1 Samuel 16:3-12) How does this story teach us the importance of listening carefully to God's voice? It shows that we can only see through human eyes which does not reveal the heart. It teaches us to be obedient to God and listen to Him because we will allow "self" to make the wrong decision. Remember God is all knowing.

What is our instinctive way of discerning?  We look on outer appearance

How is God teaching us to discern? Showing that it is the heart He searches and not the outer appearance.

How do we learn to listen to the Spirit? Study, pray, and listen for that small still voice.

[Jeremy Long]

This passage of scripture is teaching us the importance of discerning the right way.  First of all, we shouldn't look to outward appearance to validate the call of God on someone's life.  We should instead look to their heart condition and the fruit that is evident in their life.  We should never attempt to disqualify someone or ourselves from being used by God because we don't feel good enough because it is so much more about the attitude of the heart and the fruit we bear.  

[Pru226]

Shows we can easily get it wrong. Samuel saw Eliab and had an instinctive "gut" feeling that "Surely, this is the Lords chosen one"...and he was wrong. In society we are taught so much to trust our gut, not to stop and wait for the Lords confirmation. I think Samuel is blessed and it almost feels like he has such an advantage over us because he can hear Gods voice so clearly and quickly that he didn't hold on to his gut feeling for too long!! God clearly pointed out that it was David.

We go by outside appearance of base decisions on our own understandings of what we think God would want and then we just do. Rarely do I take the time to listen and confirm with God. 

I think just bringing into our awareness that we need to ask him for a confirmation is huge. We don't like to wait and instantly want to move on to the next item or purpose of our business, we don't bother to ask anything. 

I think we have to pose our question to God and learn how he speaks to us...purposefully look for his answer.

[Rene Poirier]

What to do?

Decisions, etc. Sometimes I am asked to pray for healing or asked what to do in a difficult situation. Making sure you are in fellowship with the Father and then believing that He will respond is key. Jesus kneeling down and writing in the sand was waiting for the Father to give the best answer possible. We have the mind of Christ.

[Zibuyile]

1. It is important  to have attentive  listening  ear to the voice of God , so that we don't  miss His instructions and important  things that God convey to us.

2.Our instinctive ways of listening.  It is when we listen to what our natural minds telling us without and do accord  to our own thinking  without recognising  the voice of God

3.How is God teaching us to discern?

God teach us to discern through His word   studying the scriptures , through prayer .

4.Spending time with Him such that we are able to hear when He speak , and be sure it is Him speakin7 to us.

 

[Cdshugard]

Listening patiently is always a problem for me. I used to anticipate and charge ahead of what I consider the correct answer but as I'm getting older I'm finding it a little easier for me. But I still have to stop and remember that God is in control and ask him to reveal His will.  Praying for guidance  and reading His Holy Word is the 1st step then being quiet and receptive to His answer. We have to listen! For years I have struggled to know when God is speaking to me; debating if I really understand what I feel is His answer or whether I have misunderstood. However I have made strides in my walk (getting into the meat) with devotions, prayer, seeking and communing with the Lord and even watching specifically my present and past Godly pastors teaching and preaching on the internet. 

[crissy464]

If we obey His will nothing will defect us. Listening is an important part of being receptive to God's voice. The ability to properly discriminate.

Discrimination is a tool, which is a kind of wisdom. god gives decrements as a tool to believers as they walk through life.

[Irmela]

Q2. (1 Samuel 16:3-12)

How does this story teach us the importance of listening carefully to God's voice?

God sees and is aware of everything that we are not aware of  (that which is hidden) God sees the heart.

What is our instinctive way of discerning?

We discern by what we see.  What will be pleasing to man.

How is God teaching us to discern?

By waiting on His promptings. Not necessarily by trying to please man.

How do we learn to listen to the Spirit?

By spending time with the Lord in prayer and reading His Word.  By acting on His Word, i.e. by doing what He instructs us to do.  

 

[RuthA]

How does this story teach us the importance of listening carefully to God’s voice?   We can’t rely on our own thoughts - they are instinctively miles away from God’s.  God’s kingdom is an ‘upside down’ kingdom.  His values are not the world’s.   We will get it wrong without him ( as per Saul).

What is our instinctive way of discerning?  Culture has infiltrated us. It’s difficult because we are told to be in the world but not of it which is tricky. 
I think this is how it was for the Israelites in Babylon.  Most of those in exile became infused with the culture.   We have to be careful not to discern what we think God is saying through our own cultural lens..

How is God teaching us to discern?  I think if I want to discern God’s voice then I’m going to need to be less singularly focussed on achieving my agenda for the day.  If I am too single minded there won’t be opportunities for God to intervene, and I’ll never have the space in the day to hear him.  I need to go slower and not be on automatic - I need to deliberately listen our, and indeed ask.

How do we learn to listen to the Spirit?  - as above - slow down , listen out, ask.  Wait on the HS.

[PaulM]

We see previously how Saul did not carefully hear and follow the Lord's voice (spoken through Samuel). In contrast, Samuel has thoughts and opinions but he is also listening carefully for the voice of the Spirit and obeying God's instructions. 

Our instinct is to judge from outward appearance. God is teaching us to discern by His leading and His criteria to look at the heart of a person rather than the outward appearance. Grow mature in the Lord and seek Him in relational prayer so that we might be still before Him and listen for His voice. 

[Brother Alvein]

On 7/26/2012 at 12:22 PM, Pastor Ralph said:

Q2. (1 Samuel 16:3-12) How does this story teach us the importance of listening carefully to God’s voice? What is our instinctive way of discerning? How is God teaching us to discern? How do we learn to listen to the Spirit?

I really like this question because listening to God is what I struggle with constantly. I think for me - it's discerning what's from God and what is merely thought. Reading other's posts about how they learn to hear God reveals to me that I spend too much time on social media and not In my word. spending time with God reading and meditating on his word will allow me to know God on a deeper level - that way I may know what God's will is for me when I get to the appointed place he has for me. For me - I instinctively always want a sign from God, I want to hear him, I want him to talk to me as if He is a physical being. I'm the type of Christian to beg on my knees for a sign from God and ask him to talk to me through the first thing I read when I open my bible - it's sad thinking about it now. God is teaching us to discern with the heart, by not judging on voice and appearance, but rather the heart.

[Krissi]

I just finished skimming the answers of other posters because this is an important topic to me -- hearing God's voice clearly and in time.

Three competing voices can be heard in my mind: first, my own voice which includes my conscience and desires; secondly, Satan's voice which no one mentioned in this thread but should be considered; thirdly, God's voice which is usually soft and often not clear.

Admittedly, I find it difficult to discern my voice from God's, at times. It's not that I think like God, though I wish I did, but that my voice mimes His, giving wee commands and charting a path forward. Also, God tends to lead me into ways that are painful which instinctively, I avoid. Right now, I'm exhausted from suffering. But this is how God teaches me -- via suffering -- perhaps to get my attention and focus, and perhaps because I'm strong-willed.

Like the first poster, I am troubled by Saul's rejection because I know that His justice is fair and rational. But in this story, God's justice overruled His love (or so it appears). Yes, Saul had not waited for God's voice -- don't we all do this, at times? -- because he was a leader with his back against a wall. The situation was tense: Saul had waited for days for God to speak. A decision needed to be made. So Saul, as a leader, made that decision and solved the crisis, but in doing so, he cut short the time he was supposed to wait for God's voice to be heard. 

God didn’t look at Saul with compassion after this as He did when Elijah ran away and tried to die in the desert; He didn’t view Saul with eyes of forgiveness, but as a dispassionate decision-maker that God sometimes, but not always, is. God read into the future. He knew what Saul would become. Of course, He knew Saul's heart all the time, so why did He choose Saul only to reject him later? This is what bothers me about this story. It's implied that Saul could have chosen differently or that God truly didn’t know what Saul would choose. Thus is the mystery of free will, perhaps.

So, the first example is Saul's impatience in hearing God's voice and waiting for His will to be known, and the sobering consequence of being rejected by God as king.

(Someone upthread wrote the phrase "redemptive hesitation" = react, but don't act until prompted by God.)

Nice.

The second way the stories teach the importance of listening carefully has to do with the prophet Samuel's obedience to God's SPOKEN voice -- here, there was no ambiguity about what God wanted Samuel to do -- in spite of his fear of Saul's response, that is, the consequences. I so wish God would speak to me this clearly. Then, my obedience would be starkly exposed and I could not hide behind a murky command. As the bible says, "Samual did what God told him." 

Sometimes I obey and horrible things result. Christian martyrs obeyed unto death, for example. Samuel obeyed and was spared negative consequences. So here, God rewarded obedience in his life with His smiling approval.

A third way the stories teach the importance of listening clearly has to do with the way Samuel perceived God's voice as he chose David as king. He was told clearly by God that none of the king-like brothers were to be ordained, but rather the youngest, the "runt" of the litter, David. Now, David's big problem wasn't that he was undesirable, but that he was young. The bible describes David as (message version): "bright-eyed, good-looking." So, it's not like Samuel was asked to bless a hopeless case to be king, but had been told to bless a kid with potential. 

God spoke clearly to Samuel, “Up on your feet! Anoint him! This is the one.”

A few thoughts.

It's relatively easy to obey God when He speaks with an audible, clear voice, when the choice to obey or disobey is set out in stark relief. There's no ambiguity. No worries that the voice I think is God's is really my own.

I don't know why God whispers in ways hard to discern instead of speaking with a clear voice. My rational self says that hearing His voice would be a lot easier if He spoke a bit louder. God's ways may have something to do with forcing me to silence myself in order to hear Him. Not hearing clearly makes me hesitate. To wait. To let Him speak over my "better" judgment and intuition.

Honestly, I pity Saul. He was a leader in a pinch, a guy with his back against a wall. He heard the war cries of the enemy and knew, as a leader, he had to make a decision. Yet God tarried. And tarried. And tarried. As minutes turned into days and the panic of war overwhelmed him, poor Saul made a decision, one that had to be made. After all, God did not speak! Or, perhaps, Saul could not hear God speak. I believe Saul wanted to hear from God but felt he couldn't wait any longer. 

God walked away from Saul and put the mantle of leadership onto David. This was the consequence. The horrible consequence of not hearing ... no, of not waiting to hear. God overruled human judgment. He is teaching us, perhaps, to ignore our intuition and the pressing need to make a decision and just wait against all odds ... keep waiting when everyone is staring you down asking what you want to do ... keep waiting and waiting as you wonder why God doesn't speak and worry that you missed His tiny whisper. 

Just wait.

[Nicolaas A.P. Mostert]

Q2. (1 Samuel 16:3-12)

How does this story teach us the importance of listening carefully to God's voice?

That we can make easily wrong choices if in the natural. Samuel nearly does it but every time HOLY SPIRIT rebuke him and he listen.  

What is our instinctive way of discerning?

As we are in the world but not of the world, our instinctive is mostly natural 

How is God teaching us to discern?

We have to be Spiritual Minded, led by GOD's Spirit.

How do we learn to listen to the Spirit?

Meditate on GOD's Words. it is life giving and inspired by GOD's Spirit. Set us apart for GOD's purpose.

[LadyT]

Q2. (1 Samuel 16:3-12) How does this story teach us the importance of listening carefully to God's voice? We will have our own opinions and thoughts, but regardless, we've gotta drown that out and listen to God's voice.

What is our instinctive way of discerning? We follow what we've perceived as popular and 'true' in our minds.

How is God teaching us to discern? We can't look outwardly, but we gotta focus on their heart.

How do we learn to listen to the Spirit? By reading God's Word and knowing Him, we can discern His voice from the world's.