Northside Church - Sydney
MOVE Your Prayer Life Forward Week 1: …From Monologue to Dialogue
We're listening to another great message from Northside Community Church. We're starting a new series this morning. It's just a brief mini series, a two week series entitled Move Your Prayer Life Forward. Most of us at some time or other struggle with our prayer life. Questions like how to pray, when to pray, what to pray for. And so this in this brief two week series we're looking at this today. We're looking at moving our prayer life from being a monologue to a dialogue. Think about that. And this reading from 1 Samuel helps the former platform to build on that, on the need for that to happen. How to ensure our prayers are not just one way, not just always asking, pleading, petitioning, but rather that we're listening, responding, obeying, moving our prayer life from monologue to dialogue. That's our prayer right now, shall we? Father God, we all need help with our prayers. We all need to recognize that our prayer life is a direct reflection of the relationship we have with you. In that sense, we're looking at more than just prayer this morning. We're looking at how close we are to you, how close we need to be to you. And so Lord, give us insights, give us thoughts and ideas that will help to strengthen our link with you, our relationship with you. We sure need it in these very difficult and challenging days through Jesus Christ, our Lord, we pray. Amen. Well, like I said, this story takes us back. I was introduced to this incident when I was just a little boy in short pants and short socks, little braces, kind of Sunday school out in the western suburbs of Sydney. It's kind of a humorous story. He's a boy, 13 years old, and they're abouts. His voice is in the night. And he thinks it's the voice of his friend and his mentor Eli. Eli was the priest of the temple in a town called Shiloh. And each time, of course, Eli says, look, I didn't call you, go back to sleep. And it's got a little humorous touch to it. On the third occasion, Eli finally gets a sense of what's happening, tells the boy to go back to bed. And if the voice comes again to respond, your servant is listening. Now, this was a defining moment in the life of Samuel, a moment in which his connection with God, his openness to God, his obedience to God, was going to be lifted to a whole new level. The incident would take him from merely a knowledge of God to a very deep and personal relationship with God. And as we say so often from here, that's what it's all about, not just knowing about God, but having a deep and close relationship with him. Friends, that's at the heart of an effective prayer life, not just a knowledge of God, but a deeper, natural and honest relationship with God. Before we get too far into this message, let's pause to consider some puzzling aspects to this story, because there are some interesting things. The first one pops up in verse one of the reading brought to us by Melanie. "There were very few messages from the Lord, and visions from him were rare." Now, what are we to make of this? Is this a statement of the reality, or is this an expression of the perception of how the writer thought things were? I mean, it's not within God's character to stop trying to connect with his creation. It's not within his nature to cease from giving visions to his people. Was he asleep during this period? What was happening? It's not within his nature to be like that. But it is within our nature, not to tune in to what he's saying. It is within our nature, not to be listening. It's like when you drive through the lane-cove tunnel. I do that pretty much every day, as some of you do. You know how they can broadcast warnings into your vehicle, and about there's somebody in the standby lane, on the breakdown lane, or there's traffic up ahead, whatever. What really annoys me is the fact that you get the message at the beginning of the tunnel, and that interrupts your favorite song, or you listen to a great interview, and then you get it halfway through the tunnel, and then you get it at the end of the tunnel. I actually rang up. I do that sort of thing, asking why we have to have it three times. They didn't have satisfactory answer, but I've still got it three times. You're kind of missing out in all sorts of good stuff. But here's the thing. You don't get the message if your radio's not on. You don't get the message if you're not tuned in, and I rather think that's what was happening. Here's something else, another puzzling thing. The Lord had never spoken to Samuel. Verse 6, "The Lord calls Samuel again, but he did not know it was the Lord, for the Lord had never spoken to him." Again, statement of reality or expression of perception as to maybe how things work. Now, Eli was a man of God. We know that. Lots written about him in the Bible. But maybe he drifted a little bit from God. If you read chapter two of 1 Samuel, his sons must have broke his heart. They got into all kinds of trouble. It's a pretty graphic reading, actually. But maybe he was really disappointed with them, maybe had some doubts about how God was working. Whatever. You have to ask the question, why did it take so long for Eli to realize what was happening? I mean, I don't want to be too hard on this guy, but this is Old Testament times. God did speak in some remarkable ways to people if they were tuned in. So how come it took Eli so long? Whatever the case, it took God three times to get through to Samuel, which I guess when it's all said and done, that's pretty good, because he takes a lot more than three times sometimes to get through to me. And I suspect he probably takes a lot more than three times to get through to some of you. God was very keen to get through to Samuel because this man was destined to be a great prophet among the people of Israel, one who, among other things, was instrumental in the anointing of David. Remember that story? It was Samuel who was there when they chose the young shepherd boy David to be the next king of Israel. So here in the third chapter of the book that bears his name, Samuel's relationship to God was about to change dramatically. Go to a whole new level. At last, the conditions, the Samuel to move his prayer life from monologue to dialogue were ideal. He was about to add a dimension to his relationship with God which he had never experienced before. First of all, the setting was right. If he, Samuel was doing what a lot of us think we're doing, he was living at the church. That's where he was staying. He was, he'd been dedicated to God by his mother, and he was living in the temple. Rather, he was bedding down each night in the temple. Verse three says, Samuel was sleeping in the sanctuary where the sacred covenant box was. This little fella was sleeping in the most holy part of the Israelite nation right there in the temple right next to the ark of the covenant. It couldn't get more holy, more spiritual than that. Now the point here is if we want to keep our relationship with God strong, you've got to hang out with God's people. You've got to do life together. You've got to expose yourself to the help and the encouragement of our fellow believers. They're there to guide us and help us and support us. In my years of ministry, I can't recall ever somebody leaving the church for whatever reason, a little bit of angst, a little bit of disappointment, whatever. I can't recall an instance where anybody has left the church only to find their spiritual life increasing in depth and maturity. I can't think of one. In fact, quite the opposite sadly, often when people leave the church, it leads to cynicism and bitterness, or at least a flat line of their faith. But in most cases, a decline in their belief and their dependence and their reliance on God. That's just the way it is. If we want to be open to God and what he's going to say to us, you've got to hang around the people of God. Not necessarily live in the church. We're trying to discourage some of you from doing that. But he was living in the temple. He was right in the setting. He was in the right setting for God to break through. Here's something else. He's attitude was right. This young guy's attitude was right. Samuel would have acknowledged the authority that Eli had over him. I mean, he was a priest. He was his mentor. And so when he thinks it's Eli calling him, he's quick to respond with humility and submission. Those two words, very important. Humility and submission. Three times he comes in and he says, "Sir, you call me, and here I am." Reference in the work of the kingdom. And that is our work. That's our work. In the work of the kingdom, it is vital that all of us constantly remind ourselves, it's not about me. It's about we. Submission, humility, key traits that have to be there with all of us. And we're seeing graphic evidence of this fact in the way at the second week, Mark, we're handling these two services. Look, I'm aware we're going to miss the one big service. We're all going to miss that one big event. We're going to be stretched in terms of resourcing both services. I mentioned earlier, we're already being stretched, really stretched. We're going to feel tired and some of us are going to feel fatigued. But whatever we remind ourselves that this is not about us individually, this is about helping this church to grow. It's primarily designed for people whom we are yet to meet. That's where, that's why the empty chairs are there, as Sam has mentioned, so powerfully. Whatever that's our focus on the growth of the kingdom, on introducing people to the life-changing power of Jesus Christ, whatever that's our focus, we'll know we're in God's plan. And that'll strengthen our ability to realize it's not about me, it's about we. It's about all of us. Here's something else. The guidance was right. The guidance this young guy received. Old Eli was beginning to lose it. Let's just be perfectly honest here. Bible says he was blind. The Bible actually says in chapter three, it says verse 22, he was very old. Now, if the Old Testament says you're very old, you are very old because some people in that section of the book lived a long time. So for a poor guy to say, you know, he was very old. He is really old. But verse 26, look at this, of chapter two, this is powerful. The boy Samuel, bear in mind under the guidance, the mentorship of Eli, the boy Samuel continued to grow and gain favor, both with the Lord and with people. Look, the old guy initially missed the significance of the voice in the night. Didn't quite get that all that quickly. But it's obvious that his overall nurture and guidance of the young lad was absolutely spot on. It was invaluable. Friends, you know, we all need an Eli in our lives. You really do. Someone, someone with whom we can be ourselves, someone who knows us through and through, who can share our joys and our struggles without fear of judgment and rejection. Someone who sows into our lives. I thank God for the people over the years who've done that for me. And there have been scores of them. People who've encouraged me, who've guided me at times when I've needed it, who've gently rebuked me. They're both in past churches and they're here in this church and they're among some of my colleagues, both within Sydney and interstate. I thank God for the people who've sown into my life. And I'm sure you're sitting there thinking, yeah, I've got a few people who've sown into my life as well. We all need an Eli in our lives. It may be someone in your connection group. It may be one of our leadership team. It may be just a trusted Christian friend, not necessarily part of this church, but somebody who's an Eli figure for you. If you haven't gotten that, pray into that because we all need that kind of person. There's a beautiful reference in Romans, Romans chapter 1, verses 11 and 12. Paul is talking about his relationship with the Roman Christians and he says this, I want very much to see you in order to share a spiritual blessing with you to make you strong. Mentors do that. What I mean is that both you and I will be helped at the same time, you by my faith and I by yours. That's one of the most powerful references to mentorship in the whole of the Bible, Romans 1, 11 and 12, where you just get this sense of mutual encouragement and mutual support. Final thing that made the conditions right for Samuel and this fact more than any other is the one that really confirmed his new relationship with God. Here it is, his response was right. In any relationship, what is it that ensures the relationship is two way? What is it that ensures there's a strong connection between the parties? What is it that ensures there's enrichment and real fulfillment in the relationship? What is it? It's the ability, our ability to listen, not just talk, but to listen, to understand, to draw the other person out. That's what constitutes an effective relationship, a caring relationship, in contrast to one that's superficial and very selfish, where we're only interested in getting something and not terribly interested in what the other party thinks or feels, we're just interested in getting something out of them. That's a sad situation when it does occur. What was the guidance given by Old Eli on that third occasion when Samuel came in, he said, "Son, you go back to bed and if this voice comes to you again, you simply answer, speak, Lord, your servant is listening." Samuel obediently did just that. The dialogue between him and God began at that point. Up until then, because of the formality and the liturgical nature of the temple worship, it had all been one way, sadly. As it turns out, God's initial message to Samuel involved a warning about what was going to happen in the future, particularly to put on Eli and his family, some real disturbing stuff there. But there would be many other conversations between God and Samuel. As Samuel played his part in shaping the nation, in molding them into being God's people. Friends, I've got a question this morning. It's a question for you. It's a question for me. Are you listening to God? Are you listening to God? Or is it all one way? Is it all one way in which we're always requesting, always petitioning, always pleading? Of course, how we listen to God is the subject of another sermon altogether, subject of a whole series of sermons. But listen to God does involve periods of quiet contemplation. It does involve reading his word with fresh eyes and really listening and wondering, what does that mean for me? If I take that verse seriously, it means talking and sharing with trusted friends who can bring a mature perspective on what's happening in our lives. It may mean journaling for some of us, reflecting on things that God is saying and then going back and realizing that there's been some growth, there's been some progress. Whatever it is, it requires intentionality and focus, but the rewards are worth it because the outcome is that our relationship with God through Jesus begins to blossom, begins to really take on a whole new dimension as it did for Samuel. It turns out prayer life from monologue to dialogue. I don't know about you, but I've got a feeling that all of us could benefit from maybe going one, two, three days, maybe a whole week in which we do nothing but just try to listen to God. Just try to tune in to what he's saying about where you are now, where he'd like you to be, what's happening in your life. That might be a good thing for all of us, just a pause for however long it takes and really listen to God. Speak, Lord, your servant is listening. What might you hear if you applied that verse seriously in your life? Change the life of Samuel. Took you from monologue to dialogue. You can do the same for us.