Look through Scripture, all of the studs who made something of their lives, all had one thing in common: They LISTENED to God!
From Mundane To Magnificent
Before Gideon listened to God, he sifted wheat...not on a hilltop, but down in the valley. After He listened to God, he defeated the mighty Midianite army with only 3oo men.
Before Moses listened to God, he was a shepherd who thought he had a lack of speaking abilities. After he listened to God, Moses delivered the Hebrews from Egyptian slavery, Raised his staff and witnessed God split the Red Sea, and received the Ten Commandments directly from The Hand of God!
I could go on and on with examples like this, so go ahead and take a look through the stories of Jeremiah, Gideon, Moses, Joshua, etc and you will see phrases such as...
Jeremiah (Chapter 1)
"This is what God said, God told me, God reached out, touched my mouth, and said,"
Moses (Exodus 3 &4)
"God said to Moses, Believe Me, God said to Moses, God said to Moses, God said to Moses."
Gideon
By the time you get to verse 9 in Judges 7, we see the phrase, "God said to Gideon," five times!!! And then look at what Gideon does right before he leads his 3oo men to defeat the Midianite army....Gideon "went to his knees before God in Prayer."
Joshua
Joshua is the stud that God chose to be Moses' successor and to lead the Israelite's into The Promise Land...listen to what the people say under Joshua's leadership in reference to God, "We will worship God. What He says, we'll do."
The Common Theme: Each of these studs had specific dialogue with God and they LISTENED to God. There is nothing wrong with the, "Lord please Bless Me" Prayer....by all means, Pray these Prayers with Heart and Soul, I know I do....but there must come a time where you and I get specific with God....be honest with Him, come to Him in extreme detail, and most of all.....LISTEN TO HIM.
A parallel with Apple Computer
You know why companies like Apple Computer are becoming so successful. They listen to their customers....take a look....
In presenting the iMac, Jobs outlined the top three requests of customers and how that feedback drove the engineering of the updated iMac. (The requests were, in order of importance: 1. More flat screens. 2. Make more use of the G4 processor - in the new iMac, the G4 is standard. 3. Make more use of the Apple Superdrive, a combination CD-RW and DVD-R - now part of the high-end iMac.)
Do you think Apple would have been able to create amazing computers if they just wanted all their needs met instead of meeting the needs of their customers? God has needs to be met and He wants to use you to be an answer to His Prayer!
So instead of just coming to God with a 'bless me' grocery list of your desires, take time to listen to what God has to say.
Speak God. I'm Ready To Listen
In 1 Samuel 3.8-10, Samuel has one of the best phrases found in Scripture..."Speak, God. I'm your servant, ready to listen."
Samuel had the right perspective, He needed to listen to God. Here is the funny thing that I know I have experienced....It took God FOUR times to call on Samuel before Samuel finally took the hint!! Are you like Samuel in this context? I know I am... God has called and called and called and called me and I have finally taken the hint!!! Praise be to God for His Holy patience!
Best Example of All
Jesus, a carpenter, The Son of God, became The Savior of The World. He listened to God. In Luke 22:41-42, Jesus says these famous words as He walked away, about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed,
Do you want to take your life to the next level and go from the mundane to the magnificent? Here is your game plan to do so: Listen to God!
