Listening to God - Preparing Your Heart to Hear Him Listening to God is like listening to anyone-before you can hear Him, you must be ready to listen. Just as in a conversation, you cannot hear the other person if you are talking or if your mind is distracted. So it is with God. If you want to hear Him speak, you must be quiet and you must be focused on what He is saying. Regular conversation with God can transform your life! Consider identifying a place and time to meet with God everyday.
Prayer is how you begin a conversation with God. Think of it as saying "hello."
Listening to God - How Can I Hear Him? Listening to God requires a deliberate choice to shut out the chaos around you and focus your thoughts. Is God someone you can hear? The Bible says He is, and the Bible is one of the main tools through which He speaks. We live in a world of noise. Almost everywhere we go, we find sounds competing with our minds, keeping us from letting our thoughts get below the surface level. Hearing God's voice means not listening to the noise of the world around us. It's not easy, but it can be done. King David, author of most of the book of Psalms, gave us a model for meeting with God, "Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul" [Psalm 143:8]. He sought God's direction in the morning, at the beginning of the day. Like a general in God's army, he wanted to hear from his Commanding Officer before he entered into battle. Beginning each day fresh with God is a great reminder that, as the Scripture says, His mercies are new every morning [Lamentations 3:22, 23]. You must find the time of day that works for you, but morning is the best time if that is possible.
Do you want to hear God speak to you? Listening to God requires regular Bible reading, since the Bible is the Word of God. To listen to the Bible, click here.
Listening to God - Get the Picture Listening to God requires a heart committed to understand His message. God often speaks to us in visual images. Consider the example of the prophet Habakkuk, in Habakkuk chapter 2. The prophet longed to hear from God! He was so determined that he was willing to stand and wait as long as it took. "I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me…" [Habakkuk 2:1].
Habakkuk found that God was faithful. "Then the LORD replied, 'Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay" [Habakkuk 2:2].
Listening to God - What Now? Listening to God requires a right attitude in our hearts. In order to listen to God and receive His instruction, we must want to do His will, much as Habakkuk did. God honors the heart that is fully surrendered to Him. If we are stubbornly clinging to our own desires, we are likely to get a garbled message that will not be God's voice at all. As a result, we are likely to continue pursuing a path that is contrary to the one God has designed for our lives. Psalm 40:8 says, "I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart." Do you desire God's will for your life above every other desire? If you do, you can trust that He will direct your path. Listen to His message, and be quick to obey. Write down what He tells you and be ready to share it so that others may understand.
When you listen to God and obey Him, you will discover a life that is full and rich with purpose, confident you are following the Master's plan.
Grow More Now!
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Yes, today I am deciding to follow Jesus
Yes, I am already a follower of Jesus
I still have questions
EDUCATIONAL FRAMEWORK: Heart for God
MATERIALS:
Samuel Hears God craft: printed templates, cardstock, scissors, glue, crayons
SONG IDEAS:
Praise Ye the Lord
Bye and Bye
PICTURE BOOKS:
“The Prayer that Makes God Smile” by Stormie Omartian
SCRIPTURE:
“Call to me and I will answer you. I will tell you great things.” -Jeremiah 33:3
“You must use your whole being for the sake of others… your ears, your nose, your mouth, your limbs.” -Rev. Moon
AS CHILDREN ARRIVE: Choose 1:
String Phone: Make a string phone out of plastic cups and yarn. Allow children to play with it by whispering into the cups and trying to hear what the other is saying.
Guess that Sound: Fill several egg shakers with different materials such as rice, beans, paper clips- anything! Set out 1 sample of each item in the eggs. Tape the eggs shut and have children guess which item is in each egg.
INTRODUCE the Lesson [Engage]
WELCOME: SONG, PRAYER, TP Greeting
REVIEW & TRANSITION:
Last week we learned about our eyes. God made our eyes so we can see His beautiful creation. And we made some cool Looking Glasses! Did you use them this week? What are some things in creation you were able to observe?
ATTENTION GRABBER:
We’re going to start our lesson with a game. It’s called Telephone. I’m going to whisper a word or phrase in one person’s ear and that person has to whisper it in the next person’s ear, and we’ll keep going until we reach the last person in the circle, who then says the word or phrase out loud. Ready??
[Some ideas: spotty ripe bananas, fat fruit flies, rabbits rumble, hats cannot tango, cows ate pie]
INTRO: God loves us and He always wants to communicate with us. But it’s important that we learn how to use our ears to hear Him.
ACTIVITY: choose 1 or more:
VIDEO:
READ ALOUD STORY:
“The Prayer that Makes God Smile” by Stormie Omartian
TEACH the Lesson [Explain/Explore]
*TEACHING POINT 1: God gave me ears to listen to him.
INTERACTIVE LESSON: POWER POINT SCRIPT HERE
Close your eyes. What are some things you can hear right now? [breathing, clock, people in the hallway, etc.] Our ears are very sensitive to the sounds around us. God has blessed us with the gift of hearing!
What do you think God gave us our ears for? Yes, for hearing. Hearing a loud sound is easy, the harder part is actually listening. Listening can be one of the hardest things to do, and it takes a lot of practice. Just like sometimes we don’t want to always listen to our parents, even though we know it’s good for us. Listening to God can also be challenging.
Many of us have not mastered the art of listening to God. One reason is because we have too many distractions around us, like the TV or listening to the thoughts in our heads. Another reason is because we don’t want to listen. We’re afraid to learn more, especially if we’re in trouble or something is wrong. Not listening can create mistrust between us and God, and it can make us miss many important experiences with God.
There are many ways we can practice listening to God. One way is to meditate. When we meditate, we put our bodies and minds at peace, almost like we are sleeping. It’s important to find a quiet place. Most people like to meditate outside or in an empty room, where we can step away from any distractions. When we meditate, we close our eyes, sit still and breathe deep. But our ears are awake and trying to hear God.
Another way to listen to God is through other people. When you talk to people and they say something that inspires you or makes you feel happy, that is God sharing His love through them. Our parents are probably the closest people in our lives who know God better than we do. So it’s important to listen to your parents because God is always working through them.
*TEACHING POINT 2: A bible story- samuel hears god
INTERACTIVE LESSON:
There are many stories in the Bible where God called out to people by their names. Jesus, Moses, and Noah are just a few examples. Do you think God knows your name? I’m sure He does! What if God called out to you by your name? How would you feel? What would you do?
The Bible tells us a story of when God called out to a young boy named Samuel. His mother, Hannah, promised God to raise Samuel to serve Him faithfully. So when Samuel was old enough, his mother took him to serve in the temple under the priest named Eli.
One night Samuel was sleeping when he heard someone call his name. He got up and ran to Eli. "Here I am; you called me," he said to Eli.
"I didn't call you," Eli answered. "Go back to bed." So Samuel went back to bed.
Again God called, "Samuel!" Samuel jumped out of bed and went to Eli. "Here I am; you called me."
"I didn't call you, go back to bed," Eli answered a second time.
A third time God called Samuel and Samuel got up and went to Eli. "Here I am; you called me," he said.
Finally, Eli realized that it was God who was calling Samuel. He told Samuel, "Go and lie down, and if he calls you again, say, 'Speak LORD, for your servant is listening."
Samuel went back to bed and sure enough, again he heard the voice of God calling, "Samuel! Samuel!" This time Samuel answered as Eli had told him, "Speak, for your servant is listening."
Samuel learned that it is very important to listen to God. Some people think God only calls grown-ups. We are all special to God and He wants to talk to us each and every day. If we know that God wants to talk to us, we can open up our ears and seek God’s voice.
Discussion:
Why do you think God made 2 ears and 1 mouth?
What are 2 ways we can practice listening to God?
Why is it important to listen to God?
Have you heard God speaking to you before? Let’s share about it.
APPLY the Lesson Evaluate
GROUP ACTIVITIES: Choose 1 or 2:
Samuel Hears God… I Can Too!: You will need cardstock, scissors, crayons, and glue. Print one face on cardstock for each child. Have them draw their faces using crayons. Cut out the ear templates and give each child two. Glue the ears to the face.
“Come Here Samuel” Game: Have the class sit in a circle. One child will lay down in the middle of the circle and pretend to be asleep. Pick a child in the circle to say, ‘Come Here, Samuel.’ The child in the middle will then wake up and guess who called him. If he guesses correctly, the two children will switch places and the game continues. If the child guesses incorrectly then you will say, ‘Go back to sleep’ and someone else will say ‘Come Here Samuel.’ Continue until they pick the correct child.
Guided Meditation: Try this calming meditation session. If you do not have time for the whole video, we recommend to stop at 6:40.
SNACK IDEA:
Potato chips- hear that crunch!
Rice Krispie treats- yum!
CONCLUDE the Lesson
CONCLUSION:
Our bodies are made by God! Today we learned about our ears. God made our ears to hear the creation around us. He also made our ears so we can listen to God’s wisdom. He wants to speak to us every day, so we need to practice opening up our ears to hear Him.
PRAYER:
Dear Heavenly Parent, thank you for teaching us about our ears today. We want to use them to listen to you and connect with you every day. Our bodies are beautiful and amazing! This week, I hope we can be more grateful for our ears and use them in ways that will make you happy. Aju!