Hearing the voice of God is something that everyone, Christian or not, wants to experience. Although we all want to hear God, actually doing it, for most of us, is sort of a mysterious process. We often don’t know how to hear God consistently, if at all. Yet hearing and understanding what God is saying is critical for our spiritual development.

…hearing and understanding what God is saying is critical for our spiritual development.

As we look at people in the Bible who heard from God, Samuel was one of the best. The story of Samuel is found in 1 Samuel 3:1-10.

Samuel, who was just a boy, was living and serving the priest in the temple. We are told that, “the word of the LORD was rare in those days” (v.1 ESV). Not many people were hearing the voice of God, yet this young man was about to experience something many people in the land of Israel had not seen or heard for quite some time; Samuel was about to hear from the LORD.

As we look at this story about Samuel, there are six steps which can take some of the mystery out of hearing the voice of God:

1. Position yourself close to God

Samuel set his bed up in the temple, “where the ark of God was” (v.3 ESV). Samuel had never heard God speak before, he did not know what to expect, but what he did know was that if he hung around the temple, God would eventually show up. Through personal devotions and regular church attendance, are you putting yourself in a place where God is?

2. Find a place of regular service to God

In v.1 it says, “Samuel was ministering to the LORD in the presence of Eli” (ESV). If you want to hear the voice of God, you have to be doing the things of God. If you’re not serving, don’t wonder why you’re not hearing the voice of God.

3. Listen for God’s voice

Eli was “lying down in his usual place” (v.2 NIV), too preoccupied with his own interests to hear God. When God began speaking, he was not listening. Many times to hear what God is saying we have to slow down and take time to get close to God. We have to put aside our interests and lean in to hear what God is saying.

4. When God calls, respond eagerly

When Samuel heard the voice of the Lord he was immediately up and moving (v.4). If you want to hear the voice of God, you need to be ready to put into action what He tells you!

He wants to give you wisdom to lead your family, at your job, in your church, and in every area of life.

5. When God speaks, obey Him

Starting in this passage and throughout the rest of his life, Samuel consistently obeyed the Lord. No matter what God told him, Samuel did it. From that point on, “the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground” (1 Samuel 3:19 ESV). For us, the quickest way to turn off God’s voice is to disobey him.

6. Read and study the Word of God

After God spoke to him in this passage, the Bible tells us, “The LORD continued to appear at Shiloh, and there He revealed Himself to Samuel through His Word” (1 Samuel 3:21 NIV). If you want to hear from God, you have to know what the Bible says.

God is speaking. He wants to give you wisdom to lead your family, at your job, in your church, and in every area of life. The question we have to ask ourselves is not is God speaking, but are we listening?