Amen. Let's turn to 1 Samuel chapter 3. 1 Samuel chapter 3. As I said, we're bringing a short word this evening and then we'll get down to a time of prayer. And so 1 Samuel chapter 3, we'll begin just there at the opening verse of the chapter. 1 Samuel chapter 3 in the verse number 1. The Word of God says, And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli. The word of the Lord was precious in those days. There was no open vision. It came to pass at that time when Eli was laid down in his place and his eyes began to wax dim that he could not see. And there the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord where the ark of God was. And Samuel was laid down to sleep. But the Lord called Samuel and he said, Am I? And he ran on to Eli and said, Here am I, for thou callest me. And he said, I called not, lie down again. And he went and lay down. And the Lord called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, Here am I, for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son, lie down again. Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him. The Lord called Samuel again the third time, and he arose and went to Eli and said, Here am I, for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child. Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down, and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place. And the Lord came and stood, and called, as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak, for thy servant heareth. We'll end the reading at the verse number 10. Let's just pray briefly. Father, again in heaven, we come now to thy word. Help the preacher and help the hearer, we pray. Give us an open ear, a receptive heart, and may Thy Spirit take the word as it will be applied to each of our souls. We pray this in Jesus' precious name. Amen. Well, in the will of the Lord, starting this Lord's Day, we will, as a congregation, have the privilege of sitting under the preached word in a week of ministry meetings that have been planned, scheduled, and rescheduled over the last two years. And as I thought of the meetings that lie before us, I thought that Eli's counsel and Samuel's request here in 1 Samuel 3, especially the verses 9 and 10, was something that we could take to the Lord this evening in prayer, both individually and corporatively. as we prepare for all that we will hear from God's servant over the next week. You see, Eli counseled Samuel when he heard the voice of God speaking to him again, to respond to that voice by saying, speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth. Well, God did come again, and God did call Samuel, Samuel, Samuel. And Samuel responded with the words, speak, for thy servant heareth. There are really three brief thoughts that arise from these words of both Eli and Samuel. I want you to notice first of all the petition that is offered here. The petition that is offered. Look at there at Samuel's request in the verse number 10. Speak Lord. Speak Lord. Now Samuel at this point in his life was still but a young lad. He was still tender in years. And he was unknown within the nation at this moment of time. He will eventually become the prophet in the nation. He will eventually become God's voice to the people. But at this time, Samuel was simply just but a lad in there, living and working in the tabernacle there at Shiloh. And yet, though he was a child, and though he was unknown by the masses, the child Samuel still believed that the God of heaven could speak to him, could communicate to him, and to have fellowship with him. And thus the lad petitions God with a very simple request. It's actually a request that comprises of simply one word. The word speak, that was his request. Speak, speak Lord, thy servant heareth, or Samuel said, speak for thy servant heareth. As I came to think about that single worded request, I thought about how we as believers should never feel intimidated by the length and by the oratory of others when it comes to the matter of prayer. We shouldn't think that our prayer will be discarded because we aren't as eloquent as someone else within the congregation as they pray. We shouldn't think that our prayers will not be answered because they are only but short in length. We shouldn't even think that our prayers will not be answered because we find ourselves as children of God, as infants, as compared to others who are of a more advanced and a more mature age, spiritually speaking, I'm talking about this evening. We should never think that God, because of any of these reasons, would discard our prayers. Just because we're offered maybe simply one prayer tonight, we should never think that God will discard that prayer while others will offer multiple requests when they come to pray. You see, all prayer accordance to God's will and offered in Jesus' name will be heard by our Father." And God heard the request of this lad. He just said, speak, and God spoke. God heard his request. As I've said, he was but a child, but a lad, And yet he was heard. One preacher said the fact that the Lord should choose a child out of Eli's household and that he should speak to him ought to be very encouraging to you who think yourself to be the least likely to be recognized by God. And so I trust that you will be encouraged by this thought tonight. I trust that you'll be encouraged by the fact that God hears the simple, the short prayers of his people just as much as he hears the long and the complex ones and petitions of others. You see, God didn't speak to Eli. God didn't speak to his two sons. But God chose to speak to a lad, a young boy, because Samuel wanted to hear. Speak, speak for thy servant, heareth. Eli didn't want to hear the message. The message was one of judgment for his household. But Samuel, regardless of what the message was going to be, Samuel wanted to hear God's word. You know, as we come to this week of ministry meetings, I believe that we can benefit from offering up such a petition to God Before we come to the meetings, yes and even prior to the meetings commencing, even as our sister will play or whoever will play in the meetings, We should bow our heads and we should ask the Lord to speak to us, to speak to us through his word as God's servant expounds the scriptures to us. We should come into God's house, not only in this week of meetings, but every time we assemble in the house of God, we should ask God, Lord, speak to me. Speak to me, don't speak to my brother. Samuel didn't say, speak to Eli. Speak to Eli's sons. He said simply speak. Speak to me. Speak to me Lord. Speak to me as your child. Don't be silent to me. Is that not a terrible thing? To come to God's house week after week and never to hear God's voice speaking to you? That's a terrible place for a Christian to be. To be in a place where you never hear God's voice. You know, in the Scripture, the wonderful thing is that God wants to speak to His people. God wants to communicate to His people. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. Let him hear is the repeated frame in Scripture. The problem is, At times God can't get away from the din that's in our minds and in our hearts, the din of the world. He can't get beyond all the noise, all the background noise that we have. We listen to so many voices and we're able to discern whose those voices are. And yet whenever God speaks, We come at times and we wonder, is this God speaking to me? It's as if a stranger is speaking to us. Well, brethren, sisters, we should be in a place where we are able to discern the voice of God. Yes, God wants to speak to us. The problem is, as I've said, is that sometimes we don't want to hear what He is trying to say to us. Notice that Samuel here doesn't put any caveats on the message God is going to communicate to him. He doesn't say, speak, Lord, but make sure it's something that I want to hear. He doesn't say that. He doesn't say, speak, Lord, but don't reprove me. Don't chase me. He doesn't say, speak Lord, as long as what you ask me to do doesn't change the status quo in my life. Samuel appended none of these amendments to his prayer. He just said, speak, speak. And he left the content of that then divine communication with God. Speak. Whatever it is, Lord, speak. Are we approaching this week of meetings, do we approach every time we come to hear God's Word, do we come with that attitude? Lord, whatever it is, whatever it would be, speak. You know, in this little statement, this little request, there's so much entailed in that petition, speak. Speak to guide me. He would have been saying. Speak to instruct me. Samuel would have been saying. Speak to comfort me. Speak to reprove me. Speak to batter me. Speak to chasten me. Speak to encourage me. All of these petitions are encompassed in this single petition of Samuel. Speak. Speak. Oh, that God would speak to us. God will speak to me. That's what I want, God to speak to me. Note secondly, not only the petition offered, note the position occupied. I want you to think about the position occupied from two different entities. I want you to firstly think about the position that's occupied by the communicator of the message. I want you to note how Eli encourages Samuel to address the voice that has already spoken to him three times on this particular night in question. Eli, finally discerning that it is God speaking, Eli tells Samuel in the verse number nine, "'Go lie down, and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, Lord.'" Speak, Lord. Now Samuel only says speak when God comes to him. He omits the name, the title Lord, maybe because he was afraid to address God by his proper name. By his communicated name, this is the name Jehovah here. And maybe as a lad, he was told to revere and to respect the name of Jehovah. And so as a young boy, maybe he thought, it will be too presumptuous of me to address him as Jehovah. But this is the name. The one communicating to him was Jehovah. is the God of heaven, the great I AM, this self-satisfied God, this eternal, unchangeable One, this omnipotent One, who is now going to condescend and speak into the ear of but a child, the God of heaven, And brethren and sisters, this truth that it is Jehovah, it is the Lord, it is the God of glory, this truth that He should want to speak to me should excite us as we come to any meeting within the house of God and to these ministry meetings that we attend, the prospect that Jehovah is going to speak to me. The God of heaven is going to speak to me. Let me say that if the Queen was to ring up some of you dear folk and maybe myself tonight, if she was going to ring you up and have a conversation with you, it'll be something that you'd be bragging about around your home and your family and in your place of employment that the Queen rang me last night. You make sure that everybody knew about it. And brethren, sisters, this is the God of glory. This is the King of kings. And he wants to speak to us. And beloved, since it is the Lord then who speaks, then it is for us to humbly then to submit to whatever he says. It is the Lord. That's how Eli responds. whenever the message is communicated to him. Because it says in verse 18, And Samuel told him Eli every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is the Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good. Eli was aware that what God had said was going to be fulfilled, even though it would be to the detriment and to the destruction of his own two boys. And so we have the position that's occupied by the communicator of the message, but then what about the position occupied by the one to whom the message is being communicated? Samuel, he indicates that position because he employs a term. He says, speak for thy servant heareth. As God's servant, Samuel was willing to now take the lowly place. He was to take now the humble place. He was now taking the submissive place in relation to a master, a greater one. He is the servant. The master is speaking, and I am but his servant. And my position is to be in a place of submission, a place where my will is surrendered, a place where I am willing to do what the master says. Such a position is to be our position when we come to hear God's Word. As servants of the Master, we are to be at the feet of the Master, to hear His voice and to obey His bidding. I wonder, are we ready to do His bidding? Are we ready to heed His instruction? Are we ready to obey His commands? When the Master speaks as His servants, we should, in faith and submissiveness, listen and then implement that which He gives direction on, speak. Lord, You're Lord, and I'm just the servant. One final thought. The petition offered, the position occupied, the perception outlined. Did you hear what I said? You often hear that a mother says that to their child, or maybe a wife says it to her husband. Did you hear what I said? Maybe you've told your own child that, and it seems to be that what you told them went in one ear and went quickly out the other. Or maybe it just seems to be that you say something to your spouse and they really haven't heard what you've said. Well, that wasn't the case with Samuel here. He said here, speak for thy servant, heareth. There's a perception here, he's hearing. The literal translation is here, speak for thy servant is listening. He's listening, I'm listening. Samuel's ears have been unstopped, and he wants simply to hear now the voice of his Master. He wants to perceive. There is a perception of a message that is being communicated to him. He's now in that position where he can hear God's voice. In the stillness of God's house, this is where he is, hearing God's voice. And this is where we will be, God willing, as we move into the ministry meetings. We'll be in God's house, the stillness of God's house. And we want to be here with a perception, with a listening ear, with an ear that has been opened by God, with a heart that is ready to hear the Word of God. But this hearing goes much further than just simply hearing the voice of God, because our hearing should always be for heeding. Too many say that they are listening to God's voice, but they sadly have no intention of ever obeying what He says to them. And none of us can claim to be guiltless with regard to this, to be innocent. Just think about all of the preaching that you have heard, and I have heard, and we have heard over our entire lifetime. And then think about what has actually been implemented into our lives. What have we actually seen implemented in our lives with regard to what we have heard being preached? We have heard but it hasn't led to then a doing or a heeding of the Word of God. We've heard His voice, but we haven't heeded it. Oh, for grace to put that right, grace to put into practice what we hear preached in coming days. Oh, for a hearing among us. Yes, we need that. We need to hear it. But more than that, brethren and sisters, we need to heed it. We need to heed it. We certainly need the help of God, the Holy Spirit, with regard to that. And so as we come to the ministry meetings, let's make the words that we sung together, the words of Francis Ridley Havergill, let's make them our prayer. Master speak, my servant heareth, waiting for thy gracious word, longing for thy voice that heareth, Master, let it now be heard. I am listening, Lord, for Thee. What hast Thou to say to me? Speak, for Thy servant heareth." A simple, short prayer, and yet a prayer heard and answered nonetheless. God spoke, May we, at the conclusion of the week of meetings, may we be able to say, the Lord spoke to me, the God of heaven spoke to me, and oh for grace to implement that which He spoke to me about in my personal life. This is how we should come to God's Word. And in the will of God on the Lord's Day, we'll be thinking about this line and train of thought again as we just prepare our hearts and prepare lives for that which we will hear in coming days. May God speak to our hearts for Christ's sake. Amen. Let's pray briefly. Father in heaven, we now come before thee and pray that thou wilt prepare these hearts of ours and our ears to hear thy word. May we be ready, as Samuel was, to hear the message that God would give to him. It wasn't an encouraging message, but it was God's message nonetheless. Lord, therefore, come and tune our ears to hear thy voice. Oh, bring us into that position where we can say, God has spoken to my soul, God has dealt with me as the Word of God is preached. Speak to me, Lord. Speak to me. I pray this in Jesus' precious name. Amen.