So, 

How are you doing with those spiritual disciplines or spiritual growth practices if you like?

Fasting is not everyone’s favorite, but it certainly has its place in working your spiritual muscles. Lots of extra time to care for God’s people’s needs and not satisfying your own.

And praying is another obvious spiritual practice though sometimes one we don’t spend enough time doing. 

Did you pray today?

Then there is attending worship, being part of a small group, meditating on God’s word, giving, journaling - which just means keeping a diary focused on what is going on in your spiritual life – what God is showing you or telling you.

And so many more! Including today’s spiritual exercise; listening.

I don’t know if you have ever been in a relationship where you have been accused of not listening, although if you are married there is a good chance.

And we have all had children who were “hard of hearing”. I can’t tell you how many times last week I had to say to my grandson, “Noah, are you listening to me?” 

To which the answer is always, “huh?” 

Listening, while it appears on its surface to be a fairly easy thing to do, is in practice sometimes really, really hard, as both the scripture we already read, and the one that was originally planned make clear.

Listening and hearing is hard just between humans. In some ways it is doubly hard when we are invited to listen to God.

1 Samuel reminds us that listening for and hearing God’s voice is not innate. 

Samuel, if you remember the story was born after Hannah his mother came to the Tabernacle and poured out her heart before God because she had not had a child and was dealing with increasing embarrassment in her household where her husband had already had more than one child with another wife.

And while that is all a “what the heck”, what is amazing is the promise Hannah makes to God, that if God gives her a child she will dedicate him to the Lord, and when she did, leave him in the care of Eli the High Priest and his family at the Tabernacle, the holy tent that preceded the building of the Temple in Jerusalem. 

And it is there that Samuel hears his name called and assumes it is Eli calling him. Who else could it be? 

Then verse 7 says these words: “The LORD had not spoken to Samuel before, and Samuel did not recognize the voice.”

You see to be able to listen for the Lord requires you to not only be quiet enough to hear God’s voice, but it also requires:
One, a familiarity with God, two, an expectation that God will speak to you, and three, a willingness to listen.

Not listening, it turns out, it is a pretty easy thing to do.

For most of us the “not listening” has to do with us being too busy, too distracted, juggling too many balls - and leads to a situation where what and whom we should be listening too is missed or ignored.

So, is it possible that God has spoken to you, but you weren’t listening? 
Or possible that God has spoken to you, but you didn’t recognize God’s voice? Remember, God calls to Samuel several times. God isn’t giving up! 

But Samuel keeps mistaking God’s voice for someone else’s, Eli’s. He can’t yet distinguish God’s voice well enough to listen, no less respond and answer God’s call.

The passage we didn’t read today was from 1 Kings 19:1-18, where the prophet Elijah has fled from Jerusalem and King Ahab’s wife Jezebel, because Jezebel had made an oath to kill Elijah.

Elijah runs in fear and then walks for days and days, and is nourished along the way by an angel with water and bread.

Finally, he comes to Mount Sinai, the same mountain where God met with Moses.

And there, God speaks to Elijah and God asks Elijah why he there. 
Elijah talks about how bad God’s people have been, disobeying the Lord, and worshipping other Gods. And how other prophets had been killed and his own life was in danger.

Elijah is instructed to go and see God pass by the mountain. But God was not in the storm, or the earthquake, or the fire. Instead, God was in the gentle breeze.

So often we miss God’s speaking because we are listening to the storm, or we are focused on the earthquake, or our eyes are glued to the fire. And we miss the gentle voice that is calling to us!

In last week’s reading that precedes the Lord’s prayer, Jesus enjoins his disciples to instead of praying in a public place, to go into a closet and shut the door!

Perhaps that is because in the quiet of the closet, not only can we focus and get our thoughts straight, but perhaps because there without the distractions of TV, or our loving, noisy kids, or our cell phones - we might actually be like Samuel, able to hear God’s voice, recognize it, and then be able to respond, “I’m listening, LORD. What do you want me to do?”

Listening with open ears is essential. Listening with open hearts is too. That’s why listening is a spiritual discipline. It requires us to intentionally decide that we will listen and we will do what we need to do to be in the best position to hear.

When you go out to run, you stop to put on your running shoes! When you decide to make spaghetti for dinner you put a pot of water on the stove to boil. And when you to paint, you get your brushes and colors.

It’s the same with listening or any other spiritual discipline. You have to get yourself into a position and a place, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually ready to listen.

So, get ready! Listen! For God is speaking! Amen.