Big Idea: God speaks to His children, we can hear & trust His words.

Bible Passage: 1 Samuel 1-3

Hannah had prayed for a baby for a long time. When eventually God answered Hannah and gave her a son, Samuel, she dedicated Him to the Lord and he lived with Eli the priest, learning the Lord's work. When Samuel was a boy, he heard the voice of God while He was sleeping. He awoke, numerous times, thinking it was Eli calling him by name. When Eli realised that Samuel was hearing God speak, he told Samuel how to respond. Eli told Samuel to say, "Speak, Lord, your servant is listening." Samuel spoke these words to God, and God spoke to Samuel. God continued to speak to Samuel and Samuel grew up to lead the people of Israel to know and follow God's ways.

We talked about how our children hear from God. We very seldom hear the audible voice of God, and yet scripture assures us He speaks to us. We know that we can read His words for us through Scripture, that the Holy Spirit 'illuminates' or 'makes clear' His words, and that He often leads us by prompting us through our thoughts and feelings, dreams, visions and other ways too (although these should always be tested against our ultimate authority – Scripture). We learned that as we learn more about our God, the more we can recognise His voice when He speaks. We urged the children to likewise pray to our God, "Speak Lord, your servant is listening," and to expect God to speak to them as they learn more about Him. 

Family Activity

Hold up a blanket and have parents and children hide on either side of the blanket. Have one child or parent call out a name of someone on the other side of the blanket. The person who was called must identify who's voice called their name. Try and challenge each other by talking in funny voices. Explain to children how you know who's voice was speaking because you hear the voice often. It is like this with our God. The more we learn to listen and hear Him speak to us, the more we come to recognise it when He speaks.

See you Sunday!