And Eli said to Samuel, “Go lie down, and it shall be if He calls you, that you shall say, ‘Speak, LORD, for Your servant is listening.’” 1 Samuel 3:9.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
Listen. Learning to listen and not doing all the talking when you converse with Me and with others is very important in effectively controlling your tongue.
But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. James 1:19-20.
Do not talk over other people when they are talking to you. Do not answer their questions thinking you know what they are asking until they have completed their question.
Let people finish speaking before you try to answer them. That way you will not embarrass yourself and look foolish. Proverbs 18:13.
Treat others when they are talking as you would have them treat you when you are talking, that is, with respect and attention.
Your main focus, however, should not be listening to just anyone and anything you hear, but on listening to Me above every other voice and not speaking until you have an inner knowing from Me of what to say. This will give you great peace and save you from evil and regret.
There is one who speaks rashly like the thrusts of a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. Proverbs 12:18.
When Hannah prayed for a child she made a vow to dedicate the child to My service if I heard her prayer. I blessed her with a son whom she named Samuel (שְׁמוּאֵל) which means “God has heard” or simply “God hears.” I listen to your prayers and to the desires of your heart and when I have heard, you know what you have asked for is yours.
These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him. 1 John 5:13-15.
I do not even hear prayers that are not in keeping with My Words. I do not give heed to prayers to work evil or death on others. I think in love, talk in love and walk in love, anything that is not of love cannot enter Me.
If I regard wickedness in my heart, the LORD will not hear; but certainly God has heard; He has given heed to the voice of my prayer. Psalm 66:18-19.
I do hear prayers for deliverance but not for harm upon another. Bless those who curse you before Me and if they do not receive that blessing it will return to you. Cursing or wishing harm on others will also return to you because I do not fulfill that.
The LORD is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous. Proverbs 15:29.
It is one thing to hear, another to actually listen with attention and take in what you hear, and not only listen to it but heed it in the sense that you apply it to your life, in other words, you are not merely a hearer but a doer.
Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. James 1:21-22.
And what happens when you hear, listen, and do?
But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does. James 1:25.
To hear, to listen, to heed, to do, and to proclaim what you have heard are all contained in just one word in Hebrew, it is the verb “shama (שָׁמַע).” It is a most powerful word. Often I repeat it twice when delivering important information to you, such as in Deuteronomy 28, when I am explaining how to have the blessing operating in your life. When I repeat it you see it translated as to “hear and obey,” or to “diligently listen.” And that is appropriate, but it is the same word, shama, stated twice and it is not optional. It is a command. And it was from “shama” that Hannah named Samuel ((שְׁמוּאֵל). His name is also from the word “shem (שם)” which means “name” and denotes the Name above every other name, which is My Name, the Name that I gave to My Son as well by inheritance and that I now give to you.
Hannah’s son Samuel had a humble heart that was turned towards instruction and towards Me. This made him stand out in his generation for no one, not even the high priest Eli or his priest sons, was listening to Me at that time and revelation was rare, not because I was withholding it, I want all to know Me from the least to the greatest, but because no one was listening. They were each following their own thoughts and words and what they thought was right in their heart. And that was the period of the judges and one of the darkest, most confused, and most dangerous periods in the nation of Israel. The problem was My Word was not being taught to the people and it was not known.
But Hannah, whose name means “grace” in Hebrew came before Me in the Tabernacle of Moses at Shiloh and wept, pleaded and poured out her heart before Me, as she had many times previously with no results, but this time something happened. She believed that I heard her and the answer was on the way. And she started rejoicing that her son was on the way. She was no more sad. She had become a doer of the Word, she now had the spirit of faith and she connected to the blessing I had been trying to give her all along but could never get past the bitter roots that shut the door to her heart. She stopped the jealousy that was in her heart against her rival and her resentment towards her husband that she had not yet borne a child. And she sang a victory song.
And she had Samuel, and after him she had five more children. Faith is a wonderful thing, it turns your life around, it feels your days with beauty and takes away your frown. It turns you into a prophet telling the good news, that I am here among you, making all things new.
And I spoke to her son Samuel as he stayed at night by the Ark of the Covenant keeping the lampstand burning. And at first he did not recognize My voice and thought Eli, the high priest, was calling him. But Eli realized it was Me and told him simply to say, “Speak LORD, your servant is listening.” Eli knew, Samuel needed to listen if I had something to say.
And Samuel listened. And after that he never stopped listening. And he made his words match Mine.
Thus Samuel grew and the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. All Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the LORD. And the LORD appeared again at Shiloh, because the LORD revealed Himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the LORD. 1 Samuel 3:19-21.
None of his words fell to the ground. In other words, Samuel said no idle words. Why? Because he only said what I told him to say, he found that everything I told him came to pass and worked out in his favor and that of the nation. Samuel brought My people back to Me, made Israel a safe place again, and ended the corruption that was going on in My tabernacle by the priests in office. I removed all of them and consecrated Samuel as My priest and judge over Israel. He was not a Levite, but I honor those who honor Me.
But now the LORD declares, ‘Far be it from Me—for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me will be lightly esteemed.
Do you see? It is the power of Shama. You honor Me by listening to My Word, applying it in your life, and speaking nothing that is idle, but rather that which gives grace, encouragement, edification, and exhortation to yourself and others. No evil, useless, malicious, complaining, judging, slanderous, derogatory, full of strife and jealousy, and even depressed and hopeless words should be coming out of your mouth. You who are in My Son have attached to a vine that produces good fruit and people (and I) know you by your fruit—the fruit of your lips and the fruit of your lives.
Jesus never said an idle word. How was that when He spoke with so many people every day—the crowds that came to hear and be healed, the Pharisees and Sadducees who challenged and tried to get Him to incriminate Himself, the disciples who were with Him night and day, and so many encounters with diverse people? Let Him tell you how and go and do likewise. For what have I told you to do? While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!” Matthew 17:5, Mark 9:7, Luke 9:35.
So shama to what Jesus tells you:
“For I did not speak on My own initiative (from Myself), but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak. I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me.” John 12:49-50.
Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. John 14:10.
So Jesus said, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I AM, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me. And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.” John 8:28-29.
This then is the key to a powerful and abundant life, never speak just out of your own feelings and traditions, your worldly mindset or the futile way handed on to you from unbelievers, or well meaning believers who do not know My Word and teach merely human traditions that do not take account of the cleansing of sin by the blood of Jesus and My Covenant Names and promises of healing, provision, authority, and shalom. You will know them by the fruit of their lips and the fruit of their lives. If they are living defeated, confused, and messed up lives, do not follow them. If they are bitter and gossip, do not act like them, even if they are your parents or other family members, such as your spouse, children or siblings, even if they are seeking you to join in their offense against and hatred of others. And certainly do not be speaking and sharing offense and hatreds that you have acquired on your own that you want to spill out on others to relieve your tormented mind and heart.
Often the words of another in the heat of the moment will anger you and make you want to lash back, but you must be careful about this. The Pharisees angered Jesus when they brought the woman caught in adultery with motives against Him in their hearts and talked to Him so insidiously. He did not answer back immediately. He waited to get My response. He bent down and wrote on the ground. Often My revelation will come to you in the writing as you ask and I respond. Like My Spirit told you through the prophet Habakkuk, when you want to hear from Me, lift up your heart to Me and wait, and as the answer begins to form in your heart, immediately begin writing so you get the exact words.
And when Jesus stood up and delivered My answer of wisdom that edified, exhorted, and gave grace to them all, their hearts convicted them and they left one by one. Instead of a heated argument with a lot of stones being thrown, the right answer calmed the wrath and dissipated the potential dust storm.
I told this blessed way of operating to My servant Joshua before he undertook leading a nation of rebellious and stiff necked people into the Promised Land to conquer giants and perverted peoples who did not know Me and most of them had no interest in doing so. I knew the ones that did have hearts for Me and saved them, however, such as Rahab and the Gibeonites, and later Ruth. But the majority would have been vomited out by the land if not routed out by My people.
Here is what I told Joshua and that I tell you over and over through My Word from the beginning to the end of the Bible. Solomon also gives you the guidelines in his proverbs but he did not keep them towards the end of his life and it ruined the nation. There is danger in only speaking your own words when they are contrary to Mine, when they are against Me. It is hard to kick against the goad and go in the right direction to the best pasture lands. Selah.
This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. Joshua 1:8.
That is very clear.
“If because of the sabbath, you turn your foot from doing your own pleasure on My holy day, and call the sabbath a delight, the holy day of the LORD honorable, and honor it, desisting from your own ways, from seeking your own pleasure and speaking your own word, then you will take delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” Isaiah 58:13-14.
In Jesus, you have entered My rest of faith, He is My shabbat for you. He is Lord even of the shabbat. You will prosper when you speak My Words rather than your own. My Words are beautiful, they are higher than yours, and they will give you beauty, rest, and cause you to profit as they lead you (and others) in the way you should go.
“I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go. If only you had paid attention to My commandments! Then your well-being (shalom) would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea. Isaiah 48:17-18.
Be careful what you listen to, what you hear, what you do, and what you speak, remember the power of Shama and be like Samuel so that none of your words fall to the ground idle and fill your life and the lives of those around you with weeds, thorns, and bitter roots.
Yet the LORD warned Israel and Judah through all His prophets and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep My commandments, My statutes according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you through My servants the prophets.” However, they did not listen, but stiffened their neck like their fathers, who did not believe in the Lord their God. They rejected His statutes and His covenant which He made with their fathers and His warnings with which He warned them. And they followed vanity and became vain, and went after the nations which surrounded them, concerning which the LORD had commanded them not to do like them. 2 Kings 17:13-15.
Listen to, hear, and speak vanity and you will become vain.
The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher, “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” What advantage does man have in all his work which he does under the sun?” Ecclesiastes 1:1-3.
But My Words are not idle words, they are your very life. They made you, sustain you, and prosper you. They are Spirit and life and they contain eternal life. Why would you choose other words that fail to satisfy?
“Be careful to listen to all these words which I command you, so that it may be well with you and your sons after you forever, for you will be doing what is good and right in the sight of the LORD your God.” Deuteronomy 12:28.
And when you come to the enter My Kingdom forever that is all that really matters.
I love you. Shama.
SHAMA ( שָׁמַע), O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. Deuteronomy 6:4-9.