Today on Bold Steps, Mark Jobe shows us how to hear God when he speaks.

Today on Bold Steps, Mark Jobe shows us how to hear God when he speaks.

I believe that God is looking for men and women that are saying, Lord, my life has been disrupted. It's a crazy time. There's uncertainty. There's fear in my heart. But father, I'm standing in your presence with my Bible open before you and my heart positioned in prayer. And I'm saying, speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.

I believe that God is looking for men and women that are saying, Lord, my life has been disrupted. It's a crazy time. There's uncertainty. There's fear in my heart. But father, I'm standing in your presence with my Bible open before you and my heart positioned in prayer. And I'm saying, speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.

Welcome to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. Mark is president of Moody Bible Institute and senior pastor of New Life Community Church in Chicago. My name is Wayne Shepherd. Well, some seasons are a little noisier than others. When we look at the past few years in the rear view mirror, it's easy to see how the turbulent events around the world have caused a lot of noise coming at us from all sides. But as we'll see today, there are a number of ways that you can quiet your soul to listen to God. It's a study from First Samuel chapter three and to introduce his message. Here's our Bible teacher, Mark Jobe.

Welcome to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. Mark is president of Moody Bible Institute and senior pastor of New Life Community Church in Chicago. My name is Wayne Shepherd. Well, some seasons are a little noisier than others. When we look at the past few years in the rear view mirror, it's easy to see how the turbulent events around the world have caused a lot of noise coming at us from all sides. But as we'll see today, there are a number of ways that you can quiet your soul to listen to God. It's a study from First Samuel chapter three and to introduce his message. Here's our Bible teacher, Mark Jobe.

And I've had people come to me in the past and say, you know, the Lord spoke to me. I always get a little nervous when the Lord speaks to people out of context. If someone says, the Lord spoke to me, I and and when it goes against the written word of God, I know that was not God. It's always the word. If anything that you feel God is asking you to do or impressing on your part, if it goes against scripture, I can guarantee it is not God. You go to Scripture, you go to Scripture to confirm the Word of God. By the way, Psalms 119 105 says, your word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. Can I tell you why some people don't hear from God as much as they should? Because they're not in the word. Oh, I know I'm stepping on some people's toes here. You say? I just don't understand my wife. Well, listen, if you never talk with your wife, you're not going to understand her. I just feel like we're distant. Yeah. If you're not listening and talking, you're distant. I feel like God never speaks to me. Yeah, because God speaks through his word. I can guarantee you that if you open the Word of God with a prayerful heart and a sensitive heart to God, saying, Lord, speak to me as I get into your into your word, and you meditate and you think and you pray and you pray through Scripture, not just reading for intellectual gain, that God will speak to your heart through His Holy Spirit, because this is the living word. The other filter that I would use, first of all, foremost primary above everything else is the Word of God. The second filter, though that I would use is a filter of godly counsel, especially if it's a decision you're making and you're sensing that God is prompting you to do something. Proverbs 1310 says, pride only brings quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advice. Proverbs 15 verse 22 says the plans fail because of a lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed. I would run things by people that are discerning people and making sure that if you're sensing that there's a prompting from the Spirit of God, that there's godly people speaking into it. Number three, filter it through inner peace. Colossians chapter three verse 15 says, and let the peace that means soul harmony, which comes from Christ act as a empire umpire continually in your heart. An umpire is someone that decides that's a foul ball. That's a good ball, an umpire. Let the Word of God let the peace of God act as an umpire in your hearts, deciding and setting the finality of all questions that arise in your minds. That's the amplified version. And number four filter it through. Waiting on God. There's a element of waiting before the Lord. It's a lost art. The art of coming before the presence of God and waiting upon God and saying, I'm pressing and I'm seeking. I'm waiting for your confirmation. I'm open to what you're saying to me, Lord. I'm seeking and searching after you, Lord, for the word that you have for me. Psalms 27 verse 14 says, wait for the Lord. Be strong and take heart, and wait for the Lord. Psalms 33 verse 20 says, we wait in hope for the Lord. He is our help and our shield. So I just want to be clear that oftentimes we can't distinguish one voice from another, and it can be an dangerous, a dangerous trajectory when you don't have spiritual discernment to understand whether it's God's. I've had some really wacky, weird, uh, words that people have come and said, this is from God or God told me, and I'm a little nervous about that. I want you to understand that the primary main way that God speaks to our heart is through the Word of God and confirmed by His Holy Spirit in our lives. So there has to be a measure of discernment there. Number three, I'm talking about how God speaks when God speaks, a period of confusion may come before breakthrough understanding. Notice in verse seven that for a third time God called Samuel, and it says, Now Samuel did not know the Lord. The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. So Samuel was young. He was only 13 years old, but he didn't really know God. And because he really didn't know God, the Word of God had not been revealed to him. Can I tell you something? The moment that you become a believer, when you're a born again and you surrender your life to Jesus Christ, accepting him, acknowledging that he is all God and all man, and died on that cross. And there's a surrendering of your life that comes to him. A verbal confession of Jesus Christ as Savior of the Lord, and an invitation for him to be Lord of your life. Then there's a spiritual transformation, a transaction that happens. It tells us in Scripture that you are born with the spirit, little s, but the Holy Spirit, capital S comes and indwells you and awakens your spirit to the Holy Spirit. Follow me with this. It's very important when your spirit is awakened to the Holy Spirit, then suddenly the Holy Spirit starts bringing spiritual things to life in you. Because the Holy Spirit, who's the third person in the Godhead, begins to the he's our Paraclete. He's the one that walks alongside of us. He's our coach. He's our counselor. He begins to reveal the Word of God to us. He shows us things. He convicts our heart. He reiterates. He wants. He causes us to want to say, ABBA, father and worship God. He gives us a hunger for the Word of God. The Spirit of God can be grieved. The Spirit of God can rejoice. The Bible talks about, uh, being the Holy Spirit and full of glory and joy. He brings joy to our life. It's part of the fruit of the spirit. And so when the Holy Spirit comes inside of us, then the Holy Spirit starts revealing, speaking, uh, Awakening us to spiritual things. Samuel did not know the Lord yet, so the word of the Lord had not been revealed to him yet. And I want to tell you this if you are an attender at New Life, if you've stumbled onto us online, or if you're just a religious person but you've never been born again, then you probably don't have a good understanding of the word of the Lord, because it's the word of the Lord comes to life through His Holy Spirit. And so you need to be born again, first of all, so that you can start to understand the spiritual things that can only be understood oftentimes through the mind of the spirit. Number four when God speaks, his voice is patient with fatherly persistence. Notice what it says in verse eight. The Lord called Samuel a third time. And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, here I am. You called me. Now imagine Eli, poor Eli. He's an old man. He's a little overweight. He's trying to sleep. And this 13 year old keeps interrupting. Hey, hey, did you call me? No. Go to bed. Hey hey hey hey. Did you call me? I said go to bed. The third time 13 year old Samuel awakens. Eli and Eli. Because he was a prophet, a man of God. He realized what was happening this time. And he said to him, next time when you hear that voice again, you need to say, Lord, here am I. Speak to me. But I, I want you to notice that when God speaks, his voice is patient and there's fatherly persistence. I'm glad that God insisted three times and called Samuel. Can I tell you something? God is so patient with us. He's persistent. He's loving. He's our father. As he convicts you and speaks to you. It's not the harshness of guilt or condemnation. Conviction is different than condemnation. It tells us in Romans, there is therefore now no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus. Now you may get convicted, but not condemned. And so if there's a voice of guilt and condemnation that leads you to this wet blanket of failure and defeat, and I can never get over it. It's not the voice of God. The voice of God can convict you about sin, but there's always a bent towards restoration. It's conviction with the idea of I love you, I don't want you to live that way. And it gives a solution to the problem. That's the fatherly voice of God, not the voice of of condemnation. I hear so many people that that get trapped by their own guilt. And the Bible says that the enemy is the accuser of the brethren. So there is an accuser that attacks us day in and day out. And sometimes we confuse that with the voice of God. But that is not who our Heavenly Father is. He may convict you of sin, but he guides you to life. Number five When God speaks, he uses spiritual mentors to guide us to our response. Notice what it says in verse nine. So Eli told Samuel, go and lie down. And if he calls you say, speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. So Samuel went and lay down in his place. The Lord came and stood there calling, as at other times, Samuel, Then Samuel said, speak, for your servant is listening. See, I think that's the response that God wants from us. I think during this time of disruption, I believe that God is looking for men and women that are saying, Lord, my life has been disrupted. It's a crazy time. There's uncertainty. There's fear in my heart. But, father, I'm standing in your presence with my Bible open before you and my heart positioned in prayer. And I'm saying, speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. That's the posture that God desires.

And I've had people come to me in the past and say, you know, the Lord spoke to me. I always get a little nervous when the Lord speaks to people out of context. If someone says, the Lord spoke to me, I and and when it goes against the written word of God, I know that was not God. It's always the word. If anything that you feel God is asking you to do or impressing on your part, if it goes against scripture, I can guarantee it is not God. You go to Scripture, you go to Scripture to confirm the Word of God. By the way, Psalms 119 105 says, your word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. Can I tell you why some people don't hear from God as much as they should? Because they're not in the word. Oh, I know I'm stepping on some people's toes here. You say? I just don't understand my wife. Well, listen, if you never talk with your wife, you're not going to understand her. I just feel like we're distant. Yeah. If you're not listening and talking, you're distant. I feel like God never speaks to me. Yeah, because God speaks through his word. I can guarantee you that if you open the Word of God with a prayerful heart and a sensitive heart to God, saying, Lord, speak to me as I get into your into your word, and you meditate and you think and you pray and you pray through Scripture, not just reading for intellectual gain, that God will speak to your heart through His Holy Spirit, because this is the living word. The other filter that I would use, first of all, foremost primary above everything else is the Word of God. The second filter, though that I would use is a filter of godly counsel, especially if it's a decision you're making and you're sensing that God is prompting you to do something. Proverbs 1310 says, pride only brings quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advice. Proverbs 15 verse 22 says the plans fail because of a lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed. I would run things by people that are discerning people and making sure that if you're sensing that there's a prompting from the Spirit of God, that there's godly people speaking into it. Number three, filter it through inner peace. Colossians chapter three verse 15 says, and let the peace that means soul harmony, which comes from Christ act as a empire umpire continually in your heart. An umpire is someone that decides that's a foul ball. That's a good ball, an umpire. Let the Word of God let the peace of God act as an umpire in your hearts, deciding and setting the finality of all questions that arise in your minds. That's the amplified version. And number four filter it through. Waiting on God. There's a element of waiting before the Lord. It's a lost art. The art of coming before the presence of God and waiting upon God and saying, I'm pressing and I'm seeking. I'm waiting for your confirmation. I'm open to what you're saying to me, Lord. I'm seeking and searching after you, Lord, for the word that you have for me. Psalms 27 verse 14 says, wait for the Lord. Be strong and take heart, and wait for the Lord. Psalms 33 verse 20 says, we wait in hope for the Lord. He is our help and our shield. So I just want to be clear that oftentimes we can't distinguish one voice from another, and it can be an dangerous, a dangerous trajectory when you don't have spiritual discernment to understand whether it's God's. I've had some really wacky, weird, uh, words that people have come and said, this is from God or God told me, and I'm a little nervous about that. I want you to understand that the primary main way that God speaks to our heart is through the Word of God and confirmed by His Holy Spirit in our lives. So there has to be a measure of discernment there. Number three, I'm talking about how God speaks when God speaks, a period of confusion may come before breakthrough understanding. Notice in verse seven that for a third time God called Samuel, and it says, Now Samuel did not know the Lord. The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. So Samuel was young. He was only 13 years old, but he didn't really know God. And because he really didn't know God, the Word of God had not been revealed to him. Can I tell you something? The moment that you become a believer, when you're a born again and you surrender your life to Jesus Christ, accepting him, acknowledging that he is all God and all man, and died on that cross. And there's a surrendering of your life that comes to him. A verbal confession of Jesus Christ as Savior of the Lord, and an invitation for him to be Lord of your life. Then there's a spiritual transformation, a transaction that happens. It tells us in Scripture that you are born with the spirit, little s, but the Holy Spirit, capital S comes and indwells you and awakens your spirit to the Holy Spirit. Follow me with this. It's very important when your spirit is awakened to the Holy Spirit, then suddenly the Holy Spirit starts bringing spiritual things to life in you. Because the Holy Spirit, who's the third person in the Godhead, begins to the he's our Paraclete. He's the one that walks alongside of us. He's our coach. He's our counselor. He begins to reveal the Word of God to us. He shows us things. He convicts our heart. He reiterates. He wants. He causes us to want to say, ABBA, father and worship God. He gives us a hunger for the Word of God. The Spirit of God can be grieved. The Spirit of God can rejoice. The Bible talks about, uh, being the Holy Spirit and full of glory and joy. He brings joy to our life. It's part of the fruit of the spirit. And so when the Holy Spirit comes inside of us, then the Holy Spirit starts revealing, speaking, uh, Awakening us to spiritual things. Samuel did not know the Lord yet, so the word of the Lord had not been revealed to him yet. And I want to tell you this if you are an attender at New Life, if you've stumbled onto us online, or if you're just a religious person but you've never been born again, then you probably don't have a good understanding of the word of the Lord, because it's the word of the Lord comes to life through His Holy Spirit. And so you need to be born again, first of all, so that you can start to understand the spiritual things that can only be understood oftentimes through the mind of the spirit. Number four when God speaks, his voice is patient with fatherly persistence. Notice what it says in verse eight. The Lord called Samuel a third time. And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, here I am. You called me. Now imagine Eli, poor Eli. He's an old man. He's a little overweight. He's trying to sleep. And this 13 year old keeps interrupting. Hey, hey, did you call me? No. Go to bed. Hey hey hey hey. Did you call me? I said go to bed. The third time 13 year old Samuel awakens. Eli and Eli. Because he was a prophet, a man of God. He realized what was happening this time. And he said to him, next time when you hear that voice again, you need to say, Lord, here am I. Speak to me. But I, I want you to notice that when God speaks, his voice is patient and there's fatherly persistence. I'm glad that God insisted three times and called Samuel. Can I tell you something? God is so patient with us. He's persistent. He's loving. He's our father. As he convicts you and speaks to you. It's not the harshness of guilt or condemnation. Conviction is different than condemnation. It tells us in Romans, there is therefore now no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus. Now you may get convicted, but not condemned. And so if there's a voice of guilt and condemnation that leads you to this wet blanket of failure and defeat, and I can never get over it. It's not the voice of God. The voice of God can convict you about sin, but there's always a bent towards restoration. It's conviction with the idea of I love you, I don't want you to live that way. And it gives a solution to the problem. That's the fatherly voice of God, not the voice of of condemnation. I hear so many people that that get trapped by their own guilt. And the Bible says that the enemy is the accuser of the brethren. So there is an accuser that attacks us day in and day out. And sometimes we confuse that with the voice of God. But that is not who our Heavenly Father is. He may convict you of sin, but he guides you to life. Number five When God speaks, he uses spiritual mentors to guide us to our response. Notice what it says in verse nine. So Eli told Samuel, go and lie down. And if he calls you say, speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. So Samuel went and lay down in his place. The Lord came and stood there calling, as at other times, Samuel, Then Samuel said, speak, for your servant is listening. See, I think that's the response that God wants from us. I think during this time of disruption, I believe that God is looking for men and women that are saying, Lord, my life has been disrupted. It's a crazy time. There's uncertainty. There's fear in my heart. But, father, I'm standing in your presence with my Bible open before you and my heart positioned in prayer. And I'm saying, speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. That's the posture that God desires.

You're listening to the Bible teaching of Mark Jobe here on Bold Steps. Our subject today is learning how to quiet our soul, to listen. And we're learning from Samuel's story in First Samuel chapter three. If you missed any part of the message so far, or you want to listen again, simply go to Bold Steps. Org and we'll continue the message here with Mark in just a moment. While you're online, we'd like to invite you to sign up for our weekly email devotional. Learn more about bold steps and recap highlights from any of the daily programs you may have missed. The Bold Step or Weekly is free and is delivered right to your inbox each Monday morning. Sign up today at Bold Steps. Org. Now let's get back into the second half of Mark's message here on Bold Steps.

You're listening to the Bible teaching of Mark Jobe here on Bold Steps. Our subject today is learning how to quiet our soul, to listen. And we're learning from Samuel's story in First Samuel chapter three. If you missed any part of the message so far, or you want to listen again, simply go to Bold Steps. Org and we'll continue the message here with Mark in just a moment. While you're online, we'd like to invite you to sign up for our weekly email devotional. Learn more about bold steps and recap highlights from any of the daily programs you may have missed. The Bold Step or Weekly is free and is delivered right to your inbox each Monday morning. Sign up today at Bold Steps. Org. Now let's get back into the second half of Mark's message here on Bold Steps.

And then lastly, number six. When God speaks, he looks for hearts that are open and responsive. Notice what it says in verse ten. The Lord came and stood there calling as other times Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel said, speak, for your servant is listening. Can I tell you something? Well, God really is looking for what God really wants. What God really desires is God is looking for children that actually are responsive, that say, Lord, here I am, I'm listening. And when I hear you, God, I will say, Lord, what are you saying? And what do you want me to do about it? It's not very complicated. It doesn't take someone with a degree in theology. It takes simply a surrendered heart that is saying, Lord, what are you saying to me? And I'm going to search your word. I'm going to get quiet before you. I'm going to pause during my I'm going to find my quiet space. I'm going to be like Mary instead of a Martha sitting at the feet of Jesus in a surrendered posture saying, Lord, here I am. Speak to me, and I want to challenge everybody that's listening to me right now. I ask you this question when is the last time you've been quiet before the Lord? When is the last time you've quieted your soul, turned off your phone? You know, by the way, I use multiple versions of Bibles and I have a Bible on my on my smartphone. But I cannot tell you. The problem with the Bible on your smartphone is that it's one app among many, and you could be on your phone reading the Word of God, and suddenly a text comes through, or suddenly you get notified that an Instagram comes through. And how many of you don't have the discipline? Come on you. You can raise your hand in the chat room. How many of you don't have the discipline to say, I'm just going to ignore that right now and keep in the word. How many of you say, well, I'm just going to click on it, and then you click on it and then you click on the other and click on the other, and then you respond. And 20 minutes later you thought, oh yeah, I was supposed to be in the word. You see, we live in a super distracted society, and I believe that part of the problem with God speaking to our hearts is that we don't quiet ourselves enough to listen to God. We don't carve out a quiet space. That's why. Hey, when I have my devotions, I use a physical Bible because there's no app that's ringing I use. Yeah, the old school physical Bible that I can hold in my hand and it's it's got pages falling out of it because I've used it so much. But I get my old school physical Bible, and I read my old school physical Bible because there's no distraction, there's no app. And I put my phone aside and make sure that I don't check it so I can just spend time in the presence of God asking myself, God, what are you saying? And what am I supposed to do about it? Lord, I want to quiet my soul to listen to you. Lord, I believe during this time of disruption that that's what God is asking some of us to do. Samuel said, speak, for your servant is listening. He was 13 years old when this happened. But you know what? He started to develop a hunger and heart for God. And it tells us in verse 19, the Lord was with Samuel as he grew, and he let none of the words fall to the ground. And all of Israel from Dan to Beersheba, Recognize that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the Lord. The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word. And I want to say that Samuel, as a 13 year old boy, started getting into the habit of listening to God quieting his soul. Psalms 46 verse ten says, be still and know that I am God. And so my challenge to you as we talk about what now? No matter what season you're in, maybe you've been very, very disoriented. Life has been up. It's been an upheaval in your life. Maybe you've gotten sick. Maybe you've lost your jobs. Maybe you're a mom right now that says, pastor, my life has never been so, uh, so busy because now I'm trying to teach my kids online, And so I'm watching them and I'm trying to do my work. And it's just I feel torn. I feel this is a very, very intense time to live in. And I believe you more than ever need to make sure that you're carving out a quiet time, finding a time, and asking yourself this, God, what are you saying to me? And how do I need to respond? Because I, I don't want this disruption to happen without hearing your voice. I believe that God will speak to you. I believe there's things that God wants to reveal. I believe through this disruption. There's cracks that God is patching up. There's direction that God is giving. There's calling that God is causing to surface. I believe that there's stuff that God is saying that normally you would not be ready to hear, but in a time of disruption, God can speak in a powerful way. And let me say this I believe that he speaks now to prepare you for your next season. And I want to make sure that you're hearing what God is saying to you right now, so that you don't step into your next season unprepared, or even worse than that, make a bad transition in the midst of chaos because you haven't quieted your heart to listen to God. So I'm going to pray to close this message. I believe in the power of the Spirit of God. In fact, I believe that he is present here right now as I'm speaking. I believe that he's working in your living room right now. I believe that God is wirelessly through the spirit, reaching out and speaking to your spirit. And if God is speaking to you and tugging at your heart, then you know it's God. I don't have to convince you. Twist your arm. I don't have to try to manipulate you with words. I know the Spirit of God awakens his sons or daughters through the word, and so I want to challenge those of you that are believers to say, I am going to start by carving out some time. Jesus got away in places of solitude. It says he went to the desert. Jesus found places of solitude because he needed time with the father. And I simply want to say, I want to challenge you right now to quiet out some time to to get with your Bible in front of you and a prayerful attitude and start to ask yourself this question, God, during this time of disruption, what are you saying to me? How do I need to listen to you? What do I need to do about it? God, here is your servant, close to your presence. I'm listening. Lord, I also want to say that there are some of you listening to my voice that you've never surrendered your life to Christ. You have to say with Samuel, I don't quite know the Lord. And if and if you don't know the Lord, I believe that God is calling you to know him. In fact, I believe that there's some of you, wherever you're at, that as I've spoken, you've said I need to give my life to Christ. There are people today that are getting baptized because recently they gave their life to Christ, and they're doing a public step of baptism. Maybe you've never given your life to Christ, but you say, as I hear you, pastor speaking, I know I need to surrender. I don't think I have the Holy Spirit inside of me, because I've never invited him to come and transform me from the inside out. And so I want to challenge you right now to get on your knees wherever you're at. Yeah. You don't have to get on your knees. It's not magic to get on your knees, but it's a posture of surrender. And I want you just to pray right now. Dear God, I know that I don't know you yet, But you're drawing me to yourself. I believe in the message of Jesus. And today I want to do more than just believe. I surrender to the Lordship of Jesus. I believe that he's all God and all man. And I ask you to come and wash and cleanse my sin. And now I ask you, Holy Spirit, to come inside of me and to make me new. Redeem me. Transform me from the inside out. Today I surrender and choose to be a follower of yours. If you pray that with faith according to the Word of God, then some of you right now, as you prayed and surrendered to God, God has been drawing you for a while. The Holy Spirit has now just entered inside of you and begun the process of transformation that we call being born again. Father, I thank you for what you're doing among your people. I pray, Lord, that this week and the weeks to come, we will quiet ourselves Enough to hear your voice and respond. Respond like Samuel did. Here am I, Lord, speak to me. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.

And then lastly, number six. When God speaks, he looks for hearts that are open and responsive. Notice what it says in verse ten. The Lord came and stood there calling as other times Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel said, speak, for your servant is listening. Can I tell you something? Well, God really is looking for what God really wants. What God really desires is God is looking for children that actually are responsive, that say, Lord, here I am, I'm listening. And when I hear you, God, I will say, Lord, what are you saying? And what do you want me to do about it? It's not very complicated. It doesn't take someone with a degree in theology. It takes simply a surrendered heart that is saying, Lord, what are you saying to me? And I'm going to search your word. I'm going to get quiet before you. I'm going to pause during my I'm going to find my quiet space. I'm going to be like Mary instead of a Martha sitting at the feet of Jesus in a surrendered posture saying, Lord, here I am. Speak to me, and I want to challenge everybody that's listening to me right now. I ask you this question when is the last time you've been quiet before the Lord? When is the last time you've quieted your soul, turned off your phone? You know, by the way, I use multiple versions of Bibles and I have a Bible on my on my smartphone. But I cannot tell you. The problem with the Bible on your smartphone is that it's one app among many, and you could be on your phone reading the Word of God, and suddenly a text comes through, or suddenly you get notified that an Instagram comes through. And how many of you don't have the discipline? Come on you. You can raise your hand in the chat room. How many of you don't have the discipline to say, I'm just going to ignore that right now and keep in the word. How many of you say, well, I'm just going to click on it, and then you click on it and then you click on the other and click on the other, and then you respond. And 20 minutes later you thought, oh yeah, I was supposed to be in the word. You see, we live in a super distracted society, and I believe that part of the problem with God speaking to our hearts is that we don't quiet ourselves enough to listen to God. We don't carve out a quiet space. That's why. Hey, when I have my devotions, I use a physical Bible because there's no app that's ringing I use. Yeah, the old school physical Bible that I can hold in my hand and it's it's got pages falling out of it because I've used it so much. But I get my old school physical Bible, and I read my old school physical Bible because there's no distraction, there's no app. And I put my phone aside and make sure that I don't check it so I can just spend time in the presence of God asking myself, God, what are you saying? And what am I supposed to do about it? Lord, I want to quiet my soul to listen to you. Lord, I believe during this time of disruption that that's what God is asking some of us to do. Samuel said, speak, for your servant is listening. He was 13 years old when this happened. But you know what? He started to develop a hunger and heart for God. And it tells us in verse 19, the Lord was with Samuel as he grew, and he let none of the words fall to the ground. And all of Israel from Dan to Beersheba, Recognize that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the Lord. The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word. And I want to say that Samuel, as a 13 year old boy, started getting into the habit of listening to God quieting his soul. Psalms 46 verse ten says, be still and know that I am God. And so my challenge to you as we talk about what now? No matter what season you're in, maybe you've been very, very disoriented. Life has been up. It's been an upheaval in your life. Maybe you've gotten sick. Maybe you've lost your jobs. Maybe you're a mom right now that says, pastor, my life has never been so, uh, so busy because now I'm trying to teach my kids online, And so I'm watching them and I'm trying to do my work. And it's just I feel torn. I feel this is a very, very intense time to live in. And I believe you more than ever need to make sure that you're carving out a quiet time, finding a time, and asking yourself this, God, what are you saying to me? And how do I need to respond? Because I, I don't want this disruption to happen without hearing your voice. I believe that God will speak to you. I believe there's things that God wants to reveal. I believe through this disruption. There's cracks that God is patching up. There's direction that God is giving. There's calling that God is causing to surface. I believe that there's stuff that God is saying that normally you would not be ready to hear, but in a time of disruption, God can speak in a powerful way. And let me say this I believe that he speaks now to prepare you for your next season. And I want to make sure that you're hearing what God is saying to you right now, so that you don't step into your next season unprepared, or even worse than that, make a bad transition in the midst of chaos because you haven't quieted your heart to listen to God. So I'm going to pray to close this message. I believe in the power of the Spirit of God. In fact, I believe that he is present here right now as I'm speaking. I believe that he's working in your living room right now. I believe that God is wirelessly through the spirit, reaching out and speaking to your spirit. And if God is speaking to you and tugging at your heart, then you know it's God. I don't have to convince you. Twist your arm. I don't have to try to manipulate you with words. I know the Spirit of God awakens his sons or daughters through the word, and so I want to challenge those of you that are believers to say, I am going to start by carving out some time. Jesus got away in places of solitude. It says he went to the desert. Jesus found places of solitude because he needed time with the father. And I simply want to say, I want to challenge you right now to quiet out some time to to get with your Bible in front of you and a prayerful attitude and start to ask yourself this question, God, during this time of disruption, what are you saying to me? How do I need to listen to you? What do I need to do about it? God, here is your servant, close to your presence. I'm listening. Lord, I also want to say that there are some of you listening to my voice that you've never surrendered your life to Christ. You have to say with Samuel, I don't quite know the Lord. And if and if you don't know the Lord, I believe that God is calling you to know him. In fact, I believe that there's some of you, wherever you're at, that as I've spoken, you've said I need to give my life to Christ. There are people today that are getting baptized because recently they gave their life to Christ, and they're doing a public step of baptism. Maybe you've never given your life to Christ, but you say, as I hear you, pastor speaking, I know I need to surrender. I don't think I have the Holy Spirit inside of me, because I've never invited him to come and transform me from the inside out. And so I want to challenge you right now to get on your knees wherever you're at. Yeah. You don't have to get on your knees. It's not magic to get on your knees, but it's a posture of surrender. And I want you just to pray right now. Dear God, I know that I don't know you yet, But you're drawing me to yourself. I believe in the message of Jesus. And today I want to do more than just believe. I surrender to the Lordship of Jesus. I believe that he's all God and all man. And I ask you to come and wash and cleanse my sin. And now I ask you, Holy Spirit, to come inside of me and to make me new. Redeem me. Transform me from the inside out. Today I surrender and choose to be a follower of yours. If you pray that with faith according to the Word of God, then some of you right now, as you prayed and surrendered to God, God has been drawing you for a while. The Holy Spirit has now just entered inside of you and begun the process of transformation that we call being born again. Father, I thank you for what you're doing among your people. I pray, Lord, that this week and the weeks to come, we will quiet ourselves Enough to hear your voice and respond. Respond like Samuel did. Here am I, Lord, speak to me. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.

You're listening to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. A message titled Quiet Your Soul to listen. If you've just accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, or if you'd like to make a commitment to Christ, we'd love to hear from you. Just go to our website, Bold Steps. Org and look under the connect tab for my next step in faith. There you'll find tools and videos from Mark on how to take your next steps with God. And while you're on that website, make sure you don't miss out on our current Bold Step gift. Available for a limited time. Are you part of a blended family trying to navigate the unique challenges of step family life? Doctor Gary Chapman and Ron El Deal have teamed up to create Building Love Together in Blended Families a practical guide that combines Chapman's renowned love language concepts with Diehl's expertise in stepfamily dynamics. Creating unity in a blended family takes more than good intentions. It takes wisdom, understanding, and the right tools. And that's exactly what you'll find in this groundbreaking collaboration. May be your next season is about building love in your own blended family. Let us help you get started by requesting your copy of this insightful resource. We'll send you a copy with your gift of any amount. To support bold steps, just call 800 D.L. Moody. That's (800) 356-6639 or give online at Bold Steps. Org or send your gift through the mail. Bold steps. 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 606 ten. And before we close, we'd like to invite you to become a bold partner. A bold partner is someone who supports this ministry with a monthly financial gift. And they really are the heroes of this growing ministry, helping us each month to continue reaching new listeners with a life changing truth of God's Word. Plus, when your gift is $30 or more each month, we'll send you some special bonuses like a signed copy of Mark's book unstuck, access to our Bold Partner post, and a 50% discount on all items at the Moody Publishers online store. Now, signing up is simple and easy when you visit Bold Steps. Org. Thanks for joining us today. I'm Wayne Shepherd, inviting you to come back again tomorrow when Mark begins a message titled Re-envision Your Life Story. It's the next part of this timely series called What Now? Moving into your next season, you won't want to miss this, so be listening Thursday for more bold steps with Mark Jobe. Bold steps is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.

You're listening to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. A message titled Quiet Your Soul to listen. If you've just accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, or if you'd like to make a commitment to Christ, we'd love to hear from you. Just go to our website, Bold Steps. Org and look under the connect tab for my next step in faith. There you'll find tools and videos from Mark on how to take your next steps with God. And while you're on that website, make sure you don't miss out on our current Bold Step gift. Available for a limited time. Are you part of a blended family trying to navigate the unique challenges of step family life? Doctor Gary Chapman and Ron El Deal have teamed up to create Building Love Together in Blended Families a practical guide that combines Chapman's renowned love language concepts with Diehl's expertise in stepfamily dynamics. Creating unity in a blended family takes more than good intentions. It takes wisdom, understanding, and the right tools. And that's exactly what you'll find in this groundbreaking collaboration. May be your next season is about building love in your own blended family. Let us help you get started by requesting your copy of this insightful resource. We'll send you a copy with your gift of any amount. To support bold steps, just call 800 D.L. Moody. That's (800) 356-6639 or give online at Bold Steps. Org or send your gift through the mail. Bold steps. 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 606 ten. And before we close, we'd like to invite you to become a bold partner. A bold partner is someone who supports this ministry with a monthly financial gift. And they really are the heroes of this growing ministry, helping us each month to continue reaching new listeners with a life changing truth of God's Word. Plus, when your gift is $30 or more each month, we'll send you some special bonuses like a signed copy of Mark's book unstuck, access to our Bold Partner post, and a 50% discount on all items at the Moody Publishers online store. Now, signing up is simple and easy when you visit Bold Steps. Org. Thanks for joining us today. I'm Wayne Shepherd, inviting you to come back again tomorrow when Mark begins a message titled Re-envision Your Life Story. It's the next part of this timely series called What Now? Moving into your next season, you won't want to miss this, so be listening Thursday for more bold steps with Mark Jobe. Bold steps is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.