Receptivity

Prayer is communication. Communication requires a transmitter and a receiver. Radio communication takes a station broadcasting on a certain frequency (Transmitter), and a radio tuned to that frequency (receiver). In prayer we often see God as the receiver. We make the prayer to God and He hears us. He receives our prayer. It is seen as a one way street, much like the radio, with  one transmitter, and one receiver. We transmit and hope God is tuned into our frequency. But what about when God is the one who is doing the talking. Do we receive as well as we transmit? In prayer, is God the only one that is supposed to listen? Of course, the answer is no. We are supposed to listen for the voice of God, not only tug at His ear.
A Biblical example of how communication between God and another person is both successful, and short circuited can be seen in the book of 1st Samuel. In chapter two a woman named Hannah silently prays to God. She is distraught over her barrenness and asks for a child. She is thought to be intoxicated because her lips are moving, but there are no words coming out of her mouth. God who knows her heart, also hears her prayer. God hears the silent, heartfelt prayer. Her answer is soon realized as she feels new life in her belly. God receives perfectly. There is no short circuit where God is concerned.
On the other hand, the priest Eli, who supposes she is drunk because of her inaudible prayers is addressed by God himself and refuses to listen. Communication is short circuited on the receiver end. God heard the woman’s prayer and answered, but when God transmits a message to Eli he will not listen.
In 1 Samuel 3, the boy given to Hannah as a result of her prayers is ministering at the tabernacle in Shiloh. He hears the voice of God in the night. God tells him that He has pronounced Judgment on Eli, the priest, because he would not listen. This is interesting. Hannah prayed silently, and God heard. God sent a prophet to audibly speak to Eli, but Eli turns a deaf ear to God. Eli’s wicked son’s are killed and Eli’s family is removed from the ministry (1 Samuel 4). Samuel, on the other hand hears the voice of God and becomes a prophet (1 Samuel 3:21).
How often do we short circuit communication with God? Our ability to hear God is more important than our ability to transmit messages to Him. What He has to say is more important than what we have to say. If we think a successful prayer life is seeing the hand of God move as a result of our prayers we are only partly right. A successful prayer life is hearing and being moved by the voice of God.The message for us here is that we must not only transmit to God, but we must be receptive. True communication is a two way street. Perhaps a radio is not as good an analogy for prayer as a walkie-talkie.  Effective prayer is a two-way street.

Hear and obey

God uses the most unlikely people. A barren couple are given the promise of many descendants and are told a nation shall rise from them and through them, all nations will be blessed. A slave is lifted from the dungeons to instruct the ruler of Egypt. Where God has a respected priest he uses a boy to lead people back to worship. Where he has a soldier, he uses a shepherd to defeat a giant warrior. He uses a girl to deliver a nation. He uses a cupbearer to raise the city of God from ashes and rubble. A  young virgin is tasked with carrying the Son of God and Savior of mankind in her womb. An enthusiastic persecutor of Christianity is made to be its greatest advocate. A monk stands against the whole church to lead people back to truth and the way of faith. A failed missionary sets off national revival. Why does God use such people?

In the instances above, God was able to speak to the person he used. It’s not that he didn’t speak to anyone else, but these people were listening. They were not only hearing, but they were hearing with an inclination to cooperate with what God had to say. God spoke to Abraham(Genesis 12:1), and Abraham believed God. He moved forward at the Word of the Lord and God counted him righteous (Genesis 15:6, Romans 4:3, 18; Galatians 3:6; James 2:23) and used his righteous life to advance the Kingdom. God gave Joseph a dream and Joseph trusted God to see him through. God used Joseph’s hear and obey attitude for his purposes and to bless Israel (Genesis 50:20). Samuel stands in contrast to Eli and his two wicked sons as the one God would use to lead the nation of Israel (1 Samuel 3:11-14, 19-21). God took the listening obedient heart of the Shepherd boy David, and made him King, because king Saul could no longer hear the voice of God (1 Samuel 28:15). Esther became queen and heard the call of God through her uncle Mordecai, put her life on the line, and was used of God to frustrate the plans of the enemy(Esther 4:14, 16). Nehemiah’s heart was broken over the city where God had put his name (Nehemiah 2:1-2), and God used Him to bring restoration and hope (Nehemiah 13:14). Mary was chosen to bear the Christ child, and her response was total surrender to the will of God (Luke 1:38). A hostile Pharisee, Saul became a friend of the church, transformed through revelation and submission (Acts 9:1-22). Martin Luther led the protestant reformation with the ninety-five thesis (outlining inconsistencies in the church) nailed to Wittenberg Castle door because God spoke to him through the Scriptures and he felt he had to stand on what God had said rather than allow clergy to subvert the Word of God. John Wesley led the Great Awakening in England and the Americas through the experiential knowledge of a surrendered and purified heart.

God is still using people. It may not be the ones you would expect. It may be a farm boy who hears the call of God to “Preach the Gospel” (remember Billy Graham). It may be a shoe store clerk (Dwight Moody) called to be an evangelist, or the son of a traveling preacher God calls to be a missionary (Jim Elliot). God can speak to a young man from a wealthy respectable family and use his obedience to stand up against tyranny and oppression (Dietrich Bonheoffer). God uses people who hear and obey. The ones most willing to listen to God are the one’s God is most likely to use. Speak Lord, for your servant hears.

Age and Faith

It is very interesting that the Bible records people of faith from a wide spectrum of age groups. God does not discriminate according to age. John the Baptist leaps within his mother's womb as a Mary enters the room pregnant with Jesus (Luke 1:41). A boy named Samuel, just weaned from his mother, serves God with an old priest (1 Samuel 2:11). God causes a  young boy with a coat of many colors to dream a future for the nation of Israel (Genesis 37:5-11).  Abraham and Sarah give birth to a child of promise in their old age (Genesis 21:2). A young maiden is chosen to be the Mother of our  Lord (Luke 1:30-31).
These kinds of examples should cause us to think twice about how we treat people of various age groups. To many, infants are not considered a part of the kingdom of God until they grow up and confess faith for themselves. Old people are retired from service long before God is done with them. Young children are called the "church of tomorrow," as though they are not really the church of today; not full fledged citizens of the kingdom. May God help us see his hand upon the young and the old alike. May we not be guilty of discrimination against the very ones God may be using to advance His kingdom.

The Work of the Ministry

 To often the work of the ministry is seen as the vocation of pastors. Though pastors are to minister to others, they are not the only ones who are ministers. Ephesians 4:12 indicates that a central role of the pastor is to equip others for ministry. Ministry is to be conducted by the saints as well as the pastor. It is interesting that in Acts 6:1-6 the Apostles appointed others to minister at tables so they could devote themselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word of God.

When the Apostle Paul writes to a young pastor in Ephesus, his charge to him is to preach the Word of God. Paul himself saw even baptism as secondary to his role of preaching (1 Cor. 1:17). The primary focus of Paul's ministry was to preach the Word of God. The church is given apostles, evangelists, pastors and teachers (pastors and teachers are sometimes seen as referring to the same office) to equip the saints for the work of ministry.

When the pastor is seen as the "minister" of the congregation and the saints pull back from ministering to each other the pastor is not able to devote himself to the ministry of the Word as much as he ought to. Many pastors fill their days with calls to the sick, visiting shut-ins, committee meetings, counseling sessions, and many other things which are imposed upon them from a demanding congregation. If the saints saddle the pastor with all of the obligations of ministry he has little time left for the ministry of the Word. We all have a part to play in the body of Christ. No person is to fill all the roles of ministry (1 Cor. 12:14-20), but when we all do our part the body of Christ can grow to the stature of the fullness of Christ (Eph. 4:13).