Not everything that is heard is productive in life. Caring for what we hear is essential to increase wisdom and fear of the things of God.

Nothing better than disciplining our ears when it comes to the voice of God. In the Bible there is a wonderful example of how to discipline our ear to learn to hear the voice of God. It's about the prophet Samuel.

1 Samuel 3: 9-10

And Eli said to Samuel, Go and lie down; and if I call you, you will say: Speak, Jehovah, because your servant listens. Then Samuel left and lay down instead. And Jehovah came and stood, and called like the other times: Samuel, Samuel! Then Samuel said: Speak, because your servant listens.

Samuel is recognized as one of the most influential prophets the people of Israel had, and it is no accident that one of the tasks assigned by God to Samuel was that he learned to listen to his voice and recognize it every time he called.

In the book of 1 Samuel 3: 1-10, we find the story that Samuel was under the tutelage of the priest Eli. One night, when Samuel was lying down, the Lord spoke to him. The first two times God called him, Samuel thought it was the priest Eli who called him, so he approached the priest twice to ask if he called him and the priest Eli said no. However, the third time Samuel came to him to ask for the same thing, Eli understood that it was the Lord who was calling Samuel, and ordered little Samuel to respond by saying, "Speak, Jehovah, because your servant listens."

What a wonderful way to respond to God! "Speak Lord, may your servant listen." The Eli Priest taught Samuel how to listen to the voice of God, and if you and I are going to be men and women of God, then we must learn to recognize his efforts in speaking to us.