“Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Hearing and recognizing the voice of the Lord does not come naturally. It is a learned skill. Let me offer one key application of this for you this morning.

As a parent, raising godly kids is our most important job. When it comes to our kids, passing on our faith to them supersedes everything else in terms of the priority we should give it.

Doing this requires a lot from us. It requires teaching them an entire worldview. Not only that, but we must teach them this worldview at the same time the world around them is aggressively teaching them a different one. We must be prepared to counter it at every point.

For too many parents, this is something they think can be done simply by bringing their kids to church. It isn’t. Having them at church is hugely important in terms of providing an environment where they can see this worldview put into practice on a regular and hopefully positively inviting basis. But, it’s not enough on its own.

We’ve got to teach them to know the Lord ourselves. We’ve got to talk to them about the faith. We’ve got to talk to them about our faith. We’ve got to live that faith out in front of them. We’ve got to show them that this worldview is worthwhile and one we hold strongly ourselves. Otherwise the voice of the world will be the louder one they hear. That voice only leads to trouble, heartache, and, ultimately, destruction. Let us reveal the Lord to them so they can follow Him.