Your Servant Is Listening

By Ethan Goodnight

“Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.”

This invitation in 1 Samuel 3 was the theme for a pastors’ conference at which I recently spoke with four other church leaders, including my parents. It was a holy, glorious, anointed time. Heading into the last day, I was delivering the closing message, planning to share how important this verse had been for my own spiritual formation as what Ivan Filby calls “spiritual training wheels.”

Early on in my walk, this verse helped me attune to the voice of the Lord. Recently, however, I find I don’t need it quite as much; God has taken the training wheels off. I went into the conference excited to share this story with the pastors.

The night before, however, I heard from the Lord a very simple word: “no.” No, you won’t share a message.

Now, I’ve received this message quite a few times recently when God redirects me, so I cheerfully said “OK, God. What should I say?”

Silence.

This was new. I’ve had God upend entire sermons 24 hours before, but He had always followed up with the new message! After an evening and morning of prayer, solitude, and conversation with the other leaders, all I knew is that God wanted me to lead a time of prayer instead. But prayer for what? By whom? Details, God!

Before leaving for the conference, I went for a prayer walk. God livestreamed (read Ivan Filby’s wonderful book for more about “livestream” ministry) an image of a pastor with pain in his lower, right back. I made a note to seek him out and pray. Driving from our hotel to the conference center, I was worshipping, thinking, praying, and asking for God’s peace about what God would do, even though the details weren’t coming.

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“I still wasn’t sure what I was going to be leading, but that time of worship was so joyful and holy.”

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Praying and Singing

We opened with a beautiful session about loneliness among pastors. Instead of going on break before the final session, I walked over in front of the stage and sat on the floor, trying to listen to God and to discern what targeted prayers the pastors needed.

Within a few minutes, a young pastor came up to me and asked for prayers. He was going back to ministry in an area famous for persecution and wanted me (me, of all people!) to pray for him. Feeling completely unqualified but equally honored, we prayed together for his courage and strength and for God’s protection over his life.

With tears in my eyes as he left, I returned to my prayers, trying to figure out how to close this conference.

“Excuse me, sir!” I opened my eyes again to see Grace, the worship leader, smiling at me. “Do you want to come sing with us?”

My immediate reaction was a flash of irritation — can’t you see I’m praying? I have notes in front of me writing down insight from the Lord, I have to lead this session in 20 minutes, and I don’t know what I’m doing yet! But that flash went out immediately, and I realized that few things could be more appropriate in that moment than worship.

We started singing and playing together, playing contemporary worship songs and hymns. And we ended on “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.” I still wasn’t sure what I was going to be leading, but that time of worship was so joyful and holy.

When the final session started with worship, the Spirit overwhelmed me with the second part of that hymn that we had just sung: “O what peace we often forfeit; oh what needless grief we bear; all because we do not carry; everything to God in prayer.”

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“It was glorious to see the Spirit move through 200+ people in unique ways.”

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Minds, Hearts, Bodies

As I looked at my notes, the Spirit led me to four prayers: over our minds, hearts, bodies, and the body of Christ. I’d written many more topics down for consideration, but they all blew away like chaff, leaving these four behind. I asked the Lord what verses should anchor these prayers, and He revealed Romans 12:2 (mind), Hebrews 12:1-3 (heart), Philippians 4:6-7 (mind and heart), Romans 12:1 and James 5:13-16 (body), and John 15:5-8 (body of Christ rooted in the Vine).

God’s message to His church was that in each of these areas, He did not want us to forfeit any peace or bear any needless grief. Rather, we had to bring each thing to God in prayer. I was overwhelmed and just started weeping during worship, as I felt God’s guidance so clearly and forcefully.

When worship ended, I walked on stage and shared all this with the pastors. We then circled up in small groups and spent the next hour in prayer over these four things. When we started praying for our bodies, I shared my livestream image.

A middle-aged pastor came up and told me that he had been experiencing pain in his lower right back since he was a youth. Another leader and I anointed him with oil, prayed multiple times, and God healed his back. Many other people prayed and received spiritual and physical healing. You could almost taste the presence of the Spirit.

When we came to the final prayer point, the body of Christ, the Spirit descended (or maybe we ascended). It was glorious to see the Spirit move through 200+ people in unique ways — some couldn’t stop laughing, or crying, or dancing, or shouting prayers. And we, as different branches, remained in the Vine together.

As the time wrapped up, I started to feel pressure — I have to say the perfect thing to close! I can’t miss this opportunity!

In the midst of that, I felt the simple tug of the Spirit on my heart. I remember just smiling through tears and saying “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening!”

With that heart posture, I turned to walk up, opened my eyes, and saw my father standing there. The message was crystal clear from the Spirit: Ethan, you do not get the last word today.

I took off the mic and handed it to my father. He closed us in a beautiful prayer centered on the Lord. I went and sat at the back of the room, just relishing the presence of the Lord, sitting in awe at how God could speak through Scripture, guidance from friends, solitude, worship, study — all to lead us into this beautiful time of communal surrender, healing, and encouragement.

And my sincere hope is that all left that space bearing no needless grief but instead overflowing with the peace of God.

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