9 Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth
In context from the Good News version…
6-7 The Lord called Samuel again. The boy did not know that it was the Lord, because the Lord had never spoken to him before. So he got up, went to Eli, and said, “You called me, and here I am.”
But Eli answered, “My son, I didn’t call you; go back to bed.”8 The Lord called Samuel a third time; he got up, went to Eli, and said, “You called me, and here I am.”
Then Eli realized that it was the Lord who was calling the boy, 9 so he said to him, “Go back to bed; and if he calls you again, say, ‘Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went back to bed.
10 The Lord came and stood there, and called as he had before, “Samuel! Samuel!”Samuel answered, “Speak; your servant is listening.”
If you think about it, how often do you pray, listening for a response? Do you actually sit there quietly and wait or do you chatter on? I know that I am quilty of the latter, talking and praying so much nothing can get a word in edgewise, odd phrase isn’t it? Well I know I do, and I think it is a good reminder that prayer is a two-way conversation and that’s why like Samuel sometimes he talks to us and we don’t know it, or even more ironic, we think it’s our “second self”. I guess that’s a good word for him, or our better or Higher self.
In my anguish... 