Transform your Prayer Life
Speak Lord. Your servant is listening.
In my Bible reading this week, I read the beautiful story of Hannah and Samuel again. You can read the story in 1 Samuel 1.
Hannah was infertile, and to make it worse, her husband, Elkanah, had another wife who teased her because of it. I can only imagine the heartbreak Hannah suffered year after year. Hannah cried out to God during one of the family’s annual pilgrimages to the temple in Jerusalem. She was so emotional that the priest accused her of being drunk. The following year, however, God answered Hannah's prayer, and she had a baby boy, Samuel.
When Samuel was old enough to be weaned, Hannah gave him back to God, leaving him in the care of the priest to serve God in the temple. Every year Hannah would visit Samuel and bring him a new tunic, bigger than the one she made for him the year before. And so, Samuel grew up as a servant of God, working alongside the priests in the temple of the Lord.
One night, as Samuel slept, he heard a voice calling him, "Samuel, Samuel!" Thinking it was Eli the priest, Samuel ran to him three times to find out what he needed. Finally, Eli recognised that God was speaking to Samuel and instructed him how to answer when he heard the voice again. Next time God called Samuel, he answered, "Speak Lord, your servant is listening."
This simple sentence began a life-long relationship between God and Samuel. Samuel spent his life listening to God and speaking to the people on His behalf. This simple sentence can transform our relationship with God too.
Speak Lord. Your servant is listening. —1 Samuel 3:10
These are powerful words of obedience and faith that transform our prayer life when we follow Samuel's example. These simple words have the power to transform our prayer life.
Speak Lord
God is alive and actively engaged in our lives. He knows us, He wants to speak to us, and His ways are higher than ours. When I take the time to notice, I am always astounded at the frequency God speaks. I have never personally heard an audible voice of God, but that doesn't stop God speaking to me! He speaks to me through His word, through thoughts and impressions, and through the wisdom of other godly people.
Your servant…
This simple statement is important and powerful. It acknowledges our position before the Lord. We are willingly obedient and submissive (not a popular idea these days), our personal preference set aside to serve another. A servant.
My family recently watched Downtown Abbey again, all six seasons plus the movie. It was a lovely way to spend some of our time in isolation together. It is a story depicting a different way of life in a different culture at a different time in history, and it depicts a life of service beautifully. The life of a servant is no less valuable; they just hold a different position in the household.
We come before God as a servant. Ready to put aside our personal preference, ready to obey.
…Is listening
We stop the internal dialogue, quiet our thoughts and our environments, and take on the active and patient posture of a listener. Attentive and expectant. You can't listen when you're in a hurry, surrounded by noise or not paying attention. Listening requires focus, unhurried time, quiet. Many of us are not very good listeners because we are too busy and distracted.
These three simple ideas describe the posture of our hearts before God; acknowledging God is engaged in our lives, our position as a willing and obedient servant, and paying attention, expecting God to speak. As we quietly take moments in this posture, God shows up! He speaks.
When I come to God with a heart full of anxiety and worry, God speaks comfort and peace. When I have problems to solve, hurts to forgive or regrets laying heavy in my mind, God speaks courage, creativity and truth. God speaks. I just have to be ready to listen.
Will you pray along with me?
“Speak Lord. Your servant is listening.”
