"Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and it shall be, if He calls you, that you must say, ‘Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place". (1 Samuel 3:9)
Eli gave clear guidance to Samuel concerning how to receive from God. By the third call, Eli had clarity about what was happening to the young Samuel. He knew that it was the Lord who had been calling the young man on the earlier two occasions.
Eli’s instructions were impressive and precise. He told Samuel exactly what to say to ready himself for God’s further revelation. Eli was obviously a man who knew the Lord intimately and had heard His voice several times in the past. He understood the spiritual protocols related to hearing the voice of the Lord. Samuel had to say, ‘speak Lord, for your servant hears’. In that statement, Samuel established three things:
The first was A RELATIONSHIP. Samuel called the One who had been speaking to him, ‘Lord’. He recognized the God of Israel. That reference also positioned Samuel as a servant of the Lord. Samuel knew about the Lord from his training, but he did not have a personal relationship with Him. He didn’t yet know the Lord for himself. Now, he accepted the God of his fathers as his personal Lord. The lesson here is that we must know the Lord on an individual basis and not through others.
The second was A REQUEST. Samuel asked the Lord to speak. In the first instance, the Lord had taken the initiative to talk to Samuel. Now, Samuel was taking the initiative to ask the Lord to speak. Our communication with God is two-way; He says something to us, and we talk back to Him. The lesson here is that though God wants to do some things for us, we have to ask Him to do them for us.
The third is READINESS. By indicating that he was listening, Samuel demonstrated that he was now ready for the message the Lord had for him. The young man who had grown up in the tabernacle serving under the leadership of Eli was now ready for his own spiritual inauguration. In the past, Samuel heard from God through the words of Eli; but now he was ready to hear directly from God. The lesson here is that our readiness allows the Lord to take the next step with us.
Do you have a personal relationship with the Lord? Are you able to make your requests known to Him? Are you ready for the next thing God wants to do in your life?