Read 1 Samuel 3.
The Lord came (at night) and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” -1 Samuel 3:10 (NIV)
I had a conversation with someone recently about not being able to sleep well at night. For most of my life, that’s been my experience. I have no trouble falling asleep, but staying asleep is the problem. There have been nights when I literally wake up ten or twenty times. I’m guessing that many of you reading this morning’s devotional have had a similar experience.
I suggested to the person with whom I was talking that he/she go get a sleep test or perhaps try a prescription to help go to and stay asleep. But as I reflected upon that conversation this morning, I was reminded of Morton Kelsey, an Episcopalian priest and author. When he was a young, busy priest, he began to wake regularly in the middle of the night. Already exhausted from his ministry, Kelsey could ill afford to lose another hour or two of sleep each night. He cried out to the Lord, “Why is this happening to me?” And his inner ears heard the answer, “Morton, you’re so busy doing my work all day long that this is the only time I can get your attention.” From that night on, Kelsey gave thanks and even looked forward to the waking in the night. The early hours became his time for intimate conversation with God.*
The boy Samuel slept in the temple of the Lord. Once, he heard his name called in the night. “Here I am,” he replied to Eli, the old priest (not the fabulous Ole Miss quarterback playing in the NFC Championship this weekend). But Eli had not called Samuel. This happened again and then again. Finally Eli realized that it was the Lord calling Samuel. He gave Samuel instructions on listening to the voice that called in the night. The next time God called, Samuel was to respond, “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.”
Truthfully, most of us would rather sleep through the night and leave someone else to praying in the wee hours. But we wake. So why not pray? It might help us go back to sleep (probably not as much as a CD of one of my sermons). But it may result in the most intimate conversation with God that we’ve ever experienced.
May God grant us the grace to listen to His calling…even if it’s in the middle of the night. “Speak, Lord. Your servant is listening.”
*Praying in the Night Watches by Gerrit Scott Dawson
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