“Speak, for Your servant is listening.” – 1 Samuel 3:10

Since returning from Japan, my sleep has been evasive and erratic at best. The first night, my sleep was expected to be a little off because my body was trying to overcome a 13-hour time difference. Try as I may, I could not fall asleep during normal sleeping hours. However, when I finally did fall asleep, I slept well and woke up somewhat refreshed…. even if it was midday and I had missed the opportunity to do anything productive that day. Yet by the time Sunday night/the wee hours of Monday morning rolled around, I knew that my sleeping issues were being caused by something other than jet-lag and that something deeper was happening.

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For as many stories of God, Christ, and redemptive love are found in the pages of the Bible, my favorite story has always been that of Hannah (1 Samuel 1). There was just something about her wholesome and wholehearted desire (or, desperation) to be a mother that has always resonated with my soul. To be clear, it’s not that I found common ground in her desire to be a mother, but that I found comfort in knowing that after she sought the Lord with her whole heart, He heard and answered her prayers. Why I loved that story as a teenager, I may never know, yet here I am today, less than a month away from my 39th birthday, and I am still as in awe of Hannah and God now as I was decades ago. If you have never read it before, let me give you a summary now:

Hannah was one of the two wives of a man named Elkanah (being married to multiple women was accepted during Old Testament times), and she was without child. Despite her perceived barren nature, Elkanah loved her more than he loved his other wife, Peninnah, who had given him children. His love for Hannah showed greatly in all that he did, from giving her extra portions of all that he had (in comparison to what he had given Peninnah), to what he spoke to her in 1 Samuel 1:8 (go read it!). Even with his love, Hannah wanted to bear him a child. She was taunted by Peninnah (and I would assume, the society of the time, which deemed women “despised by God” if they did not have children), and she just had a desire to be a mother. One day, during a visit to the house of the Lord, Hannah was greatly distressed and went before the Lord in DEEP prayer. Hannah’s prayer before the Lord was so powerful and intoxicating that the priest, Eli, assumed that she was just that- intoxicated. He rebuked her for her “audacity” to come before the Lord drunk. Yet when confronted, Hannah stated that she had not consumed any alcohol, but that she was earnestly seeking God. Finally understanding, Eli told her to “‘go in peace.’” and he asked the Lord to grant her petition (1 Samuel 1:17). After that encounter, Hannah did conceive a child, named him Samuel, and gave him back to the Lord after he was weaned.

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Even as my mind grows fuzzy on where certain stories and passages of the Bible may be found, the story of Hannah is permanently etched on my heart, and I can never forget it. Yet, it is not the story of Hannah, per se, that I bring before you today; it is actually the story of her son, Samuel.

You see, once Samuel had been weaned, Hannah did as she promised and gave Samuel back to the Lord. She took him back to the very place where she had prayed, and he lived there with Eli in service to the Lord. I know that in 2025, that may seem a bit odd, but know that in Biblical days, it was common practice and nothing to be alarmed about. I digress. One night, as Eli and Samuel were sleeping (in their separate spaces), Samuel very distinctly heard his name being called. Assuming that it was Eli calling out to him, Samuel ran to the priest and said, “Here I am!” Eli, now awakened from his sleep, was confused and told Samuel the truth that he had not called out to him, and told Samuel to go back to sleep. Once alone, Samuel heard his name for a second time and ran back to Eli, saying, “Here I am!” Yet again, Eli told Samuel that he did not call him and told him to go to sleep… so Samuel did. However, for a third time, the Lord called out to Samuel, and Samuel, hearing his name, ran to Eli and said, “Here I am!”… but this time was different. Eli soon realized that Samuel was hearing his name, but was just mistaken about who was calling him. Eli advised Samuel to go back to bed and that if he heard his name spoken again, he must say, “‘“Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.”’” So, Samuel went back to bed and for a fourth time, God called out to Samuel and this time Samuel responded as Eli had instructed. As the story goes, God spoke to Samuel, revealing judgments that He had declared for Eli and his house. Samuel, who was still young in both chronological age and spiritual age, consumed the words of the Lord and [eventually] shared them with Eli.

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On what was the fourth morning of my waking up during the prayer hour (which is actually two hours; 3-5 am), like Samuel, I finally realized that the Lord had something to say to me. I had spent the entire month of July traveling and taking a break from both writing and creating prayer content. Additionally, I had stepped back from ministry in my local church and, to some, stepped back from church itself. While I know my truth, perception is a hard battle to overcome. Last Wednesday morning, as I sat in my bed at 3:00 am, having just finished one prayer to God, I knew one thing to be true: God was calling me back to Him. It was time to write, it was time to create, it was time to pray, and it was time to continue telling the world about Him.

Four times.

Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.

Be blessed.