The Lord called to Samuel again, for the third time. Getting up and going to Eli, he said, “Here I am. You called me.” Then Eli understood that the Lord was calling the youth. So he said to Samuel, “Go to sleep, and if you are called reply ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’”

1 Samuel 3:8-9

Finally, the third time that Samuel runs to Eli, Eli understands that God is calling the youth. And then Eli gives Samuel a piece of spiritual advice that forever changes his life. He tells Samuel how to respond to the voice so that he can now hear from God more clearly.   The spiritual advice is so incredibly simple. It is so simple that Samuel might have been tempted to dismiss it. Eli simply tells him to respond to God and say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”

As simple as Eli’s advice was to Samuel, until Samuel responded with those six words, he could not hear from God. Hearing from God is simple, but not easy. We have to make ourselves available to God and let him know we are listening. We listen by slowly and carefully reading his word. We listen by tuning out all the other voices and noises in our lives.

Take a moment to repeat the words to God, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” And then, for 60 to 90 seconds, be quiet and listen.