Prayer as Listening

The following meditation was written by Dr. Michael B. Brown, pastor at Blowing Rock Methodist Church in North Carolina.

The Lord called to Samuel. “I’m here,” he said. Samuel hurried to Eli and said, “I’m here. You called me?” “I didn’t call you,” Eli replied. “Go lie down.” So he did. Again the Lord called Samuel, so Samuel got up, went to Eli, and said, “I’m here. You called me?” “I didn’t call, my son,” Eli replied. “Go and lie down.” (Now Samuel didn’t yet know the Lord, and the Lord’s word hadn’t yet been revealed to him.) A third time the Lord called Samuel. He got up, went to Eli, and said, “I’m here. You called me?” Then Eli realized that it was the Lord who was calling the boy. So Eli said to Samuel, “Go and lie down. If he calls you, say, ‘Speak Lord. Your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down where he’d been. Then the Lord came and stood there, calling just as before, “Samuel, Samuel!” Samuel said, “Speak. Your servant is listening.” 1 Samuel 3:4-10 (Common English Bible)

Using cell phones in restaurants shouldn’t be allowed. Not only is it dismissive of others at your table, but it is rude to those sitting anywhere within earshot. Nonetheless, what we overhear is sometimes intriguing or even entertaining.

Recently at a lovely cafe not far from my house, I had the misfortune of being seated only a few feet away from a woman who was obviously livid. For at least five minutes, she used her cell phone to unload on the object of her wrath. Loud, agitated, and animated, never once did she appear to come up for air. I feared that if she didn’t pause long enough to inhale, she might faint and land squarely on my plate of pasta. If conversations are dialogues, then hers was not a conversation. It was, instead, a monologue, a lecture.

Prayer is essentially dialogical, at best more a practice of listening than speaking. Too often we pray like that woman in the cafe, raging at God when we feel life is treating us unfairly. Or, just as often we act as if God is little more than a shopping mall Santa. We present our list of desires, say a quick “Amen,” and decide to get back in touch when our next wish list is ready. Either way, prayer is a monologue rather than a conversation.

When Samuel was a boy under the tutelage of the priest, Eli, he learned one of faith’s powerful lessons: that the most important prayers ever offered may be prayers without words. Four times during the night, Samuel was awakened by hearing someone call his name. Twice he went to Eli, asking why he had been summoned. Each time Eli replied that he had not called and sent Samuel back to bed. On the third occasion, Eli understood. “Go and lie down,” he told Samuel. “If he calls again, say, `Speak, Lord, your servant is listening’.” Samuel did what Eli suggested, becoming still and silent. He simply listened. In so doing, unimagined doors opened for Samuel – doors to become a great Prophet and to name Israel’s first two kings, Saul and David. Arguably the most important prayer Samuel ever prayed was one without words, a simple act of listening for God.

How can we know what God wants for us or from us if we only speak but never listen? A spiritual discipline of indescribable importance is the practice of silence. Sitting quietly in God’s presence. Opening oneself to the movement of the Spirit. Waiting for insights we are often too busy to hear. “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.”

Joy,