Praying to hear and be heard

 

Many Psalms began as the personal prayers of King David, who consistently turned to God with his problems and praise. These prayers and others in the Bible still speak for us today.

 

Psalm 143:1, 7-8

from the King James Version

 

Hear my prayer, O Lord,

give ear to my supplications:

in thy faithfulness answer me,

and in thy righteousness.

 

Hear me speedily, O Lord:

my spirit faileth:

hide not thy face from me,

lest I be like unto them

that go down into the pit.

 

Cause me to hear

thy loving kindness in the morning;

for in thee do I trust:

cause me to know the way

wherein I should walk;

for I lift up my soul unto thee.

 

From the Book of KJV Prayers - actual prayers from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV) collected by Mary Harwell Sayler, ©2019 

 

…

 

Psalm 143:1, 7-8

paraphrased into everyday English

 

Hear my prayer, O Lord.

Bring Your ear close.

Answer me in Your righteousness,

Your faithfulness.

 

Answer me quickly,

for my spirit languishes!

If You hide Your face from me,

I’d be in the dark – in a pit!

 

Let me hear Your loving kindness

in the morning, Lord,

for I trust – oh, I trust –

in You!

 

Teach me the way in which

I should walk, for to You

I lift up my soul, my life.

For to You, I lift up my soul.

 

From the Book of Bible Prayers – actual prayers of the Bible collected from a variety of translations and paraphrased into everyday English by Mary Harwell Sayler, ©2019

 

…

 

Here I am, Lord

Background: Even as a child, the future prophet Samuel heard the voice of God. Tended by Eli in the Temple, the boy slept near the Ark of the Covenant, which housed the tablets of law God had given to Moses.

Physically, the priest Eli had begun to lose his vision, but spiritually, the whole Hebrew nation had begun to lose sight of God. Visions and the word of the LORD came rarely, but even so, someone had to see or hear. Someone had to be open, childlike, and receptive to God.

So the LORD called the boy Samuel.
By name, God called, “Samuel, Samuel,”
and immediately
the boy got up and ran to Eli, saying,
“Here I am for you called.” But
Eli said, “No, I didn’t. Go back to bed.”

Samuel obeyed, but again
the LORD called, “Samuel!”
So again Samuel got up and
hurried to Eli, saying, “Here
I am for you called me.” But again
Eli said, “I did not call you, my son.
Go back to bed.”

Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD,
nor did he know the word of the LORD,
but the LORD called the boy a third time.
And again Samuel got up and went to Eli,
saying, “Here I am for you called me.”

Finally the priest discerned
what was happening.
The third time Eli learned
the LORD called,
and so he said, “Go back to bed,
and if the call comes again, say,
‘Speak, LORD,
for Your servant is listening’.”

Obeying, the boy hurried to bed,
and soon the LORD came to the child
and said, “Samuel! Samuel!”

And Samuel said, “Speak, LORD,
for Your servant is listening.”

So the word of the LORD, the plan
of the LORD came to Samuel, a child,
and that night a prophet
was born
in a child – an obedient child,
who heard the word of the LORD
and listened.

Post Script: The word God gave to Samuel that night was hard to hear! In essence, God told the child that Eli and his blasphemous sons would be punished for their disobedience and lose their place in the Temple forever!

Poor little Samuel didn’t sleep that night! He surely did not want to be the one to tell this hard news to Eli – the very priest who had tended him since early childhood! Eli probably sensed this but did the right thing, insisting that the boy hide nothing from him but tell him everything God had said.

Samuel did, and most likely, that hard decision strengthened the boy. Instead of depending solely on Eli as he grew up, Samuel grew closer and closer to God in his life-long dependence on the LORD.

©2013, Mary Harwell Sayler prayer-a-phrased 1 Samuel 3:1-21 from today’s Daily Bible Readings.

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