The LORD called Samuel a third time, and Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me." Then Eli realized that the LORD was calling the boy. So Eli told Samuel, "Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, `Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.
God called Samuel four times that night long ago. God was patient with Samuel; finally, Samuel understood and listened to what God was telling him. God patiently calls us, too. God calls us to listen to him and understand what he wants us to do.
Three times the Lord called out to Samuel, and three times Samuel went to Eli the priest, confusing the voice of God with the voice of Eli (vv. 4–9). At Eli's direction, the young boy asked to hear from God the fourth time the Lord called to him.
1 Samuel 3:8 In-Context
8 A third time the LORD called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” Then Eli realized that the LORD was calling the boy. 9 So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, 'Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.
Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.
Daniel 6:10b tells us that Daniel spoke prayers of gratitude. "Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before."
Some scholars believe that Daniel had a prayer chamber built on top of his house, with the windows permanently open toward Jerusalem. It was an act of faith on the part of an exiled Jew to pray three times a day toward the land from which he had been taken captive.
Then they said to the king, "Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or to the decree you put in writing. He still prays three times a day." When the king heard this, he was greatly distressed; he was determined to rescue Daniel and made every effort until sundown to save him.
In Exodus 3:4, God calls Moses name twice because of the elevation he was being called to do. In verse 10, God tells him that he will go to Pharaoh to bring my people out of Egypt. He was promoted from keeping the flock of Jethro to becoming the children of Israel deliverer therefore God called his name twice.
He is believed to have been about 20 years old when he was called to prophesy. The prophet said, “The word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.” It is interesting to see the line of kings and the influence they had over the people.
God Called Samuel to Leadership
(Samuel had been serving in the house of the Lord since he was two or three years old, and the choice of occupation had been made by his mother. See 1 Samuel 1:20-28 and 2:18-21.)
One principle we can identify from 1 Samuel 3:2–10 is that if we are willing and receptive, we can grow in our ability to recognize the voice of the Lord.
Samuel worked under Eli in the service of the shrine at Shiloh. One night, Samuel heard a voice calling his name. According to the first-century Jewish historian Josephus, Samuel was 12 years old. Samuel initially assumed it was coming from Eli and went to Eli to ask what he wanted.
The LORD came and stood there, and called as he had before, “Samuel! Samuel!” Samuel answered, “Speak; your servant is listening.” The LORD said to him, “Some day I am going to do something to the people of Israel that is so terrible that everyone who hears about it will be stunned.
We learn from Samuel, that a willingness to obey is an important part of being receptive to God's voice: “Speak, LORD, for your servant hears.” A servant hears with the intention of obeying what his master tells him.
Samuel was lying down one night when he heard a loud voice calling out his name. Thinking the voice belonged to Eli, Samuel ran to him and said, “Here I am, you called me” (3:5).
Yahweh, name for the God of the Israelites, representing the biblical pronunciation of “YHWH,” the Hebrew name revealed to Moses in the book of Exodus. The name YHWH, consisting of the sequence of consonants Yod, Heh, Waw, and Heh, is known as the tetragrammaton.
chosen people, the Jewish people, as expressed in the idea that they have been chosen by God as his special people. The term implies that the Jewish people have been chosen by God to worship only him and to fulfill the mission of proclaiming his truth among all the nations of the world.
The bible tells us that David had a vow of praise unto the Lord. Seven times a day he would praise the Lord, and three times a day he would pray.
Moses prayed seven times a day in the Bible to seek the Lord's mercy. He asked that God be merciful to his people, and to show them compassion. This is called hesed, or loyal covenant love. He asked that God not delay in sending mercy, as Israel had sinned.
Part 4: Farewell prayer
John 17:1–26 is generally known as the Farewell Prayer or the High Priestly Prayer. It is by far the longest prayer of Jesus in any of the gospels.
We do not usually get immediate answers to prayer. Instead, God's answers come according to His timing and that may span a long period of time. Daniel fasted and prayed for three weeks. After this season of prayer, he stood on the banks of the Tigris River where he saw a man who had a glorious appearance.
Note that Matthew 26:42–46 records that Jesus prayed three times in the Garden of Gethsemane. Each time He expressed His willingness to obey His Father's will.
Daniel reads in the "books" that the desolation of Jerusalem must last for seventy years according to the prophetic words of Jeremiah (verse 2), and prays for God to act on behalf of his people and city (verses 3–19).