A Year of Prayer: Season One Weekday DevotionalsSample

Have you ever been on a phone call and had the line drop or cut out, but you haven’t realised and just kept talking? Or perhaps you’ve been on the end of a frustratingly common problem in online video calls: the person becomes ‘frozen.’ This means their picture becomes still, their audio drops out, and communication is lost.

God doesn’t make communication errors. God doesn’t speak while not knowing if we’re listening or not. God is both the communicator and the receiver within us, placing our Holy Spirit to capture and interpret each of God’s words.

But if we’re not receptive to hearing, God won’t continue the next part of the recipe. In today’s scripture, God calls Samuel four times and says his name six times. It wasn’t until Samuel was truly ready to identify God's voice that God continued to the next message.

Have you put God on call-waiting? Has prayer frozen up on you? If God’s picture becomes still, God’s audio drops out, and communication is lost, it might be time to check your connection.

There’s still a message to be held, had and inhabited if only you’ll recognise the voice crying out your name.

Prayer: Jesus, let me hear you. I want to know your voice better each day. When it’s distorted or far away, allow your Holy Spirit’s grace in me to speak anew on my behalf so that I may truly be a listener.

Action: How will you know when God speaks?