1 Samuel 3:3-10 -- On Recognizing the Lord's Voice

"And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep;
That the Lord called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I.
And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down.
And the Lord called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again.
Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him.
And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child.
Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
And the Lord came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth."
1 Samuel 3:3-10


I like this story because I think that it helps us understand that knowing and understanding inspiration and even revelation is something that we need to practice and learn, and we aren't always going to understand at first, and we don't need to feel guilty about that... rather, we need to ask, learn, and pay attention so that we can gain understanding of how God talks to us in our lives. Samuel is definitely not the only person in the scriptures who didn't understand God at first. Another example is Christ speaking to the people in Bountiful (3 Nephi 11:3-6), and I think we have probably all had times in our own lives when we weren't sure whether we were hearing the voice of the Lord or not.

Today, let's remember the lesson of Samuel, and work on learning to hear the Lord, and answer when he calls.