Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread. The reading for today titled God

Speaking to Us was written by Kenneth Peterson. I received a phone call from an unknown number.

Often I just let those calls go to voicemail, but this time I picked up.

The random caller asked politely if I had just a minute for him to share a short Bible passage.

He quoted Revelation 21, 3 through 5 about how God will wipe every tear from their eyes.

He talked about Jesus, how he was our assurance and hope. I told him I already

know Jesus as my personal Savior, but the caller wasn't aiming to witness to me. Instead, he simply

asked if he could pray with me, and he did, asking God to give me encouragement and strength.

That call reminded me of another call in scripture. God called

out to the young boy Samuel in the middle of the night. Three times Samuel heard the voice,

thinking it was the elderly priest Eli. The final time, following Eli's instruction, Samuel realized that God was calling him.

Speak, for your servant is listening, he responded.

Likewise, through our days and nights, God may be speaking to us.

We need to pick up, which might mean spending more time in his presence and listening for his voice.

I then thought of the call in another way.

What if we sometimes are the messenger of God's words to someone else?

We might feel we have no way of helping others,

but as God guides us, we could phone a friend and ask,

would it be okay if I just prayed with you today?

Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from 1 Samuel, chapter 3, verses 3 through 10.

The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the

Lord where the Ark of God was.

...