1 Sam 3:3-10
3 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;
4 That the LORD called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I.
5 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.
6 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.
7 Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, neither was the word of the LORD yet revealed unto him.
8 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.
9 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.
10 And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth. KJV
Even a child needs such periods of seclusion and because a child's life can be disorganized and chaotic it may be the only time God can speak to him is when he is upon his bed. It might not be wise to rush a child off to bed and demand he be asleep as soon as possible. Let him lie there for in that time before sleep God may speak to him. Also, it would be wise if we would retire before we are ready to collapse so that as we lie there God may also speak to us. O that we would be as ready to get off our bed to heed His call as Samuel was and that we would know it was Him that was calling us.
Too many times we awake in the middle of the night or we cannot fall off to sleep because God wants us to say, “Speak, Lord for thy servant heareth.” We will not know until Glory how many moments of joy we have missed and how many tidbits of wisdom He sought impart to us in those times or what results our prayers would have had if we had fought the flesh and allowed our spirit to be moved by the Spirit of God. I often wrote my best papers for college after everyone else went to bed and burned some midnight oil. It may also be the best time to receive the oil of gladness from God if we would only allow Him to anoint us with it. How much more would we have been fruitful because of our time with Him when it was inconvenient to the flesh? God sought to be alone with us and we would not.
Ps 63:5-7
5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:
6 When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.
7 Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. KJV
David speaks about his time he spent with God in bed and through the night. Oh, that he would have stayed in bed and meditated the night he strolled out on his balcony and saw Bathsheba. What pain and sorrow both he and Israel could have been spared. Had he been on the battlefield, where he should have been he would not have seen her. We must take care that we are where we need to be so that when we awake in the night it can lead to prayer and meditation not sin.
