What did God tell Samuel when he prayed about the people's request for a king?
The LORD told Samuel to heed the people's voice and let them have their way. Their demand for a king was not a rejection of Samuel but a rejection of the LORD Himself, because Israel wanted to be like the pagan nations around them.
Les explains that when the elders demanded a king so Israel could be like all the other nations, Samuel was heartbroken and displeased. Samuel went back to the LORD and prayed. Jehovah answered Samuel, “Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee,” telling him to let them have their way. God clarified that the people had not rejected Samuel; they had rejected Jehovah Himself. Les points out this was a turning away from God, because God had originally mandated that Israel be different—a set-apart, sanctified people unlike the surrounding nations. The surrounding nations all had kings and were pagan idolaters, while only Israel had knowledge of the one true God.
And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.