Hannah's Prayer

My daughter giggled the other day as she thought about Eli accusing Hannah of being drunk early in the morning.  “Why would he think that?”  I then demonstrated how Hannah might have been pleading with God in great desperation.  My daughter looked a little amused, shocked, and mortified all at the same time.  

I explained that when kids really want something, they go to their parents—and their begging, pleading, wailing, tantrum-throwing doesn’t always look pretty!  When adults want or need something, we go to God.  Depending on how desperate we are, it doesn’t look exactly put-together either.

Passionately seeking and waiting on God to answer our deepest longings can be exhausting—physically, emotionally, and spiritually.  We often get impatient as we sit in the silence of not knowing how or when God will answer.  We ache for the certainty of a “yes” or “no.”  We rationalize that knowing how God will answer our requests would at least enable us to weep or rejoice.  

We want to get on with life instead of waiting; God wants to draw us closer to Him.

Hannah isn’t the only one who’s lived through the waiting season of unanswered prayers about health concerns, financial needs, or severed relationships.  Like many women, Hannah endured years of infertility.  For women struggling to start or add to their families today, it may seem like every magazine cover announces a celebrity birth, every facebook page drips with cooing baby pictures, and every party invitation is to someone else’s baby shower. 

In-your-face pregnancy reminders came to Hannah in the form of a fertile sister-wife.  (As repulsive as polygamy is—it’s part of her story.)  Instead of offering compassion, this woman taunted Hannah, continually pouring salt on her wounded soul.  So much so that “In bitterness of soul Hannah wept much and prayed to the Lord” (I Samuel 1:10).  

Hannah didn’t pray pretty.  

She desperately vowed to the Lord her very request saying, “O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head” (I Samuel 1:11). 

This was about the time that Eli, the priest, thought she was drunk.  She started praying so that her lips moved but no words came out.  Could this be the picture of Romans 8:26-27?  Paul writes, “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness.  For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groaning too deep for words.  And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”

Eli blessed Hannah, and in the course of time she gave birth to a son.  Also in the course of time Hannah fulfilled her commitment and brought Samuel to live with Eli in order to serve the Lord.  She yielded her deepest longing, her answered prayer, to God.

God gave Hannah what her heart grew to desire—not the son she could cuddle and throw the ball to and proudly walk with to the market.  Instead, a son who was wholly God’s and would bring Him glory.  

Submitting our desires to God doesn’t necessarily mean we stop praying for them.  I believe Hannah longed for the very thing God wanted.  Through Samuel, God demonstrated His love and care for the whole nation of Israel.  Samuel—Israel’s prophet and judge—was fervently prayed into place and willingly given to God by Hannah.  God used Hannah’s soul-wrenching, drunk-looking prayer to change history.  

God wants us to come to Him with all our burdens in authentic, humble, and open-handed prayer.  Like Hannah, are we willing to uncurl our fingers around the very thing we’re praying for? 

God knows our needs and is bringing about more than just the object of our prayers.  Hannah’s time of waiting solidified in her heart who God is and united her heart to His.  She prayed, “There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God…for the Lord is a God who knows…” (I Samuel 2: 2-3).

In our seasons of waiting on God, God’s silence doesn’t mean He hasn’t heard our prayers.  When our circumstances appear to remain status quo, it doesn’t mean He isn’t working on our behalf and for His glory.  The same God who knew Hannah’s heart and struggles will work in our hearts and in our lives according to His timing and purpose.