Prevailing in Prayer
"So in the course of time Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, 'because I asked the Lord for him." 1 Sam. 1:20
Hannah’s longing and desire was to be a
mom. 1 Samuel chapter one describes with
some detail the pain, humiliation, rejection, and accusation Hannah experienced
as she prayed for a child. The pain came
from a closed womb, the humiliation from those in the community who cast
judgment on her for being barren (considered a result of sin at that time),
rejection from her husband who had a second wife with whom he had children, and
accusation from the priest, who mistook her sorrow for drunkenness. Yet Hannah did not quit. She continued to be persistent in her prayer.
Hannah prevailed.
In fact, she travailed until she prevailed. She did not surrender but continued to pray
for a son. We read in chapter 1, verse
20, “so it came to pass in the process of time that Hannah conceived and
bore a son…” Some answers to our prayers come to pass in
the process of time – dates are usually not given and we are left to lean not
on our own understanding and to simply trust the Lord. We can learn something from Hannah, whose
name means “grace.” Despite her anguish,
she was persistent in her prayer and the Bible states “the LORD remembered
her” (verse 19). Whenever the Lord
“remembered” someone in the Bible, it was always in a positive sense. When the Lord remembers, He is preparing a
blessing. The Lord remembers you – hears
your prayers, knows how long you’ve been praying for your children. He knows ever obstacle you’ve faced. He has faced them too. Be encouraged this day to pray and keep on praying.
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