John Damascene, an Arab Christian monk said, “Prayer is the raising of one’s mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God.” Most of the time, for us, prayer is the latter. The Bible tells us in Ephesians 6:18 NIV, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”
Often, our prayer takes the form of petition. In other words, we are making a request to God. In 1 Samuel, Hannah’s life was filled with turmoil. She lived in a time when it was a woman’s duty to bear children; that was her primary function. However, she was childless, the custom of the time permitted a man to take a second wife if his first wife was unable to produce children. So, Hannah’s husband Elkanah took a second wife.
The second wife, Peninnah, produced many sons and she made Hannah’s life unbearable. Elkanah couldn’t understand why Hannah was wo sad. He tried to comfort her by saying, “Hannah, why do you cry and why do you not eat? Why are you so sad and discontent? Am I not better to you than ten sons?” (1 Samuel 1:8 NLT) That didn’t help, and Hannah went to God in prayer. She said, “O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, if you will look upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you. He will be yours for his entire lifetime, and as a sign that he has been dedicated to the Lord, his hair will never be cut.” (verse 11). God heard her prayer and blessed her with a son.
Hannah remembered her vow to the Lord, and she did what she said she would do. When he was able to live independently, she took him to the house of the Lord. Her son was the great Prophet Samuel. But God didn’t give her just one child, God did so much more. In her prayer of thanksgiving in 1 Samuel 2: 1-10, she said, “The childless woman now has seven children.” God answers prayer and gives us so much more than we asked for.
Thought for Today: Friend, in challenging times, pray.
Have a blessed day and walk in faith and victory.
Victory Walk 