A Woman of Unswerving Faith and Persistence in Prayer
Hannah’s Prayer of Praise
2 Then Hannah prayed:
“My heart rejoices in the Lord! The Lord has made me strong.[a] Now I have an answer for my enemies; I rejoice because you rescued me. 2 No one is holy like the Lord! There is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God 3 “Stop acting so proud and haughty! Don’t speak with such arrogance! For the Lord is a God who knows what you have done; he will judge your actions. 4 The bow of the mighty is now broken, and those who stumbled are now strong. 5 Those who were well fed are now starving, and those who were starving are now full. The childless woman now has seven children, and the woman with many children wastes away. 6 The Lord gives both death and life; he brings some down to the grave[b] but raises others up. 7 The Lord makes some poor and others rich; he brings some down and lifts others up. 8 He lifts the poor from the dust and the needy from the garbage dump. He sets them among princes, placing them in seats of honor. For all the earth is the Lord’s, and he has set the world in order. 9 “He will protect his faithful ones, but the wicked will disappear in darkness. No one will succeed by strength alone. 10 Those who fight against the Lord will be shattered. He thunders against them from heaven; the Lord judges throughout the earth. He gives power to his king; he increases the strength[c] of his anointed one.”
NLT
Hannah's Story
My heart is full to overflowing with God’s precious watchfulness over my life, and the life of this child growing within me. You see this child is in every sense a miraculous gift of God. My husband Elkanah had seen me in tears so many times because of my seeming infertility, that he once asked me, “Hannah, why are you so downhearted? Am I not as good as ten sons to you?” But my mother’s heart so wanted to bear him a child, as well as to know this blessing of God on my life.
Every year when we would go to the temple in Shiloh to worship the Lord, I would pray earnestly for a child. One time I was in such anguish of heart that I was unaware that my grief, sadness and tears were so visible as I prayed, but Eli the priest noticed and thought I had been drinking! I was able to tell him that I had not had any alcohol, but that my heart was greatly distressed, and I was asking the Lord to look with mercy on me and give me my heart’s desire… to have a son. And if He would grant me that son, I would give him back to the Lord to be His lifelong servant.
Eli heard my request and blessed me, telling me to go home, and wait for the Lord’s answer. Elkanah and I, along with our household, went back to our home in Ramah, and soon I was pregnant with that longed for son for whom I had cried out to the Lord. My joy is unbounded as I wait for the birth of this miraculous gift from God. He will be called Samuel and will be a lifelong servant of the most high God. “My heart rejoices in the Lord; … My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in your deliverance. There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God!” Can you also rejoice with me in the watchfulness of our God over the deepest desires of our hearts, to hear our persistent prayers of faith and answer them for His own glory?
Please see my whole story in the book of 1 Samuel, chapters 1 and 2 in the Old Testament of the Bible.
Mary Fawcett
Comments
A beautiful story of GOD’S
watch care over His daughter,
Hannah, beautifully told. GOD hears and answers prayer.