Storyline: Hannah, Part 2

Once again, a woman from Scripture has stuck in my brain like a little bug caught in a cobweb.  I keep meditating on Hannah’s God-story.  While this story is somewhat about letting go of bitterness, which we talked about last week, it is much more about persevering in prayer.  There are some random thoughts that have caught my attention about Hannah’s praying, and I have found myself talking at length about her this week.  So, here are those random thoughts, randomly sorted on paper, in a random kind of list:

From what I read in Scripture, Hannah’s life was not an easy one.  The community around her (including her husband’s other wife) often berated her for childlessness.  One thing and one thing only would ease her pain:  a baby.

I believe Hannah’s heart cried out in prayer often for God to open her womb and bless her with a child. 

Her prayer in the temple was just a culmination of many prayers prayed over a lifetime of prayers asking God to respond...and, as a result, s he felt like she was praying to a brick wall.

Perhaps Hannah wondered if God was good.  Did she ever feel like God was picking on her? 

Yet, through it all, Hannah persevered.  Year after year, she went to Shiloh with her husband and prayed.  Year after year, she left eclipsed (by the other women), embarrassed, and empty. 

Exhausted, she returned yet another year.  This time, so broken, so empty, so completely done (or, maybe, undone is a better word), she prayed a prayer that seemed to line up with God’s Will.  She asked, once more, for a son.  This time her prayer had an addendum:  “O Lord Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life... (1 Samuel 1:11).” 

Hannah’s prayer met heaven’s will, and heaven’s will came down to earth...in the form of a baby boy.  A baby boy who would become one of the greatest prophets Israel would ever know.   God needed a boy that He could raise.  A boy who would have God’s fingerprints all over him.  A boy who would be sensitive to the voice of God.  A boy who would be willing to speak God’s Word back to the people.  Sometimes that word would be what the people wanted to hear; and sometimes it would not. 

God blessed Hannah – not in the way she anticipated.  It was not easy to give your boy back to God, and,  to take him to the temple somewhere between age 3 and 5 and leave him there.  It was not easy to see him only once a year, and then, only to bring him a coat.  Yet, out of her brokenness.  Out of her perseverance, the desire of her heart met the need of God’s heart, and her prayer was answered.  I’m sure there are many theological implications here that I’m missing.  However I believe this to be true about Hannah’s praying, as we can relate:

Keep persevering.  Out of perseverance is born unspeakable blessing. 

It will not happen quickly, like an order at McDonald’s; but it will come.  AND...it will always match God’s will, not ours.

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 

Luke 18:1