April 8, 2017. Ask

1 Samuel 1-3

Earnest prayer is a powerful thing.  Spilling the desires of your heart, communicating openly and honestly with the Lord is a precious gift.  A gift we sometimes overlook or take lightly. 

Hannah does not take it lightly, in fact she prays and spills every single desire of her heart to her Lord. She does it openly in the temple and Eli the priest believes that she is drunk.  Her lips are moving but no words are coming out and she is openly weeping before the altar.

1 Samuel 1: 12 As she kept on praying to the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. 13 Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk 14 and said to her, “How long are you going to stay drunk? Put away your wine.” 15 “Not so, my lord,” Hannah replied, “I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the Lord. 16 Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief.”

A prayer that was so earnest, so raw, one that openly admitted her bitterness and want and desire for a child; that is how we should always pray.  The Lord already knows our heart and our deepest desires but we don’t always speak them to him.  God tells us in Mark 11:24 “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”  And again in John 16:24 “Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.” He wants to give us the desires of our heart.  The Lord wants us to be happy; we just need to ask him.

Here is the thing though, we cannot forget who He is and what He has done for us.  Just because we have been granted the desires of our heart does not mean we get to turn around and forget what it is that He has asked of us.  Hannah clearly gets the desire of her heart, a son named Samuel, but she gives him back to the Lord to serve him as soon as he is of age.  She rejoices in the gift that was given to her and praises the Lord with a thankful heart.

1 Samuel 2: 1Then Hannah prayed and said:

“My heart rejoices in the Lord;

 in the Lord my horn is lifted high.

My mouth boasts over my enemies,

 for I delight in your deliverance.

2 “There is no one holy like the Lord;

there is no one besides you;

there is no Rock like our God.

Be open with your Heavenly Father, let him know your fears and frustrations, let him know what it is that you so desire. Know that He is listening.