Hannah's Prayer

What new years resolutions have you made for 2009? What dreams do you have for the year ahead? Perhaps you’ll consider taking on an extra resolution: to pray more actively throughout the year ahead, just like Hannah, whose story can be found in 1 Samuel 1-2.

From Hannah’s devotion of prayer, we can draw out four very simple but challenging points to try and follow for the year ahead:

1. Hannah endured problems – she didn’t have any children and her rival wife treated her cruelly. It may not be nice to think about it but in 2009, we are all going to face some form of disappointment, sadness or displeasure – you’ve probably already experienced some problems in the first week of the year. Hannah could have quite easily used her misfortune to turn away from God but instead the passage says that year after year she continued to faithfully worship God. We can’t force the problems that the year ahead will bring to disappear but we can make a conscious decision that we are going to bring our grief and problems to God in prayer throughout the whole year.
2. Hannah prayed with determination, she was devoted to prayer, just like we are called to be in Colossians 4:2. The Bible says that Hannah cried and cried out to God inconsolably, faithfully believing that God would answer her prayers. This year ahead we need to pray with determination, making sure that we have a routine of prayer and that we devote ourselves to it.
3. Why did Hannah persist in prayer? She believed that prayer worked and it obviously did, God didn’t forget Hannah’s prayers and gave her a son. In 2009, we can be confident that God will hear our prayers and that both individually and as a church, we will see our prayers answered. We can pray and see the world around us changed.
4. When Hannah had her prayers answered, she was extremely grateful. It says in chapter 2 that she rejoiced in the Lord! In the year ahead, when God answers our prayers we should also rejoice and thank God that he has heard us!

In short: In 2009 we’re going to face problems, just like every other person living on the planet, yet we can bring all these problems to God. Just like Hannah prayed and the world around her changed, we can stand firm in the knowledge that God hears our prayers and doesn’t forget them. We can be confident that we are going to see prayers answered for us as individuals and as a church in 2009 and when that happens we can thank him and pour our rejoicing out in worship.

Why not meditate on these thoughts while watching this video of the Lord’s Prayer, which Jesus gave us to teach us how to pray.