1 Samuel 1: 9-18.
Hannah was one of two wives of Elkanah in Ephraim. Her rival was Penninah. Penninah had children. Hannah did not.
Hannahs
prayer was a pretty basic one. She wanted a child. She was broken hearted, deeply hurt. She wept, she was downcast,
angry and depressed. She was anguished and filled with anger and resentment.
She was mocked and riled at by her rival. She endured scorn and ridicule.
That is a lot of a baggage in one woman. One can only
imagine the repercussions for those staying with her. Flaming explosions and manipulative melodrama, with demonstrative displays of not
eating, tears and more drama. Pleading and cajoling. Wow. That house may have been a
daily theatrical event! I don’t think I would want to be Elkanah. He must have
worn a turban. He may not have had any hair left on his head at the end of it
all.
She prays a
conditional prayer, a bargain buster. "If" she says to God, "you will notice me, remember
me and not forget me, I will…"
We often
draw close to God in this way. We bring all our baggage, our misconceptions of
His majesty, our assumptions of His disinterest in us and try to cajole a
bargain out of Him in exchange for our devotion. What a wrong pedestal of
worship to occupy! Yet He answers us in
his mercy.
Can we rest
in what He has already told us – “I have carved you on the palm of my hand”. “Before
a word is on my tongue you know it, you hem me before and behind..” “Every hair
in your head is numbered. You are more precious to me than many sparrows…”
If we
believed all the above, can we rest in it? Will the plaintive minor notes in
our pleas change? Will the heartbreak, anger and resentment be extinguished?
Will tenor of our prayer change without altering the theme?
He knows
our needs before we ask of Him. He in His abundant mercy will supply all our
needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus. That is sufficient. More than enough.
Thank you.
