When You Pray: A Study on Prayer From Kelly Minter, Jackie Hill Perry, Jen Wilkin, Jennifer Rothschild, Jada Edwards, and Kristi McLellandExemplo

Petition

By Jackie Hill Perry

Everybody has problems. Everybody. We live in a messy world surrounded by messy people while living with messy hearts. It’s all just a mess. Everyone moves about the world looking for ways to fix the mess. Some folks just work harder to deal with or distract from whatever problems they have. Others default to apathy, self-pity, and sloth-like behavior. Feeling inadequate to do anything, they resort to doing nothing. Hannah had a problem for sure. A problem she wanted to fix. The method she employed may feel counterintuitive, but in fact, she used the strongest weapon one has—prayer.

Hannah refused to eat and thus celebrate restored communion with God. She was sad. On this particular trip in 1 Samuel 1, Hannah wept, and then what did she do? She went to the temple to meet with God.

Hannah’s Lord

How we begin our prayers says a lot about us. We can either begin with a problem or with a Person. When Jesus taught the disciples to pray, He told them to begin, “Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy” (Matt. 6:9). When Jesus spoke with God on the cross, His first words were “My God, My God” (Mark 15:34). Hannah’s petition opens with “LORD of Armies” (1 Sam. 1:11) Beginning with God’s personal name immediately affects our posture in prayer, humbling us, and our power in prayer, encouraging us.

The name of God we employ in prayer inspires reverence, and it functions as a reminder. If God is indeed the LORD of Armies, then He is sovereign. He is powerful. He is in control. And if that is the case, then there is no circumstance I can bring to His feet that He doesn’t have the ability to change.

Hannah’s Identity

To think that Hannah, a barren and grieving woman, would ask God for a son and then in the same breath vow to give this son back to God is shocking. Usually, when we want something badly, we make no promises to return it to sender. (Which is a part of the problem.) If the gift was received, then the gift has a source.

Whether it be children, money, marriage, friendships, health, the ability to speak and walk and dance and laugh or preach, sing, or whatever, EVERYTHING is a gift from the Father of lights. Hannah recognized something we are quick to forget: Whenever God answers our prayers, giving us what we’ve asked for, figuratively and literally speaking, we must give it all right back to God, for our good and His glory. Nothing we have is ultimately ours anyway.

When You Pray Today

Set aside some time right now or later today to sit with God.

1. Be emotionally honest with God.

2. Look through the Scriptures and find an attribute or name of God that applies to your circumstances.

3. Ask God to change your heart, giving you the humility needed to be content with how God answers your prayer, as well as the humility needed to give Him back everything you’ve received.

Now, read 1 Samuel 1:1–2:11 to look closer at Hannah's prayer.