"May your servant find favor with you," she replied. Then Hannah went on her way; she ate and no longer appeared downcast. - 1 Samuel 1:18
Have you prayed, believing?
Hannah prayed for a child, really prayed, gut-wrenching, throat-drying, pulse-pounding prayed, but when she received affirmation from Eli that God had heard that prayer she then "went on her way, ate, and no longer appeared downcast." In other words, Hannah prayed, believing.
It all began with an urgent need. Hannah desperately needed a child. It typically begins the same way for each of us. We all have needs. Some are greater (more desperate) than others, but the greatest of all includes the need for significance and relationship. In Hannah's situation, childlessness deeply affected her feelings of significance. God, being God, was capable of completely meeting her need and to accomplish that task, God gave her a child (Samuel). We can easily see that Hannah initially wanted a child, but her response after receiving that child proves that she wanted God (and the significance He gives to life) more. She might have thought at one time that a child would give her what she so desperately needed, but it was God Himself who ultimately fulfilled her deepest desires.
Hannah prayed to God, believing and in the end she received more than she initially requested. In the end, she got Him. Perhaps, just perhaps, you might do the same.
Faith is not belief without proof, but trust without reservation. - D. Elton Trueblood
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