Some Thoughts on Prayer

When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them…But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. (Matthew 6:5-6)

Once Jesus was in a certain place, praying.  As he finished, one of his disciples came to him and said, “Lord, teach us to pray…”  (Luke 11:1)

A working definition of prayer:  interactive conversation with God about what we and God are thinking and doing together. (Taken from the Life with God Bible.)

 

I Samuel 1:9-20  Hannah’s story is a familiar one. Remember Abraham and Sarah? They prayed for a child just like Hannah. Hannah seems to take it a bit further, though. “She was deeply distressed and prayed.” Elkanah's other wife, Peninnah, has already given him sons and daughters. Hannah’s humility is shown by her refusal to turn against Peninnah, even though she constantly gloats. Hannah, instead of fighting with Peninnah, cries out to the Lord. The bible says she wept bitterly.

"O Lord of hosts, if only you will look on the misery of your servant, and remember me, and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a male child, then I will set him before you as a nazirite until the day of his death."  I Samuel 1:11
Even when Eli accuses her of being drunk instead of praying, she insists that God hear her cries and never ceases her prayer. She promises God (and Eli) that when she has a son, she will dedicate it to the work of the Lord. It's only after Eli blesses her that she finally gets up and goes home.
And, when the time is God's time, she has a son. And as promised, she brings him to the priest, Eli, to serve in the house of the Lord.
Even thought Hannah has to give up her son, she thanks God. Read Hannah’s Prayer and notice the similarities with Mary’s prayer in Luke 1:46-56. She's giving to God her most precious possession, the one desire of her heart, and she's GRATEFUL!
When we pray, do we willingly sacrifice the very thing we've prayed for? It seems so foreign to our modern-day "gimme" mentality. Hannah wasn't selfish in her prayer, she prayed for a son for her husband and her God. Can we honestly say we pray for things unselfishly like Hannah?
Jesus not only wants us not to be selfish, but also wants us to be humble. We're to pray in secret, not to be seen. The Lord's Prayer that he gave us is mostly about God's ways, not ours. Jesus himself prayed in the garden of Gethsemane, "Lord, not my will but yours." How unselfish he was! Facing death on a cross for us, he humbled himself before God and submitted to His perfect will. It's a great lesson in prayer for us to emulate.

Prayer: God of love and grace, teach me to pray. Help me to “pray without ceasing.” Help me to praise you in all circumstances. Teach me to pray even when answers seem not to come. Teach me about your will for my life and how to pray in your will. Amen.