Dancing in the Light

I John 1:7 "If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin."

Name:
Location: North Platte, Nebraska, United States

I am a christian wife, mother and grandmother. I am a licensed Social worker and a licensed Christian counselor. I am most proud of the relationships I have with God, my family and friends all over the world. I have been blessed beyond my dreams.

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

"Because I Asked"

One of the greatest stories on prayer is found in I Samuel. You know the story: beautiful Hannah taunted by her rival, teased and mocked to the point of tears, unable to eat or focus on anything else but her empty womb. The woman stands praying and weeping before the Lord, (the text says she prayed in bitterness of soul). She wants only one thing, a son. God answers her prayer and she is blessed with a baby, whom she calls "Samuel". Verse 20 of chapter 1 says, "She named him Samuel, saying, because I asked the Lord for him."
What an amazing testimony on the power of prayer. The story teaches us all the essentials of prayer. We notice that Hannah knows who to turn to--she knows that only God can help her, even her husband does not understand and so, she prays persistently. She bares her soul and pours out all her anguish to the Lord. Her prayer is real and not a memorized, habitually the same prayer, she prays authentically. She does not seem to be afraid who knows about her prayerlife, she prays courageously. I love verse 18 because it says that once she prays and Eli speaks to her, that she goes on her way, her spirit revived, her faith in God and His ability to answer her prayer renewed. She obviously prayed believing. When God answers her prayer, she does not forget. She knows exactly who did this. She remembers the bargain she made with God. She remembers to thank Him, and she prays thankfully. What a great example Hannah is to all of us. She asks, believing. And she receives thankfully---all in prayer to God.
Each and everyone of us face many disappointments in life. We have unfulfilled dreams and unreached goals. We are often discouraged about what we do not have, what we have not done, where we have not been. We try and try and try again. We make and remake plans. We schedule and reschedule and we work and work and work, often at the expense of everything else. Many of us find ourselves living back at the "old drawing board" needing to regroup again and again. And unfortunately we have become a group of very frustrated Christians.
Perhaps we can take a lesson from Hannah. Maybe some changes in the way we pray are called for. What do you think would happen if we turned to God for everything, rather than trying to do it ourselves? What changes would we see if we prayed persistently? What would genuine, open and courageous prayers sound like? And would we see greater results, more powerful and more amazing, if we prayed believing----if we then went on about our business, already thanking God for His answers? And what would happen if instead of just taking the answers and getting on with life, taking them for granted, what if we continued to thank Him for His blessings in our life, for His responses to our request? Perhaps our lives, especially our prayer lives, just as Hannah's, could become a testimony of God's love. That is what we all want, isn't it? We want others to look at us and think of Him. We want our deeds and our actions to cause those around us to glorify the Father in Heaven. Do you think it is possible to become a walking and living testimony? Of course it is, but we cannot do it alone. We have a heavenly Father who loves us and who wants us to be His ambassadors, His messengers, His billboard. And our God can and will accomplish this in our lives--- we just need to ask.

Peace
Neva
James 4:2b " . . .You do not have because you do not ask God."

22 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm a big Hannah fan. One of history's great moms.

I've wondered at times about "negotiating" with God; do you think that's still appropriate? You know, the old "I'll do ___ if you answer my prayer."

Grace and peace,
Tim

8:42 AM  
Blogger Liz Moore said...

Great thoughts Neva. I think we forget to take Everything to God. We sometimes only remember Him when it's the big stuff. He wants us to come to Him with every detail of our lives. Our lives would change so much if we did. When we only come to Him in crisis, we tend to forget to thank Him when the crisis is over. Thanks for a great reminder. Blessings!

10:15 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Great post, Neva. I know as my aefforts at prayer grow the return amazes me!

10:49 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I love this post. Prayer is so important.

Love
carol

12:23 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

My prayer life is not what it should be. In spite of my efforts to make it better, I always get sidetracked and find it suffering more and more until it is almost non-existent. Then, shamedly, I make a renewed effort only to forget again.

Thanks for the nudge, friend,
Rachel

5:20 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Prayer changes things. Hannah knew it and for most of us our own life experience bears this out. Yet, we neglect prayer.

Great post,
Pat

5:48 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Love the thoughts today. We all need to pray more.

Dan

6:33 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yep!


Carlos

9:20 PM  
Blogger Lori said...

What words of wisdom you have shared today. I need to remember to start everyday with my Bible and prayer to our awesome Lord. Lifting up and turning to Him for everything in my life. Not trying to carry the world on my shoulder's, learning time after time that I haven't turned to the Father but tried once again to do it on my own, just to get humbled by post like yours.

10:21 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Neva,
this post is so timely. I needed this reminder today.

Corinne

6:17 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

How easy it is to let prayer slide. We seem to place it low on our priority list and it is usually the first to go. Hannah is a good example of why we should pray always.

Kel

7:37 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Amen, sister


Yvonne

8:32 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Neglecting prayer is like not taking care of your car--if it doesn't work you can sit in it all day but you never go anywhere.

Dean

10:03 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Why is it so easy to ask for some things and not for others? Why can we ask to get more money, get well, etc. and then forget or neglect to ask for important things.

karin

10:43 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Neva,
Have you ever read any of Stormy Omartian's books on the power of prayer? They are really good and she talks, of course about htis very subject.

Jean

11:39 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This is a beautiful lesson, Neva. How much we can learn from godly women like Hannah.

Keep up the good work

Georgia

11:42 AM  
Blogger Neva said...

Tim,
I have been thinking about your question. To be honest, I am not sure whether it is appropriate to negotiate with God. I think we do it, though, just perhaps a bit more subtley. We ask Him for a bigger house and start mentally verbalizing all the spiritual good we will do with it, the same with money. We say things out loud in a sort of backhanded negotiation like "If I just could get this done, I'd have more time to work on God's things" Still not sure if it is appropriate but I think it is common. Maybe someone else in blogworld has an answer. Guys?

Peace
Neva

1:21 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

We do bargain with God, Abraham did it, Hannah did it, David did it, Jepthah did it--it seems sort of like a vow or a promise rather than a negotiation sometimes, dont you think?

Jeneane

1:41 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think it is not good to negotiate with God, I think it is another way of manipulation and He sees right through it.

Shari

3:19 PM  
Blogger The Preacher's Household: said...

My prayer of Hannah revealed a wonderful creation. I'll spend the rest of my life living up to my promise.
Kathy

1:27 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

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7:41 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sorry that last one was me, I had my Bible laying on a key and couldn't figure it out. sorry.
I love this psot and what it says about why we dont have what we want.

Mary

7:42 PM  

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