"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."