In Sunday worship service this week, the minister taught us the priorities of prayer. He used examples in the Old and New Testament of people who prayed to God. Bro. Sullivan raised the question on whether or not we should pray for material things and he used those examples and the scriptures that work in accordance to the topic to answer the question. We flipped our Bibles to Matt 6:5- 13 where Jesus taught his followers how to pray and 1 Samuel 1- 2 on Hannah’s prayers.
Her story touched me the most. I possibly empathized with her because she is a woman. She asked God for a son (Samuel), only to give him back to God. (1 Samuel 1:28) For her, it was the experience of bearing a child that she desired and her love for God that initiated the idea to see that the child live to do his will. Before Samuel was born, Hannah was, what some would call, depressed. She wasn’t eating and she couldn’t stop crying. Her emotions consumed her even when her own husband tried to comfort her, “Don’t I mean more to you than ten sons?” (1 Samuel 1:8)
Have you ever desired something or someone so much that you become sick with emotions? Single Christian women do you ever grow weary waiting for that God sent man to find you? Want to ever rush God and tell him, “Hurry up and finish molding him for me, because I know I’m ready. I’d be a perfect wife, where is my perfect husband???”
In a bitter prayer, Hannah cried out to God making this vow, “O Lord Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head.” (1 Samuel 1:11) [Hannah voluntarily vows to do for her son what was required for Samson (read Judges 13:5)].
I recognized that Hannah didn’t barter with God as many people often do. They say things like, “God if you give me a car, I will never lie again.” People say prayers like these out of ignorance. We don’t know what to ask God for in prayer. The Bible says, “But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. In the same way, the spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will. (Romans 8:25-27).
God understands that we get weak. When we [saints in accordance with God’s will] can’t express what needs to be said in prayer, he searches our heart. God knows what we need before we tell him. (Matt. 6:8) Thus, no need to pray for material things… In fact, he tells us not to worry about our lives because tomorrow is not promised. (Matt. 6:25-34). As long as we have what we need to get through today, that should be enough. We should be content in knowing that by faith God will take care of us tomorrow.
“But Seek ye first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matt. 6:33) I often have to be reminded that as long as I continue to be a servant of God, like Hannah, that “all these things” will be given to me one day as well.
So, in a recent prayer I remembered what Hannah did while she waited for her son. I first acknowledged and thanked God for being so forgiving and powerful enough to make any and all things come into my life. I self-examined my life for sin and asked for forgiveness of those that I have committed knowingly and unknowingly. Then I ask for “all these things”, which comprised, of all the characteristics I wished to have in my future husband. If it be his will for me to be married, I asked for a strong, courageous, humble, patient, understanding Christian leader. Someone that I could be a leader in the Church of Christ with… to attend worship and bible study with, to teach classes and lectures with, to praise and honor God’s name with, to save souls with… I asked God for all of these things.
Then I thought about a friend close of mine who recently attended a Christian singles’ seminar with me. I remembered her tears as she cried over a bad relationship that ended with her being a single mother. I asked God to show her how amazing he is by blessing her with this man. This man that I had just spent a half hour praying for, I wanted God to give to her. Though, I often feel alone as a single Christian woman, God always sends me comfort through Christian friends and scriptures filled with advice for singles by Paul in 1 Corinthians 7. I felt that if God could send her a strong Christian Leader that they could walk faithfully, strengthening each other in that walk, to honor God, saving souls as a team…
I understand that this prayer may have encompassed human language that were not clearly expressing what I meant to say. I am still learning and by reading more so that my prayers can become more of what they should be. Yet and still, it comforts me to know that God knows my intentions were in the right place. And so, by the Spirit interceding, I know that God can answer that prayer for what it should be and his answer will be revealed in due time.
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