Laborious Prayer

Having experienced the process of childbirth, I can say, without a doubt, there is no more painfully purpose driven physical activity that can compare with labor and delivery. Even with all the modern aids to ease the process, natural childbirth is exhausting work. But for a woman who, for months or perhaps years, has dreamt of that day, the strenuous effort is often overshadowed by the joyous end result.

Hannah was a woman who longed for such a happy experience. She had a deep yearning to have a child, to give birth to a son. But her desire was "delayed" so long, that she despaired, even refusing to eat. No earthly pleasures could distract her from her longing. Even the comfort and love of a kind husband wasn't enough to fill the cavernous void in her heart. And as if her barrenness wasn't enough, Elkanah's fertile 2nd wife found great pleasure in taunting her.

"It happened year after year, as often as she went up to the house of LORD she would provoke her; so she wept and would not eat." (1 Samuel 1:7)

Finally, so desperate, Hannah, unashamedly threw herself at the feet and mercy of the LORD. It didn't matter to her what she looked like or what people, not even Eli the priest, thought of her. So engulfed in her sorrow, she likely forgot he was even there.

''She, greatly distressed, prayed to the LORD and wept bitterly. She made a vow and said, 'O LORD of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me.....but will give Your maidservant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life,...." (1 Samuel 1:10-11)

God eventually granted Hannah's request. Months later, a son was born and Hannah kept her word, releasing a very young Samuel into the service of the LORD.

But even before the birth of her son, Hannah experienced a labor and delivery of a different kind. Hannah was already ''pregnant'' with a dream. For years, she earnestly worshipped God and likely brought her request to Him often. But it wasn't until she completely laid herself bare and offered the very object of her request that she experienced breakthrough. Somewhere in those moments of raw emotion, she came to realize that her request was more than a woman's plea for a child. It was much bigger than she could imagine or even care for. It would be safest in God's hands. She must have reached a place of deeper faith and contentment in Him when she was done because verse 18 says she, ''...she went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.''.

Before there is great blessing, there is often great travail. Real prayer is labor intensive. It requires our undivided attention. Often it is a painful exercise that stretches us, it seems, beyond what we can bear. It is a tool, not to acquire things, but to change US and draw us closer to God. Hannah was transformed that day at Shiloh. So much so that her song of thanksgiving in chapter 2 makes only a small reference to her request (v. 5). Her main focus is on God Himself.

"There is no one holy like the LORD, indeed there is no one besides You, nor is there any rock like our God..." (v. 2)

"...for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and with Him actions are weighed." (v. 3)

The greatest blessing of answered prayer, (especially prayers we've had to persevere in for months or years) is not that we have received what we have prayed for but that we know God just a little bit better. Hannah not only received a son, she walked away with a deeper faith. A faith she would pass on to Samuel in the short 3 years she had him. A faith that shaped him into the man of God he would become. From an early age, he demonstrated a sensitivity to the voice of God and became a bold and faithful servant, blessing a nation through his leadership.

The dreams and plans God plants in every believer's heart are God sized and cannot be delivered without the purpose driven, sometimes painful, spiritual activity of laborious prayer. For Hannah, the strenuous effort was well worth the end result, in more ways than she could have ever imagined. So it can be for us.

"...pray without ceasing." (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Persevere.