And she said, “Oh, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the Lord.  For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him.  Therefore, I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord.”

I SAMUEL 1:26-28

Hannah is a woman who goes to God both in her grief and rejoicing. The scripture tells us in 1 Samuel 1 that Hannah’s prayers of grief and longing are expressed in weeping before God as she pours out her soul in both spoken words and the silent whispers of a broken heart. When it comes time to rejoice, Hannah is found releasing her son Samuel into ministry and singing a prayer poem declaring who God is. This mother’s heart chooses God as her rock in sorrow and joy. ‘There is no one besides you: there is no rock like our God.’

There’s a common denominator between myself and Hannah, and it’s an important one. We both desire something deeply and we both are believing in a good God to deliver it. And we are both feeling the pain of that desire going unanswered.

Is it that our desire is wrong? I love Hannah’s boldness in her time of anguish. She courageously tells God to look on her misery and to see how deep her heartbreak runs. And she asks Him not to forget her. This cry of pain deeply resonates with all of us who have ever hoped God would deliver on our deep desire and instead are met with (what seems to be) silence.

As the passage continues, we see Hannah promise God that if He gave her a son, then she would dedicate Him to the service of God. And He answers her prayer. On a surface level, this would seem that there are magic words or phrases we should pray to move God’s heart. But God is not manipulated. His choosing to open Hannah’s womb after she prayed should not be read as though there was something Hannah did that year that finally got God over the line. For all we know, Hannah could have said those very words every year she had gone to pray. 

What I believe we should take from Hannah’s story is persistence. Persistence in not just praying for the godly desires of our heart, but rather persistence in the belief that no matter how many times I have to get back on my knees, God is still a good God and, one way or another, will answer my prayer with good things that bring Him glory.

Psalm 127:3 says, “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward.” God blesses mothers with the gift of children; through them, mothers experience the joy and wonder of watching their children grow and develop.