Words of Hope Daily Devotional

Hannah’s Prayer

Read: 1 Samuel 1:21–2:11

For this child I prayed, and the LORD has granted me my petition that I made to him. (1:27)

Last fall I contracted a terrible case of poison ivy; the allergen infected my entire body, and I was covered head to toe with painful, swollen, oozy sores that itched like crazy. The ordeal lasted for weeks! During the worst of this, I couldn’t focus on anything other than my own comfort, seeking to endure the pain until my body recovered. It took a while to regain my perspective!

That is what pain can do; it can isolate us and cause us to focus on ourselves, losing the big picture of what God is doing around us. Often as we come out of suffering, we have a new grasp of God’s goodness to us. As Hannah prayed in 1 Samuel 2, she praised God’s goodness and his sovereignty as he works his will on earth. The Lord breaks the bow of “the mighty,” but he increases the strength of “the feeble” (v. 4). He feeds the “hungry” (v. 5), and he lifts “the poor” and “the needy from the ash heap” (v. 8). He watches over the “faithful” (v. 9) and judges all the earth (v. 10). And for Hannah herself? “The barren has borne seven,” she proclaimed in triumph (v. 5). God had been so good to her!

We may not recognize God’s hand at work when we’re suffering, but when the pain subsides, we understand how close he’s been to us and how much he cares for the brokenhearted.

As you pray, thank God for his care for you and for all the world.

Laura Sweet

Laura N. Sweet is a wife, mother, grandmother, and former Christian school teacher from Midland, Michigan. She writes devotional material for both adults and children, and her work has appeared in more than a dozen publications.