Powerful Prayer: 1 Samuel 1:9-11 KJV

“So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the LORD. And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the LORD, and wept sore. And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then will I give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.”

Bitterness of soul: the inner pain resulting from prolonged, multi-layered suffering which becomes distasteful.

This really stood out to me in this passage. Bitterness of soul. Often times we face a trial or difficulty over and over again and it just feels like it’s never going to be a victory. It can be tiring, frustrating, and even overwhelming. We try everything we know we ‘supposed’ to do but that isn’t truly the solution, is it? After so long we just get so frustrated & leave it alone, allowing our flesh to have the victory. I think we so often will go to our spouse, other godly ladies, and even our pastor for advice and guidance but nothing seems to work. Why is that? What is the condition of our spirit? Our heart? Our mind? When did we fully bring it before the Lord? Not just praying a prayer, asking him to take away our mountain?

Hebrews 4:16 says, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and grace to help in time of need.” While Hannah didn’t have the Bible as we do, she still knew the importance of prayer and brought her heartache to the Lord Almighty! We can follow Hannah’s example and go boldly before the Lord! We can bring our requests, our questions, our hurts and our pains to hm and he will listen! Our prayers don’t fall on deaf ears! I myself struggle with this! I struggle with perfectionism so I tend to forget that I won’t always have control of a situation and that I don’t have to figure it out all on my own! It’s okay to not know what to do and we can express that to our Almighty, All-Knowing God!

Prayer doesn’t always have to be pretty or elegant. We can get on our knees like Hannah did and we can cry! We can pour our heart out to the Lord and share our hurt and confusion! It can be a jumbled mess and not make a whole lot of sense as we say it out loud! God knows our hearts and he wants us to share it with him!

Many times when I have a “messy” prayer and I’ve poured my heart out, that in the peace and stillness that I hear his still, small voice begin to minister to my heart. As he speaks I feel the relief and his comfort wrap around me as I listen. It’s in those moments that my eyes begin to open and he starts to reveal the steps to take and how to trust him to guide me through. That he can help me heal and have victory. To forsake my flesh and bitterness & choose to live in the Spirit with his grace and strength.

His grace is abundant and the anguish we face through struggles and trials is not permanent. The bitterness of soul can be healed if we allow him to have that place in our hearts in its place! Let us follow Hannah’s example and allow ourselves to be vulnerable with the Lord. He listens and he answers!