1 Samuel 2:1-10
Prayer is a response to the state of the world, locally or globally. Thanksgiving for good things; intercessions when things are not so good.
When you pray, what do you pray? What (or who) do you pray for?
Or/Also have you something you want to give thanks for? Do you wish the world would be different to what it is? What would you change?
What sort of changes do you wish for most? Situations that are out of any individual’s control, or closer, more personal ones? (There are no small prayers!)
Maybe you can think of many instances of all of these. A prayer for a family member, or a friend, or someone you have heard about… or yourself. Maybe a situation in the world that you’ve seen on the news or read about.
Or maybe it’s not a particular situation, but something more general, a prayer for a more peaceful, less selfish world. All these prayers are heard. No prayer is ignored.
Hannah’s prayer is a personal one, mostly, a prayer of thanks for what she’s received. She starts there. But from there she goes on to a wider view in which she sees God’s actions in changing the world; she sees it turned upside-down, and she’s thrilled by that.
We don’t always have something as special as Hannah had, to pray about. But the opportunity is always there. There are no set times.
What do you want to pray right now?
Paul Johnson
Thank you, Lord, for the gift of prayer.
Thank you that you can hear it, even if I don’t,
even if I don’t know I’m praying.
Amen.
