It Began with Silence
Hannah’s Prayer is one of the recorded prayers in the Bible, containing a song of praise with prophetic and messianic significance. Hannah’s prayer was a response to another prayer that she prayed during a more desperate moment. That prayer was one uttered in anguish and bitterness, and such prayers are often accompanied by raw emotion and inaudible words.
But God heard her, and her persistence even made an old blind priest bless her. Jesus later would share a parable about a persistent widow, in which the widow and the judge sound much like Hannah and Eli *.
Magnificat of the Old Testament
When Samuel was born, Hannah gave thanks to the one who answered her prayer, and a heart liberated from shame poured forth this prayer that not only acknowledged the holiness and sovereignty of God, but seemed to transcend time and space to foreshadow the coming of God’s Messiah.
Hannah’s prayer is echoed in Mary’s song of praise, known as the Magnificat. For this reason, Hannah’s prayer is sometimes called the Magnificat of the Old Testament. Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, also quoted Hannah when he prophetically called Jesus “a horn of salvation“.
1 Then Hannah prayed and said:
“My heart rejoices in the Lord;
in the Lord my horn[a] is lifted high.
My mouth boasts over my enemies,
for I delight in your deliverance.
2 “There is no one holy like the Lord;
there is no one besides you;
there is no Rock like our God.
3 “Do not keep talking so proudly
or let your mouth speak such arrogance,
for the Lord is a God who knows,
and by him deeds are weighed.
4 “The bows of the warriors are broken,
but those who stumbled are armed with strength.
5 Those who were full hire themselves out for food,
but those who were hungry are hungry no more.
She who was barren has borne seven children,
but she who has had many sons pines away.
6 “The Lord brings death and makes alive;
he brings down to the grave and raises up.
7 The Lord sends poverty and wealth;
he humbles and he exalts.
8 He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
he seats them with princes
and has them inherit a throne of honor.
“For the foundations of the earth are the Lord’s;
on them he has set the world.
9 He will guard the feet of his faithful servants,
but the wicked will be silenced in the place of darkness.
“It is not by strength that one prevails;
10 those who oppose the Lord will be broken.
The Most High will thunder from heaven;
the Lord will judge the ends of the earth.
“He will give strength to his king
and exalt the horn of his anointed.”
– 1 Samuel 2:1-10
Pray Humbly, Pray Boldly, Pray In The Spirit
Hannah’s prayer reminds us that when we pray, we should do so with humility for our God is the one who made us, and He knows all our secret deeds and motives. However, He is also a God who can empathise with our weaknesses, and is more than willing to save us, and liberate us from our shame. It is for our shame that He sent us His Son, Jesus Christ, to bear our sins and shame, so that we can inherit eternal life.
Our God is not just a God of fortune or success. He is a God that makes the barren give birth to multiple children. He is God who chooses the poor to inherit a throne, and He is a God who frees us from our prison, heals our sickness and raises the dead. He is a God of miracles and we should be mindful that when we pray, we should pray boldly!
But even when we have no words to express our feelings, and our hearts still aches from the burdens beyond our ability to carry, we should still pray, remembering that
26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.
27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
– Romans 8:26-28
*Thanks Gary for the insight
