Has there been something you had yearned for for a long time? How did you go about acquiring it? How did you feel when you acquired it? Were you successful in acquiring it? If not, are you still yearning for it? Where will you turn now? Will you ask God for it?
There may be something we desire that we can’t seem to acquire. We may want it more than any other thing. We may seek it for years. It may appear on the horizon, almost within our grasp, only to disappear again. It can be both frustrating and depressing.
Hannah desired a child. She had been baren for years. He husband, Elkanah, loved her very much, even though she had never given him a child. Hannah brought her desires before the Lord. She poured out her soul, trusting God would carry out his will, and she would abide by it. God answered her prayer and gave her a son, Samuel.
There are two lessons we can all learn from Hannah. First, when we should bring our desires to God in prayer. We should make our request. If the answer is not what we want right away, we should continue to bring our desire to God. If it is something we desire strongly, we should pour our heart out to God.
Second, we should be willing to accept God’s will. If his will is that we are not to receive what we desire, we accept that God has his reasons for not granting it to us. This doesn’t mean we ask once or twice and give up. It does mean that if we have been asking for a long time, perhaps years as in Hannah’s case, we pour out our heart one last time and submit to God’s will.
Just as God had a plan for Hannah, he has a plan for us. God may be waiting for us to the point of being willing to accept him saying no before he grants our request. We need to submit to God’s will in all things. We must know that we rely on him for everything.
I pray we all present our requests to God. I pray we continue to ask God for what we desire. I pray each one of us will pour our heart to God and submit to his will for our lives. Ask God for your desires. Persist in your requests. Pour out your heart to God. Submit to his will.
1 Samuel 1:20 In due time Hannah conceived and bore a son. She named him Samuel, for she said, “I have asked him of the Lord.”
Marty Pressey 