“Be persistent in prayer, and keep alert as you pray, giving thanks to God” (Colossians 4:2)
The story of Hannah and the birth of her long overdue son, Samuel, who would go on to grow into a great prophet, is also a story of a woman who persisted with a conviction buried in her heart. We also see in her someone who never gave up on a promise, even as the years went by.
The story unfolds when we find that as the “Lord had closed Hannah’s womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her. This went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the Lord, her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat” (I Samuel 1:6-7). Under these circumstances, she might easily have given up.
But Hannah persisted. She even went on to make “a vow, saying, “Lord Almighty, if you will only look on your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head” ( vv 11).
Hannah’s persistence would finally yield results, when one day, looking at her distraught state, “Eli answered, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him” ( vv 17).
Hannah went on, not only to thank the Lord, but indeed fulfill her promise to God by dedicating the son she had longed for to the work of the Lord. Sometime later, having given birth, she caught up with Eli, and startled him, by saying, “Pardon me, my lord. As surely as you live, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord. I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord” ( vv 26- 28).
From Hannah we see the importance of persisting with our prayer requests, against all odds. But also more, not just being thankful, but carrying on with the promises the Lord did put on our hearts, while passing through the tunnel.
Prayer today: Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, today I rise to thank you for all that you have done in my life, but also pray that I remain faithful to the promises you have put in my heart, this I pray in Jesus’ name.
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08/05/2024 - 09/05/2024 All day“Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15)
The culture of sharing gifts runs through scriptures and is at the heart of the Gospel. Upon realizing that Jesus Christ had been born the three wise main did not just go empty handed. “On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh” (Mathew 2:11).
When Jacob decided to return to his country, he went with gifts to soften the heart of his twin brother Esau, whom he had left maddened at him for various wrongs. “Then he selected these gifts from his possessions to present to his brother, Esau: 200 female goats, 20 male goats, 200 ewes, 20 rams, 30 female camels with their young, 40 cows, 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys, and 10 male donkeys” ( Genesis 32: 13-15). The reason was, Jacob thought, “I will try to appease him by sending gifts ahead of me. When I see him in person, perhaps he will be friendly to me.” So the gifts were sent on ahead, while Jacob himself spent that night in the camp” (vv 2—21).
Esau was already a wealthy man and had no need of the gifts presented. But Jacob pleaded with him. “Please take this gift I have brought you, for God has been very gracious to me. I have more than enough.” And because Jacob insisted, Esau finally accepted the gift” (Genesis 33: 11). This symbol of good touched Esau, brightened his heart, burying the old acrimonious relation.
Taking after these two instances believers should be in the habit of sharing gifts. We should visit each other not empty handed but like the wise men with gifts, not so much that those we are gifting are lacking, but as a way of blessing them. Proverbs 11:25-26, says, “Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.”
Most importantly we bless each other with gifts because we have received the most important gift there is in life, the gift of salvation. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
Prayer for today: Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, today I thank you for the most precious gift of all that you gave me of eternal life through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and so I pray that I may not hesitate to share this gift and bless those with as much whom you enable me to meet, this I pray in Jesus’ name.
