“She prayed for a long time before Adonai; and as she did so, ‘Eli was watching her mouth. Hannah was speaking in her heart — her lips moved, but her voice could not be heard — so ‘Eli thought she was drunk.”-1 Samuel 1:12-13
Gotta question for you?
When was the last time you prayed?
If you’re like most people, you probably can’t even answer that question.
Because most folks don’t have a prayer habit and don’t take time to commune with the Lord on a regular basis.
Or what’s worse…
Even those who do pray do it in a haphazard manner…
Just quickly mouthing a few words before wolfing down their breakfast and rushing off to work.
If you wanna see an awesome example of what REAL prayer is like, check out what Hannah was doing in verses 12 and 13.
It says she was “praying before Adonai”...
Well actually in the original Hebrew it says she was praying before YAHWEH…
And that she was “speaking in her heart”.
In other words, she had totally surrendered herself to the Lord in mind, body and spirit as Yeshua told us we should do.
This phrase “praying BEFORE the Lord” in verse 12 is actually the first time we’re introduced to this expression.
And it’s actually different than “praying TO the Lord”.
“Praying to the Lord” means your prayers are being directed upwards to a God who is above and distant.
There is a sense of great separation implied.
On the other hand, “praying before the Lord” demonstrates intimacy and a oneness with God.
So deeply connected was Hannah to God at this moment that she was completely unaware of what was going on around her…
And even Eli the high priest assumed she was drunk…
Hannah had to defend herself by respectfully asking Eli to not view her as a “worthless woman”.
Actually the original Hebrew says BAT-BELIAL or a “daughter of Belial”.
This is another one of those ancient Hebrew idioms that can be translated in various ways.
I’ve seen it rendered as…
“Daughter of worthlessness”
“Destructive woman”
“Woman of immorality”.
I’d say any of those translations correctly captures the essence of what BAT-BELIAL means.
It’s the sort of woman who is completely evil and upon death will be KARAT (permanently cut off) from the Lord.
Fortunately, Hannah was NOT such a person and Eli realizes he has misjudged her.
After Hannah’s heartfelt prayers, Eli tells her “Go in peace. May the God of Israel grant what you have asked of him”.
The phrase “Go in peace” or “Go in SHALOM” was yet another one of those common Middle Eastern expressions that was often used.
Okay, so what’s the big takeaway I’m getting here?
I’d say it’s this.
When you’re struggling with some issue that’s breaking your heart…
Pour out your whole heart and soul to the Lord…
Let it all hang out…
Don’t hold nothing back!
We’re commanded to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, all of our soul and all of our mind.
I think one of the best ways to fulfill that command is to fully surrender ourselves to God in prayer…
Instead of trying to solve the disasters that strike in our lives on our own, let’s bring it all to the Lord in prayer.
He’s big enough to handle all our problems, our biggest crises, any catastrophe…
No matter how big or seemingly insolvable they may seem to be…
Ya feel me?
Over and out.
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