“As for Hannah, she was speaking in her heart, only her lips were moving, but her voice was not heard. So Eli thought she was drunk.” 1 Samuel 1:13
As the Book of 1st Samuel opens, we are introduced to Samuel’s Dad Elkanah. He has 2 wives, Hannah and Peninnah, (Peninnah has children and Hannah is barren) and how they went yearly to worship at the Tabernacle. It was not a happy home, as we are told Peninnah “would provoke her bitterly to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb”. This is the backdrop of Today’s Reading.
While at Shiloh on one occasion, we’re told “Hannah rose after eating and drinking” and “greatly distressed, prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly”. In Today’s Verse, we see what Eli saw, who rebuked her for being drunk. She quickly responded “Do not consider your maidservant as a worthless woman, for I have spoken until now out of my great concern and provocation!” Eli then replies “Go in peace; and may the God of Israel grant your petition that you have asked of Him”, which He does!
Have you experienced this kind of Prayer? Have you been so distraught, that all you can do is cry bitter tears before God? Though none of us would wish or desire the circumstances, it is this kind of posture that the Lord responds to when He answers prayer! “But to this one I will look, to him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.” May we become more like Hannah when we pray!