Week: Prayer - Hannah
Each day we will simply pray (P.R.A.Y.) together.
P: PAUSING to be still.
R: REJOICING with a Memory Verse and REFLECTING on some verses from the Bible.
A: ASKING God to help us and others.
Y: saying YES to God’s ways.
We start by pausing and taking a deep breath:
In and out.
In and out.
We remember that God is here, and so together we prepare ourselves to be with God.
Pause
Father God, as we draw near to You, please draw near to us too. Teach us to pray. Speak, Lord, we’re listening.
We REJOICE and celebrate God’s goodness with this week’s memory verse:
Read by Zoë
Jeremiah 29:12
Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
Jeremiah 29:12 (NIV)
God, help us to remember Your Word.
Hannah prayed faithfully for a long, long time until the most incredible thing happened: God remembered her prayers, and Hannah gave birth to a baby boy and she named him Samuel. Today we’re REFLECTING on how Hannah kept the promise that she had made to God in prayer.
Read by Zoë
1 Samuel 1:26-28
[Hannah] said to Eli, ‘As surely as you live, sir, I am the same woman who stood near you praying to the Lord. I prayed for this child, and the Lord answered my prayer and gave him to me. Now I give him back to the Lord. He will belong to the Lord all his life.’ And he worshipped the Lord there.
1 Samuel 1:26-28 (NCV)
Hannah prayed and never lost hope, and when God answered her prayers, she did what she had promised – Hannah committed Samuel’s life to God. This meant Samuel would live in the House of the LORD, the temple, along with Eli the priest. Hannah dedicated Samuel to God as an act of worship, thanking God for answering her prayers.
Let’s press pause and talk about today’s question, which is: What have we asked for over and over again, until we finally got it?
God uses Bible stories like this to give us faith. Let’s ASK God to use Hannah’s story to give us faith and trust in Him.
Lord God, we ASK that You would give us faith. We want to trust in You and pray bold prayers, just like Hannah did.
Let’s think of someone in our church – maybe a whole family – who has moved to another country (or come to our country) to serve God in some way.
Thank You, Heavenly Father, for the servant hearts of these people who probably don’t see their wider families back home very often. We ASK You, Holy Spirit, to comfort and strengthen them. We also ASK for You to comfort and strengthen their families, who may miss them a lot.
As we read the Bible again, let’s listen for a word or a phrase that the Holy Spirit might want to say to us from today’s verses.
1 Samuel 1:26-28
[Hannah] said to Eli, ‘As surely as you live, sir, I am the same woman who stood near you praying to the Lord. I prayed for this child, and the Lord answered my prayer and gave him to me. Now I give him back to the Lord. He will belong to the Lord all his life.’ And he worshipped the Lord there.
1 Samuel 1:26-28 (NCV)
What word or phrase stood out from today’s Bible verses?
And now, let’s say YES to God together.
Loving God, we say YES to trusting in your incredible faithfulness. We say YES to giving our whole lives to you in worship.
After enjoying this time with God and each other, let’s say our memory verse together:
Jeremiah 29:12
Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
Jeremiah 29:12 (NIV)
Let’s put a hand on our heart.
Father God, fill us with Your love. Help us to love You, and everything that You’ve made.
Let’s point to our eyes.
Lord Jesus, help us to see You, and to see others the way that You see them too.
Let’s point to our ears.
Holy Spirit, help us to hear You, and give us courage to do what You say.
Chris lives in Melbourne, Australia with his wife and two boys. He works for 24-7 Prayer Australia and Red Church and is also a professional musician. When he’s not working or drumming Chris enjoys going on long hikes in the mountains with his boys and playing table tennis.
Zoë Thandeka (Thandi) lives in Guildford, in the UK, with her family. She loves football (her favourite football team is Liverpool FC), Top Gear and car-spotting. When she’s older, Zoë wants to be a photographer or work with animals in some way.
