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.
We’re REFLECTING on the first few verses of a prayer-poem that Hannah sang to God from her grateful heart.
Read by Zoë
1 Samuel 2:1-2
Hannah prayed: ‘The Lord has filled my heart with joy; I feel very strong in the Lord. I can laugh at my enemies; I am glad because you have helped me!
There is no one holy like the Lord. There is no God but you; there is no Rock like our God.’
1 Samuel 2:1-2 (NCV)
Hannah’s life, which had once been marked by pain and sadness, was now marked by joy and worship. God took her sadness and turned it into something beautiful. Hannah’s prayers were probably a little like King David in Psalm 30: ‘You changed my sorrow into dancing. You took away my clothes of sadness, and clothed me in happiness.’
Let’s press pause and talk about today’s question, which is: When have we been so happy or excited about something that we felt like dancing?
Let’s think for a moment about the things we’ve just given thanks for.
Loving God, we join with Hannah and we praise You with all our hearts for all You have done in our lives. We ASK You to fill our hearts with joy and worship.
Hannah’s song reminds us that God is able to change people’s lives. As we close our eyes, let’s picture or imagine a place or a situation that we want God to change.
Heavenly Father, we also ASK You to bring new hope into our lives, into our communities, into our nation and even into our world. We want to see sadness turned into gladness in these places.
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 2:1-2
Hannah prayed: ‘The Lord has filled my heart with joy; I feel very strong in the Lord. I can laugh at my enemies; I am glad because you have helped me!
There is no one holy like the Lord. There is no God but you; there is no Rock like our God.’
1 Samuel 2:1-2 (NCV)
What word or phrase stood out from today’s Bible verses?
And now, let’s say YES to God together.
Lord God, we say YES to worshipping You. We give you praise and we worship You because you are always faithful to us.
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.
