Prayer Part 1

"And it happened that, as she continued praying before the Lord, that Eli watched her mouth. Now Hannah spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she was drunk." 1 Samuel 1:12-13

I love Hannah and her story of prayer. In 1 Samuel 1:13 did you catch that Hannah continued praying before the Lord? Little did she know that Eli was observing her and watching her lips move as she spoke privately to her God. Certainly Eli got the wrong idea. Assuming she was drunk on wine Eli scolded Hannah. Let me stop here and comment. I appreciate Hannah's example of praying hard and long. I am praying hard and long for a few things that I would like to see scratched off on my prayer list. I can't wait for that day! I am encouraged that an 11-year prayer request may be- just may be - getting scratched off soon! I still don't know how the answer will come but it is coming. I think of the four years I prayed for my husband to come to Christ. While Dave's salvation was still a prayer request I remember hearing a woman share that she was praying for over 47 years for her father-i- law's salvation! I thought "Please Lord, I could never pray that long"! You and I have often heard that prayers get answered in three ways- yes, no and wait. I like quick answers in the affirmative; I don't like the other two answers. But when the "no" and "wait" answers come they are teaching me valuable lessons. Do I trust God enough that if an answer is "no" that I am not owed an explanation? Do I trust that my good answer isn't God's best answer? If the answer is "wait" do I wait patiently, continue to pray and seek God? Do others see us filled with W-H-I-N-E when our lips move? Nothing but complaining that God didn't answer the way we wanted Him to. Or are we truly pouring out our hearts before the Lord and just being misunderstood?

What requests are on your prayer list today? Do others think you are crazy for still praying and holding out hope that an answer will come? May I encourage you to continue in your prayers even if others think you are nuts! It just may be your example in faithful, long, praying that others need to see. May I encourage you to know your God and to trust that His answers are on the way? Maybe it isn't about the answer as much as it is the work God wants to do in your heart today.

The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. James 5:16b

Blessings,
Kathy

Kathy's on staff at America's KESWICK in the Development Department. Kathy has been married to her husband Dave for 26 years. They have two adult children. Kathy is active in her local church and has previously served as a Teaching Director for Community Bible Study. Her passion is to encourage women to deepen their walk with Jesus Christ by finding and living out the truths of God's Word.

May is here and we will be hosting our 4th Annual Family Freedom Walk on Saturday, May 12th. YOU can help in two ways.


ONE. WALK - call guest services (732.350.1187) to obtain a walk package, solicit sponsors and come to the walk.

TWO. Sponsor Victory Call for the walk. We are having a friendly competition between the 2 groups of devotional readers (Freedom Fighters and Victory Call). Go to Family Freedom Walk Support . Be sure to designate your gift to FFW: VC

Our goal is to raise more funds by the Victory Call team than the men raise for the Freedom Fighter's team. Last year Victory Call subscribers raised $5,350.00 and Freedom Fighter’s subscribers raised $100.00. Victory Call WON, by ALOT! In reality, the Addiction Recovery ministries won because together we raised $43,136.00!!

Come join in the fun. Please?