“Trust in [God] at all times, O people; Pour out your heart before Him.” 
– Psalm 62:8 

Do bitter circumstances drive you to the Lord or away from Him? Hannah was crushed, but she ran in the right direction. Today’s Additional Scripture reveals to us that her childlessness did not keep her from the Lord. This is the secret to the power of Hannah’s powerful prayer life. 

Unfortunately, one of the things we’re tempted to do when things fall apart is avoid God’s presence, when He’s the One we need the most. Yes, it’s hard to pray when your heart is breaking. But that’s precisely when you need to pray the most. 

But if you turn away from Him, where are you going to go for an answer?

But if you’ve never prayed with a broken heart or with a deep sense of your need, if you’ve never really poured out your heart before God, you haven’t really learned what the Bible means by prayer. See, you may be upset with God because nothing is happening. But if you turn away from Him, where are you going to go for an answer? Hannah had a problem only the Lord could fix, because He’s the one who allowed her to have this burden to bear in the first place. Prayer must be rooted in a complete understanding and acceptance of God’s sovereign Hand. 

Elkanah didn’t have any answer for Hannah. He couldn’t give her a child. All Hannah needed to remind her of the mess with Peninnah was having Peninnah’s kids running in and out of the house all day. Hannah couldn’t do a single thing about her situation except to pray. 

Hannah couldn’t do a single thing about her situation except to pray. 

And this was some prayer (1 Samuel 1:11)! We know how serious Hannah was about prayer because she made a vow to the Lord. She put it all on the line. This is not a “Now I lay me down to sleep” type of prayer. She promised to give her child back to God before she ever got pregnant. 

When you’re willing to make an exchange with God—which is what a vow is—when you’re willing to make a promise to God that He can hold you to, then you’re getting serious about prayer. Most of us only pray like this when we have to. We go weeks and months without getting serious about prayer because we don’t think we need God that much. When we hit the wall, it all changes. Hannah’s pain caused her to run to God. She ran toward the solution to her heart’s cry.

Check out more from Dr. Tony Evans @tonyevans.org