Hannah's Prayer

It’s a New Year! That’s exciting, right? Maybe you’re hoping to learn a new hobby, start working out more, or eat less junk food (I’m really trying, too). Either way, most of us have things we’re looking forward to this year. Or maybe… you’re a little nervous.

The unknowns can be scary, and that’s something I completely understand. Society, and especially social media, likes to show us how great life is supposed to look. Everything is filtered, picture-perfect, and polished. And if we’re struggling? Well, we’re taught to push those struggles way, way back and make sure no one sees them. After all, it’s a new year, we’re supposed to be striving for perfection.

But deep down, maybe you don’t feel so perfect.

Maybe you’ve been waiting for what feels like forever to get that job, or to find that person. Maybe you’re already at a job, but you feel stuck, and you tell yourself you should just be grateful you even have one. Maybe it’s finances, doctor’s appointments, or concern for a loved one. It could be anything that keeps you awake at night… and then gets hidden away when the sun comes up.

But that isn’t what God calls us to do.

Many of us know the story of Hannah. Hannah longed to be a mother, but Scripture tells us, “The Lord had shut up her womb.” All she wanted was a child, yet for reasons she couldn’t understand, God hadn’t allowed it, at least not yet.

Maybe you’ve been in Hannah’s place before. Wanting something so desperately, praying for it again and again, and still seeing no answer. That’s a hard place to be.

If you keep reading in 1 Samuel chapter 1, verses 9–18, things begin to shift. We see that Hannah had become bitter, and honestly, I can understand that. Our flesh reacts that way sometimes. We get angry, confused, or hurt because we don’t understand what God is doing in our lives.

But then we see the depth of Hannah’s prayer.

She prayed so honestly, so intensely, and so unashamedly that she was even mistaken for being drunk. Her lips moved, but no words came out. She poured out her soul before the Lord.

And that made me stop and ask: Do I pray like that?

Do we come to God with our truest selves, the broken self, the angry self, the confused self? Or do we bring Him the version of ourselves we present on social media, the polished, put-together, “everything’s fine” version?

For a long time, Hannah had been hiding, maybe even from herself. But in that moment, she stopped hiding from God. And in verse 18, we see the result: she ate, and her face was no longer sad.

Nothing had changed yet; her circumstances were the same. But she was different.

As we step into this new year, we can’t expect things to change if we never stop and truly examine our hearts. We can sit in self-pity, or we can go to the Lord and speak honestly about what’s really weighing us down.

And if someone notices you crying in that church pew after praying, don’t hide then either. It’s okay to say, “I’m just having a rough time.” They might stop and pray with you. You never know how God might use that moment.

We may not know the outcome of our circumstances. We will never be on the same timeline as God. But what we can do is stop striving to be picture-perfect and start bringing our true selves to Him.

This year, let’s give God everything, the good, the bad, and the ugly, and trust that He is faithful with it all.