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Joseph Charles Philpot Bevindelijke geschriften & prediking

365 Days with Philpot

August 25

Hanna’s gebed

Vandaag

2 min. read

For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of Him: therefore also I have lent him to the LORD; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the LORD.
1 Samuel 1:27-28

It is not the weak, ordinary, what I would call everyday prayers which move the compassion of the Lord and bring down an answer of mercy and peace. It is when the Spirit intercedes in the soul with groanings which cannot be uttered, and the soul treads in the footsteps of her great covenant Head, of Whom we read, “And being in an agony He prayed more earnestly” (Luke 22:44). When the soul cries to the Lord out of the depths of her perplexity, then the most high God inclines His ear and answers.

Was it not so with Hannah? As soon as she had “poured out her soul before the LORD” and had spoken to Him “out of the abundance of her complaint and grief,” the Lord—though Eli at first mistook her case—spoke a word from His lips to her soul. Thereby the tears vanished from her eyes and she could go home in peace. And when it appeared that her prayer was heard, and she came with the answer in her arms, her son Samuel, which means “heard of God,” and held him up before the Lord as the answer to her prayer, she broke forth into praise.

The Holy Spirit has recorded her song of triumph for our comfort and instruction. A part of this song of thanksgiving runs, “He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD’S, and He hath set the world upon them” (1 Sam. 2:8).

Reading: 1 Samuel 1:17-28

To the reader…

How weak and everyday your prayers may sometimes seem to you, so that you are ashamed even to call them prayers! Be honest with the Lord about that. But know too that He hears just that cry which rises from the depths of the soul’s perplexity, when the Spirit intercedes within you with groanings which cannot be uttered. In this the soul treads in the footsteps of her great covenant Head, Who being in an agony prayed more earnestly.

Then, like Hannah, pour out your soul before the Lord. Do not let yourself be held back when others mistake your case. One word from His lips can take the tears from your eyes and send you home in peace. And He Who raises up the poor out of the dust and lifts up the beggar from the dunghill can yet fill your mouth with praise, when you carry the answer to your prayer in your arms.

With warm regards,
The compilers of jcphilpot.nl