I Prayed for This Child

1 Samuel 1:27. Standing before the same priest who once mistook her prayer for drunkenness, Hannah says a plain thing. I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. Then she gives him back.

Hannah's story runs from bitterness of soul to a song of praise, but the hinge is this sentence. It is both testimony and accounting. She had asked. God had answered. And an answered prayer, for Hannah, was not a possession to guard but a gift to return. Samuel will grow up in the house of the Lord, and he will become the prophet who anoints kings.

There is a discipline here that is easy to skip. When God answers, say so, out loud, to someone who saw you ask. We are quick to bring requests and slow to report the results. Hannah closes the loop. She names the prayer, names the answer, and names the God who did it.

What have you asked for that has been given? Say it today. It may be the most honest worship you offer all week.