For me, two women in scriptures stand out as models to human approach to prayer. Hannah, out of loyalty went with her husband and family to attend a gathering of God’s people year after year. For years, she returned home without answer to her open need and had to bear the humiliation meted out to her, then follow her mockers back to God’s presence the next year. The Persistent Woman knew who her enemy was and their altercation had gotten to the level of having a case in court. The case was presided over by a corrupt judge. She didn’t have the money to make the case go her way like the judge would have wanted, so she decided to make the judge hear her plea by going to ask him repeatedly.
We can learn a lot from both women. While their problems were different, their approaches were similar. Like many humans, both women had enemies and fortunately, they knew their enemies. Hannah had those who taunted her with her reproductive condition and the Persistent Widow was fighting her enemy in court.
These are the worst forms of antagonism — open mockery and known adversary. In mockery, your shortcoming is weaponized against you. For adversaries, you have to face it head on and fight to finish to stay alive or afloat.
Fortunately, you can do well with better knowledge. While your mockers taunt you and your adversary wants to secure a judgement against you, your strategy should be to first identify what the problem really is. Your mockers are not your problem. The real problem is your shortcomings. Your adversary in court is not your problem. What you should worry about is if the judgement goes against you.
Your strategy is to focus on the one who can give you the answer to your problem, rather than listen to those creating noise about your problems. This strategy is enforced by prayer — the approach to God with the knowledge that He has the ability to provide a permanent solution to your problem.
I love the way the prayers of Hannah and the Persistent Widow were depicted in scripture. Hannah was mistaken to be drunk and the Persistent Widow made praying to be referred to as troublesome, even to the one who has the power to provide a solution. Imagine approaching God in prayer so frequently that it is seen as troublesome. The states of being drunk and troublesome are not normal. They are attained by influence. In these cases, influenced by the need to get answers to requests.
Their prayers were not made with long rhetoric or pious stance. The desperate need for answers dictated their words, tone and manners of approach. These women are model approaches to prayer. They have shown that intensity of need should drive us in the place of prayer. By their example, we see that the length of words, stance, and opinion of others don’t matter in the place of prayer. What matters is simple: be articulate in your words, desperate in your heart, confident in the knowledge that your problem can be solved and never give up on your request.
Remember to press the like and follow buttons. You can also share the post with your friends.
I will see you again.
