3 Things To Remember While Waiting

~ Tayrina Gonzalez

I stumbled across the story of Hannah recently during my devotional time. I’ve read the story before, but that particular morning I saw it with fresh eyes.

You can find her prayer in 1 Samuel 1:10-11.  Here are 3 things I learned from Hannah about waiting.

3 things to remember while waiting

3 Things To Remember While Waiting

1. Don’t turn away from God.

Verse 10 tells us Hannah was experiencing “deep anguish” and she “wept bitterly.” But through all of her grief, she continued to pray. She never allowed her hurt or sense of loss and grief cause her to turn from God. She trusted Him and believed He would one day answer her prayer.

2. Be specific.

Verse 11 tells us Hannah was specific in her prayers. She prays “Oh Lord…give Your maidservant a male child.” She did not pray for just any child…she prayed for a son. Only a son could take care of her after her husband died.

James 4:2b states “You do not have because you do not ask God.” Even though God knows what we’re thinking and what we desire, we demonstrate faith when we specifically ask for what we need.

3. Be prepared for any response.

The last thing Hannah teaches us in this prayer is a little tough to hear. Even though she prayed, trusted God to hear her and was specific, she was prepared to hear a response other than yes. In verse 10, she starts her prayer with “Lord Almighty, if …”

IF

It’s such a small word, but it packs a major punch. “IF” was Hannah’s way of acknowledging that she trusted God regardless of the outcome.

We must remember that God is sovereign. We must trust His plan for our lives even IF we can’t understand what He’s doing.

Proverbs 13:12 tells us:

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.”

“When” is not on our timeline. “When” is up to the Lord. “When” might look different than we expect. But “when” we trust in God, His plan will be our tree of life.

Hold fast to Him and know that He is with you…regardless of the outcome.

If you would like to dig deeper into the ways God answers prayer, feel free to check out my article “The 3 Ways God Answers Prayer” for more information.

Until next time…be well…be encouraged.

Let’s meet our guest today:

Blog Signature

Visit Lisa at her Blog at www.lisayjones.com/blog

And follow along in social media: FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | TWITTER

Want to read more posts?  FOR THE WOMAN WHO PRAYS FOR A CHILD

HPINMNewHeader

I’m sharing this post with Salt & Light LinkUp Party, want to join us? CLICK HERE!

Published by Tayrina Gonzalez

Tayrina loves to read her bible, a good book and a enjoy a cup of coffee. She writes to you from Puerto Rico where the whole year is summer. She loves to inspire other women to deepen the word of God and to know that God has great purposes to fulfill in their lives. She shares in her blog what she likes to do also : study the word, get creative with her bible, read a lot and write about what she have learned in her life. She lives in Puerto Rico sorrounded by her family and enjoying her miracle, her 10 month boy.

24 thoughts on “3 Things To Remember While Waiting”

  1. This is so rich and well-written! I’m intrigued by Hannah because I had a dream about her before I knew who she was! So this upfront break down of some of her prayers are very meaningful, as if calling me to pray like Hannah! Thank you for this instructive and helpful post on waiting..I’ve been in a waiting period during a transitional time for quite a long time with little change, so this speaks to me!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  2. Trusting God no matter what the answer is has made a huge difference in my life. Praying specifically and then praying that if it’s not God’s will for Him to change my heart. It’s helped me to trust Him more. And to release control.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Heather! You nailed it. It’s so hard to release control, but ultimately that’s what He wants us to do. The heart change comes WHEN you release control.

      Like

      Reply

    1. Thank you Timberley! Sometimes it’s hard to rest in His timing. I sometimes have to put a little prayer on my mirror to remind me to rest in His timing.

      Like

      Reply

  7. I just read about Hannah (again) last week. And let me tell you, it stuck out to me, too. Not only her prayer, but how she was more than willing to give her son back to God… And was blessed many times over with more children because of it. Great post!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thanks, Cassie. She was such a woman of faith (and resolve). Her life was PACKED with character traits to follow. Such a great reminder to live for God and not the world.

      Liked by 3 people

      Reply

    1. So glad it blessed you! If you’re not already doing so, keep a journal of your journey of waiting. You’ll be surprised at all you learn later from this season. Thanks for the encouragement!

      Like

      Reply

  10. Wow! As a woman who struggles with patience, Hannah is an amazing example to follow. I love how you pointed out that she felt deep grief and pain, but she never allowed those emotions to cause her to sin against the Lord. Thank you for sharing this beautiful story.

    Like

    Reply

  11. “When” is not on our timeline. “When” is up to the Lord. That hurts so good. Patience is not my strong suit, but He is worth the wait.

    Like

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Google photo

You are commenting using your Google account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s