Then Hannah prayed and said, "My heart exults in the LORD; My horn is exalted in the LORD, My mouth speaks boldly against my enemies, Because I rejoice in Your salvation.
-1 Samuel 2:1
God sometimes answers our prayer later to answer them better.
Immediate gratification is the measure of authenticity in today’s “grab it and gobble it” culture. Sadly, that mentality has affected faith. If God doesn’t come through when we specify, and as we direct, many of us flit on to a self-devised solution.
In their desire for a son, Hannah and her husband, Elkanah prayed, spoke the right “faith formulas,” had hands laid upon them, went to the altar and did all else they could think of to get God to answer their prayer. Nothing happened.
There was nothing wrong with their request, but only with their timing. Had Samuel been born 15 years earlier, he would have been just another runny-nose kid. But God knew the precise moment when the child should appear to fulfill the ministry for which God brought him into the world.
When Hannah dedicated the child of her old age, she cried, “my heart exults!” Literally, she was saying, “my heart is jumping inside me!”
When your heart meets God’s heart in God’s timing for God’s purposes it will dance inside you.
TODAY’S HEART FOCUS
Is there a matter you’ve been praying about a long time on which you are tempted to give up? If the concern won’t let go, keep praying, and submit to God’s timing.