Beyond the Weekend: Parables
The stories Jesus told and what they mean for your life today.
Why did Jesus teach in stories? Because the deepest truths about God are often found in the ordinary moments of life.
In the parables, Jesus takes everyday things, a lost sheep, a dinner party, a farmer planting seeds and uses them to show us what God is really like and what it means to follow him.
This summer, we’re spending seven weeks in the parables from Luke’s gospel. Whether you’ve heard these stories a hundred times or this is your first time, you’re invited to come and hear them fresh.
June 27/28–August 8/9
Hannah’s Prayer of Lament
Read: 1 Samuel 1:1-20 | Listen: 1 Samuel 1
This year in Beyond the Weekend, journey through different biblical models of prayer—one each month. August’s focus is Lament: bringing our grief and struggle honestly to God.
In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly. 1 Samuel 1:10
Hannah pours out her heart to God. She is vulnerable and raw before him, desperately asking for a child. She could keep on with her life, mustering up the energy to pretend everything is fine, but instead, she takes a posture before God that expresses her heart’s truest longing. She is brokenhearted and longs for the Lord to bless her with a child. In her culture, childlessness isn’t only heartbreak—it carries shame, a silent accusation that something is wrong with her or that God has withheld his favor. So, in response, Hannah slips away to the temple to offer a prayer. Her prayer becomes a lament, the kind of raw, honest cry to God that fills entire chapters of the Psalms.
We may not sit in Hannah’s exact seat, but we know her ache. We carry our own version of desperate longing. Perhaps you face a marriage that feels lonely, a diagnosis that won’t go away, a child who’s wandered from faith, or a career that never took off. Like Hannah, we can feel the sharp sting of comparison when someone else seems to have what we want, whether it’s a friend’s growing family, a coworker’s promotion, or a sibling’s easier life. It’s tempting to mask our pain with a smile and push through. But Hannah shows us a better way. She brings her unmet longing directly to God, trusting that he can handle her grief and her hope.
TODAY: Ask God to reveal the places that need his healing, comfort, and presence. Bring this honestly before God, knowing he is with you through the deepest pains you face.
