Read: 1 Samuel 1:1–8 Listen: 1 Samuel 1

Because the Lord had closed Hannah’s womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her. This went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the Lord, her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat. 1 Samuel 1:6–7

God’s vision for marriage in Genesis 2:24 is a lifelong covenant between one man and one woman, yet by the time of 1 Samuel, that vision had long been compromised. In the ancient world, many men married multiple wives. Such is the case with a man named Elkanah and his two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Peninnah is able to have children, while Hannah remains unable to conceive. Peninnah uses that advantage as a weapon, mocking and taunting Hannah year after year. Hannah is full of grief—weeping so deeply she cannot eat. And layered on top of her personal anguish is the weight of cultural shame, since infertility in that world carries public humiliation. Her sorrow is raw and visible.

We likely know something of that weight in our own lives. Our circumstances may look different: the loss of a loved one, a shattering diagnosis, or a career suddenly gone, but the temptation to hide our pain rather than express it is universal among humans. Spiritual maturity, though, is not about composing ourselves before we approach God. It is about bringing our unfiltered grief to him, trusting that he can hold what we cannot. Hannah doesn’t clean herself up before she prays. We don’t have to either.

PRAYER DAY #8: Hannah doesn’t hide her grief or compose herself before coming to God—she brings it raw and unfiltered. Today, follow her example. Before you pray, take a moment to honestly name the pain or struggle you have been carrying. Don’t clean it up. Then bring it to God exactly as it is, trusting that he is big enough to hold what feels too heavy for you.