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Text: 1 Samuel 1.9-18 | Lament

“How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me” (Psalm 13.1)? Because the silence of God can intensify our pain, it’s easy to wonder why a loving God allows us to suffer. But Hannah shows us what can come from intense, deep pain when we cry out to God—built-up pain can intensify our prayers, drawing us closer to him through our deepest longings.

Hannah reaches the brink of what she can endure and falls into the waiting arms of God through her prayer of lament. When God seems distant, it’s not that he left, but he’s allowing our pain to draw us closer to him on a deeper level of faith.

A heart of lament is a heart God can shape. Today, write your own prayer of lament to God concerning a painful situation you’re suffering through right now. Don’t be afraid to pour out your true feelings, but make sure to end with the hope you have in God. For help, read Psalm 13 and see how David pours out his lament to God and then glorifies him at the end.