Tuesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
When we think of prayer, the first type many people think of is an intention; a prayer of longing or desire, in which we ask God for something. It wouldn’t take us long to consider others- prayers of thanksgiving, praise, adoration, sorrow, reconciliation, communion, and more. But a big component of popular faith is believing the almighty God can grant requests. For some, it’s the only time they pray on their own. We like to know that someone more powerful than us can do things for us. Sometimes it’s tied up in our worship and praise of God, as well as in our sorry and reconciliation. At times we may even feel guilty for an immature ‘Santa Claus’ interaction with God.
Hannah approaches God with one of the great prayers of humanity- a prayer for children. Fruitfulness in various forms is a fundamental human desire, but it was especially important to women of the ancient world that they have children. Hannah’s unmet desire for a child makes her very unhappy. She’s gloomy, and her prayer comes from an honest place of self-pity. But she also does something different. She dedicates the object of her desire to God. If God will grant her request, she will dedicate the child to God’s service. This looks different than the bargaining with God that we sometimes do: ‘Lord, if you answer my prayer, I’ll never do that other bad thing again,’ for example. Instead, this is Hannah elevating and placing her desire completely in God’s hands. After she makes this prayer to God, the reading says she is no longer gloomy. Elijah blessed her, but she hadn’t received Samuel yet, or even a promise he would be born. She dedicated her desire to God, and left it up to God whether it would be fulfilled. Her desire didn’t go away, but it no longer consumed her.
Do you have a great unmet desire in your life? What is or was the greatest desire of your life, met or unmet? A longing like this can turn into jealousy, greed, or depression… but it can also be an avenue to holiness. Our deepest and truest longing is often tied up with God’s call for our life. We have a holy purpose, and the Lord is our strongest and best help in fulfilling that purpose. Today, may we offer up (or rededicate) to the Lord our greatest and most holy longing, as Hannah did. May our plans merge with God’s plan. Amen.
-Chris Nieport