June 21

1 Samuel 1:1–18

Heart-speak

Hannah comes to Shiloh carrying a profound grief that no one seems to understand. She’s very isolated, and prays with such intensity that Eli sees her lips moving and misreads her pain as drunkenness. Hannah answers with clarity: she has been speaking from the depth of her grief before the God who hears. This is heart-speak, prayer that doesn’t perform for other people and may not make sense to those who only see the surface. Hannah teaches us that prayer can come from a hard and bitter place, from a mouth barely able to make sound. God can receive what others misread.

Questions for Worship Preparation:

• What prayer are you having trouble articulating?
• Where have you felt misunderstood while trying to survive your own grief?
• What would change if you trusted that God hears the prayer beneath the words?