Praying and Stumbling

I hope that you have joined us in praying for revival for the last 40 days. I hope that you continue to go deeper in your prayer journey. This week during my devotions I read 1 Samuel 2:1-10. It is Hannah’s Prayer when she brought Samuel, the child she prayed for, to the temple to leave him in God’s service as she promised.

Some people refer to it as “The Magnificat of the Old Testament” because it is similar in theme to Mary’s Prayer in Luke 2 when she is told by the angel that she will bear Jesus. It’s a beautiful prayer, giving praise to God for the way He cares for his people.

Verse 4 caught my attention, “The bows of the warriors are broken, but those who stumbled are armed with strength.” This verse is one of many where God reverses the places of people – such as humbling the proud but lifting up the humble. In this case: the strong, the warriors have their weapons broken; but those who stumble are given strength.

May I be honest Friends? I often feel like the one who stumbles. I feel like I fail God far too often. It’s not that I commit some big sin, it’s little things. Did I waste too much time? Was I too busy to see an opportunity? Could I have been kinder to someone?

If you ask my loved ones, I’ve always been hard on myself. I suppose that’s part of it. But this verse was grace to me that when I feel like I’m stumbling through life, God gives me strength.

Todd asked me this morning if I was blogging about revival, or our theme of encounters. I hadn’t thought about it before, but I realized I was writing of my own encounter with God in the present. It was a reminder that when we pray, we need to pay attention to see what God is doing. We need to slow down and have the quiet moments to allow God to work in our hearts and through our lives.

I hope and pray this is happening for you as well. I know sometimes we feel like we can’t slow down. But sometimes I think that is a self-protective mode because we are afraid the work God wants to do may be painful. And it may, but we can trust Him that it is for our good.

Sometimes healing or growing feels like stumbling. But God will give us strength.

Grace & Peace,
Pastor Cindy