For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of him: Therefore also I have lent him to the LORD; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the LORD. And he worshipped the LORD there. 1 Samuel 1:27-28
I have often shared the story about how my wife and I prayed for our son. For many years, we wanted children but were unable to have children. So we began to pray about things, and soon, we found our hearts set on adopting. We had little understanding of just how God would provide.
At each step of the way, God had already been working to arrange things. We found the perfect little boy for us. When we started to look at how much money it would take, God was already providing. Family, friends, and so many others helped us as we worked to pay for the adoption and trip to China.
It was an answer to our prayers and the desires of our hearts. But after we adopted our son, I often thought back to these verses of Scripture. Hannah had a similar situation as she prayed for a child. But the words of the second verse are what really catch my attention. She says she “lent him to the LORD.”
The idea is that not only did God answer her prayer, but in return, she gave that answered prayer back to God. She wanted it to be used by God for His purpose. I can understand exactly what she meant! I want my son to learn about God, to be used by God, and be able to use this answer to prayer for God’s purpose and plan.
God answers many prayers for us all each day. But do we take those answered prayers and give them back to Him? You may think that the answered prayer is simple or small, but somewhere, someone is most likely in the same situation. Hearing your story and seeing your example can help them along the way.
Instead of just asking God to answer our prayers, we should allow Him to use those answered prayers for a greater cause. If you prayed for healing, share that story about God’s faithfulness to help others. If you prayed for forgiveness, tell others how quick God was to forgive. There are so many other examples. God can use our answered prayers for His purpose and plan if we will let Him!
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