READ 1 Samuel 2
Hannah dedicates Samuel to the service of the Lord.

INSIGHT
We rarely give God sufficient thanks and praise for the things He does for us, and we
rarely give Him adequate worship for who He is and for His significant answers to
prayer. By contrast, notice Hannah’s song of thanksgiving. She prays earnestly for a
child, and when the Lord gives her one, she expresses her gratitude in full-blown poetic
praise. Her response is fitting for the gift.

PRAYER
Because the Lord is so merciful to us, we give Him heartfelt praise and thanksgiving with the psalmist:
Sing a new song to the Lord,  
For he has performed wonders;
His right hand and holy arm
Have won him victory.  
The Lord has made his victory known;
He has revealed his righteousness
In the sight of the nations.  
He has remembered his love
And faithfulness to the house of Israel;
All the ends of the earth
Have seen our God’s victory
(Psalm 98:1-3).

Pause for personal praise and thanksgiving. Pray this confession to the Lord as you seek to keep your life free from sin:
No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful.
Later on, however, it yields the peaceful fruit  
Of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.  
Therefore, strengthen your tired hands and weakened knees,  
And make straight paths for your feet,
So that what is lame may not be dislocated
But healed instead (Hebrews 12:11-13).

Confess any sins that the Holy Spirit brings to your mind. Now pause to pray this
affirmation to the Lord:
In the same way the Spirit also helps us in our weakness,
Because we do not know what to pray for as we should,
But the Spirit himself intercedes for us, with inexpressible groanings
(Romans 8:26).

As you make your requests known to the Lord, pray for:

• Greater thankfulness to the Lord
• Unsaved family members
• Your activities for the day

Offer this closing prayer to the Lord:
Better a day in your courts
Than a thousand anywhere else.
I would rather stand at the threshold
Of the house of my God
Than live in the tents of wicked people
(Psalm 84:10).