Everyday Prayer with John Calvin (Day Three)

Meditation for the day taken from "Everyday Prayer with John Calvin" written by Donald McKim:

Scripture: 1 Sam. 1:9-18

The context of this text is one that finds Hannah, a godly woman who would receive a "double portion" from the LORD. The main character of the text is a woman whom the LORD loved. The narrative crisis describes this woman as barren, "The LORD had closed her womb." As a result of this weighty matter, Hannah turns to the Lord and prays. We read that she had been "pouring out her soul before the LORD." As she prayed, she is noticed by Eli, the priest. He notices that only her lips were moving, but he did not hear anything coming from her mouth.

McKim comments, "Calvin noted that sometimes the best prayers are silent -- inaudible to others and known only by the one who is silently praying and by God." Calvin wrote, "Even though the best prayers are sometimes unspoken, it often happens in practice that, when feelings of mind are aroused, unostentatiously the tongue breaks forth into speech, and the other members into gesture. From this obviously arose that uncertain murmur of Hannah's (1 Sam. 1:13), something similar to which all the saints continually experience when they burst forth into broken and fragmentary speech."

Perhaps you have experienced a burden as deep and troubling as Hannah's. Perhaps in those times, you find it difficult to express your heart and soul with actual words. Instead, you sit silently, praying, pleading, and pouring out your soul as broken as it may be to the God of heaven. The important thread that runs through this narrative and should characterize our prayer is the object of your prayers. God hears all of the prayers of his people, whether expressed audibly or silently. Here we learn to address our cares and prayers to the God of heaven alone who hears the cries of his children.

The book: https://www.heritagebooks.org/products/everyday-prayer-with-john-calvin-mckim.html