“Lord, if You give me a son,” Hannah prays, “he’ll be Yours.” No doubt Hannah had prayed countless times about her situation. But now her prayer would be answered. This doesn’t mean God didn’t hear her before, for every time she prayed she was heard (Psalm 34:17, 69:33, Proverbs 15:29, Jeremiah 33:3, John 9:31).

God can say “Yes” to our requests. He can say “No.” Or He can say “Wait.” If He says “No,” that’s just as much an answer as if He said “Yes.” If He says “Wait,” that’s okay because that is exactly what was happening to Hannah. Here, she prayed, “Lord give me a son, and I’ll give him to You.” And that’s what God was waiting for. Previously, she wanted a son to give to her husband. God, however, wanted a prophet to give to a nation. God had something much bigger and bolder, greater and grander in mind than Hannah did.

If you’ve prayed about your “barren” condition, if you’re weeping bitterly, that is okay. It might be that God is simply waiting to get you into harmony with His heart, which means He wants to do something larger than your prayer. This is really encouraging to me because I’ve discovered that my “unanswered” prayers grow larger for those people or situations I’m forced to bring before the Lord over a long period of time. And I’m reminded once again that prayer is not about getting God to do my will, but about getting me in line with what He wants to do in and through me.