For the next five weeks we are in “ordinary time.” We start reading today from 1 Samuel and Mark’s gospel and will go through them chapter by chapter. Today’s passage tells the story of Hannah’s years-long prayer for a child. She remained long at prayer before the LORD. Friends of mine, Phyllis and Joe, prayed for many years for a child and, when a child wasn’t coming, they decided to adopt. Within one month of bring Alex home, Phyllis was pregnant and nine months later Mary Pat was born. I have heard variations of that story several times since then. The lesson might be a reminder that prayer is not our attempt to get God to do what we want or to change God’s mind. Prayer is about changing our mind so we will do what God wants. And what God wants is always for the best, even if it often is a surprise.
