One On One: 100 Days With Jesus--ADVENTSample

Anna: The Woman who Prayed 

Her name means “gracious” and as a pleasant coincidence, it happened to be true. Anna was old and wise and that doesn’t happen by accident. Old, you can’t help. Wise is another matter. The deep ones have seen their share of tragedy and lived to tell how in the end, God does all things well. 

Ask anyone who has walked with God for more than 30 years and they’ll tell you that godliness is a process, a series of choices. Nothing takes the place of long conversations with God. That’s what Anna had done, year after year. 

Anna was a young woman in 63 b.c. when Rome took over Jerusalem. This political crisis alone could have prompted her to the lifelong habit of fasting and praying in the temple, pleading with God for the long-promised Messiah who she envisioned to be Israel’s political savior. 

In her time, Anna had watched Herod’s great temple building project started and nearly completed. So, she planted herself there in the hub of Jewish faith at the center of the busiest spot in the city. As a widow, she relied on the faith community for her life. 

In return, Anna held babies, laughed with children, and prayed for families. She fostered no bitterness for what she lacked, only praise for how much she had, and prayers for what she hoped would come. 

And it did come. When she saw Simeon, tears streaming down his cheeks, lift the newborn baby in the temple’s filtered sunlight, she knew right away who He was. 

Imagine her holding out her arms to hold Jesus that day! 

What else could she say than “thanks be to God”? Though she had plenty to add later—telling everyone she met about this baby and the hope He brought to the entire world. Anna’s arms held the Messiah. 

She had traded youth for a miracle. 

Tomorrow: One on one with a madman