Here is a devotion to start your day!
Also available now at Power, Love & Miracles:
HIdden Heroes of the Bible: The Empty Tomb. Introduction
Joseph of Arimathea. The Bible Unplugged podcast, episode 71
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Hidden Hero: Anna in the Temple
A lifetime of worship condensed into a few verses
Scripture: Luke 2:36–38
Coming up at that very hour, she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of him to all those who were looking for redemption in Jerusalem.
Reflection
Anna’s story appears in only three verses, but behind those verses stands decades of devotion.
She is a prophetess, eighty-four years old, widowed for most of her life. Instead of letting loss harden her, she lets it drive her into the presence of God. Luke tells us she “didn’t depart from the temple, worshiping with fastings and petitions night and day.”
No spotlight. No fanfare. Just long obedience in the same direction.
Then, one ordinary day in the temple, Mary and Joseph walk in carrying the infant Jesus. Simeon has just spoken his blessing when Anna arrives. She recognizes what most people in the building miss: the Messiah has come.
Years of prayer have tuned her heart to God’s movements.
She begins to give thanks and speak about the child “to all those who were looking for redemption in Jerusalem.” A lifetime of hidden worship spills over into visible witness.
Anna’s story honors every season in your life when nothing seemed to be “happening.” Those long stretches when you kept showing up to church, kept whispering prayers, kept reading Scripture, kept serving quietly—those years are not wasted. They are forming you.
You may not see the fruit yet. You may feel like your faithfulness has faded into the background. But God is not counting your “impact” the way the world does. He remembers your tears, your intercessions, your quiet “still here, Lord” when you felt utterly alone.
One day, maybe in an unexpected moment, God brings across your path a person, a situation, a “child” He’s been forming. And you realize: all those years have prepared you to recognize His work and bear witness to it.
Unassuming heroes like Anna remind you that slow, steady faithfulness is heroic.
Centering Prayer
God of All My Years,
You see the long stretches of my life that feel quiet and unseen. Draw my heart into steady prayer and worship, even when nothing seems to change. Make me attentive to your coming in small, humble ways. Prepare me to recognize and rejoice when your redemption appears. – Amen
Practice for Today
Set aside a small, specific window of time to be with God—no multitasking, no agenda. Simply show up, as Anna did in the temple, and rest in His presence.
Journaling Prompt
Where do I feel like my long faithfulness has gone unnoticed or unrewarded? How might God be using this season to shape my ability to see Him?
Closing Blessing
Stand firm in your day rooted in long faithfulness.
Look for Christ’s presence in small, ordinary arrivals
as worship and prayer weave quietly through your routines.
Rejoice when you glimpse redemption and tell others what you see.
Pray as You Go
Breath in: Keep my heart steady...
Breathe out: ... help me see You
