What do you do when it isn’t well with your soul — and you don’t know if it ever will be? In this episode of More Than a Song, we explore the desperate, honest prayer at the heart of MercyMe’s “Make It Well” — a song born from the hymn “It Is Well With My Soul” and featured in I Can Only Imagine 2. That famous hymn was written by Horatio Spafford after unimaginable loss. But the Spafford story doesn’t end where we usually stop telling it. And neither does the story of a woman in the Old Testament who prayed with the same kind of desperate, aching, year-after-year faith.
Her name was Hannah. And in 1 Samuel 1 and 2, she shows us what it looks like to keep returning to God when the silence feels deafening — and what it sounds like when suffering becomes worship.
Key Points
- Hannah’s suffering in 1 Samuel 1 is described with a Hebrew word used nowhere else in Scripture — a distinct category of pain God saw fit to name
- The word translated “provoke” or “irritate” is the same word used elsewhere for thunder, convulsion, and the roar of the sea — Peninnah wasn’t annoying Hannah; she was thundering against her
- Hannah’s barrenness wasn’t just personal heartbreak — it threatened her identity, her standing, and her security
- God thunders against His adversaries (1 Samuel 2:10) — the same word mirrors and reverses what Hannah endured
- Hannah’s prayer in chapter 2 begins with herself but quickly turns to the character, conduct, and concerns of God — suffering shaped her, but God superseded it
- The prayer of MercyMe’s song — make it well with my soul until I can sing it is well — is the honest, in-between place Hannah prayed from, and it’s available to you, too
Scriptures Referenced
- 1 Samuel 1:1–11, 27–28
- 1 Samuel 2:1–10
- Psalm 96:11
- Ezekiel 27:35
BITEs (Bible Interaction Tool Exercises)
- Slow down — give yourself time to be curious about what you’re reading
- Read out loud — it naturally forces you to slow down and notice more
- Use your imagination — remember that the people described in Scripture were real
- Stay curious — notice the words the author chose and ask questions of the text
- Do a word study — try BibleHub.com or Logos to dig into a word that stands out
- Start with God — notice what Hannah’s prayer in chapter 2 reveals about who God is before moving to what it means for you
There’s been thunder in Hannah’s life from the beginning. But somewhere between the weeping and the worship, God made it well with her soul — not because He rescued her on her timeline, but because she kept returning to Him with her whole, honest, desperate heart.
Enjoy the official lyric video below.
More Than a Song Playlist
Additional Resources
- Download the free Episode Guide – michellenezat.com/539download
- Lyrics — New Release Today
- Our Jerusalem by Bertha Spafford Vester (1950) — background on the Spafford family’s life in Jerusalem – Amazon Paid Link
- Episode 530 — the story behind “It Is Well With My Soul”
- 15 BITEs — free resource at michellenezat.com/453download
- Bible Interaction Roadmap Bible Study – videos and assignments that will equip you with habits you can use over and over in your own Bible Study – Learn More
- Learn more about my favorite Bible Study Software with a 30-day free trial and links to my favorite Bible resources – Logos Bible Software Affiliate Link
This Week’s Challenge
Read 1 Samuel 1 and 2 in full — slowly, and out loud if you can. Use your imagination to picture the people and the scene. Take the BITE of staying curious: notice the words the author chose, ask questions, and look up a word or two that stands out to you. Pay attention to how Hannah’s prayer in chapter 2 changes in character from her prayer in chapter 1, and ask yourself what changed inside her — and when. Use the Episode Guide to help you walk through it, and let Hannah’s story remind you that God is attentive to distinct suffering — and that His thunder is louder than anyone else’s.
📥 Download the free Episode Guide:
👉 michellenezat.com/539download
