A challenge can be the pressing issue that keeps you awake at night. Sometimes it’s the giant that sends frustration knocking at the door. There’s a goal that you want to accomplish, but a constant threat is lingering near. It leaves your heart heavy and you feel like a weight is crushing you on the inside. The tears are streaming down your cheeks, your face filling up as a flood of misery. The never ending cycle of the difficulty is on overflow and it seems like overcoming the challenge is a distant dream.Many people if not all are facing challenges in their lives today. If it’s not one thing, it’s another. There are challenges in the area of physical health, spiritual, relational, financial, and more. There are people who are being diagnosed with cancer and other illnesses. Many families have been broken through separation or divorce. Unemployment and pay cuts have affected many households around the world.The challenges today are nothing new; they go way back as far as Biblical times — people like Moses and Hannah both faced challenges. Moses had a speech challenge and thought God couldn’t use him because of it. Here in Exodus 4: 10 Moses says to God “Master, please, I don’t talk well. I’ve never been good with words, neither before nor after you spoke to me. I stutter and stammer.” Moses was basically saying I’m not good enough God, because of my speech. In Exodus 4: 11 God says to Moses, “And who do you think made the human mouth? And who makes some mute, some deaf, some sighted, some blind? Isn’t it I, God? So, get going. I’ll be right there with you — with your mouth! I’ll be right there to teach you what to say.” (The Message Bible) In spite of the challenge Moses had, God still had an assignment for him to do. God let Moses know that He would be with him and teach him what words to say.In our challenges we may think that God can’t use us or we should automatically give up, but if God has called us to do something, no matter how challenging it may seem, we should do what He is telling us. Whatever path God is taking us on, He will provide our every need and help us get through the challenges. God can use someone who has a speech challenge to be a powerful inspiring preacher. In people’s eyes they may see a man or woman who can’t speak properly, but in God’s eyes He sees an anointed man or woman of God. It doesn’t matter how others view us in our challenges, all that matters is how God sees us and that we are pleasing Him.Hannah desperately wanted to have a child, but Hannah not only had a challenge, she had someone rubbing her challenge in her face. Peninnah showed of her children to Hannah and tried to make her feel bad about her being barren. In 1 Samuel 1: 6 it says “But her rival wife taunted her cruelly, rubbing it in and never letting her forget that God had not given her children. (The Message Bible) Hannah knew what she wanted from God and she went in prayer asking for it. (Read 1 Sameul 1: 9-11) God heard Hannah’s prayer and granted her the desire of her heart. 1 Samuel 1: 20 says “Before the year was out, Hannah had conceived and given birth to a son. She named him Samuel, explaining, “I asked God for him.” (The Message Bible)Sometimes in life we desperately want or desire something, but we have a challenge in our way and it brings so much pain to us. There are times when we have a challenge and others try to throw it in our face and look down on us, like Peninnah did with Hannah. During these times we must seek God in prayer. God longs to hear from us and wants us to come to Him in the time of our pain. Hannah overcame her challenge by seeking God in prayer. Whatever you desire, go to God in prayer and if it’s His will for you, He will grant it to you.In order for us to overcome challenges, we should always turn to God first. We should turn to God in prayer, praise, and the reading of His word. We must seek God for His guidance and direction for our lives. When we turn to God not only in the difficult times, but in the good times as well it helps us to press on.