Anna the Faithful Prophetess​

There are people in Scripture whose stories are told in just a few verses — and yet those few verses carry the weight of a lifetime of faithfulness. Anna the prophetess is one of those people.

Luke 2:36-38 tells us that Anna was a widow who had lived with her husband only seven years before he died. From that point on, she gave herself wholly to God — fasting, praying, and serving in the temple day and night. She was eighty-four years old when Mary and Joseph brought the infant Jesus to the temple, and the Bible says she never departed from that holy place. Eighty-four years old, and still watching, still praying, still expecting.

That is the kind of faith that takes your breath away.

When Jesus arrived, Anna recognized Him immediately. She didn’t hesitate. Decades of prayer had tuned her spirit to hear Heaven’s voice, and when the Messiah finally stood before her, she knew. She broke into praise and began speaking about Him to everyone around her who was waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. She had been given a prophetic gift, and even at eighty-four, she was still using it.