Hannah is an amazing woman. A woman of faith. A woman who knew her God. Through much anxiety and testing, the Lord blessed her with a son. We can see her view of God and her close walk with God in her response:
"My heart exults in the LORD; my strength is exalted in the LORD. My mouth derides my enemies because I rejoice in your salvation. There is none holy like the LORD; there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God. Talk no more so very proudly, for the LORD is a God of knowledge,and by him actions are weighed. The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble bind on strength. Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger. The barren has borne seven, but she who has many children is forlorn. The LORD kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up. The LORD makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and he exalts. He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with the princes and inherit a seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth are the LORD'S, and on them he has set the world. He will guard the feet of his faithful ones but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness, for not by might shall be cut off in darkness, for not by might shall a man prevail. The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; against them he will thunder in heaven. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth; he will give strength to his king and exalt the power of his anointed." -I Samuel 2:1-10
Hannah praises the Lord. She acknowledges that Salvation is above all. Her complete focus is on who God is and what he has done. What a response. Hannah doesn't put the focus on herself. Everything is about God.
God answers prayer. God may not answer our prayers exactly how we think he should answer them, but he does what is best, always. God answered Hannah's prayer in the way she desired and responded in praise.
When we cry out to God and he answers our prayers, what is your response?
We have two options.
1. Praise (Whether we like God's answer or not)
2. Selfishness and Pride
I love your point about how we have a choice in how we respond to answered prayer. And like any choice, we choose one or the other even if we try to "hedge" and not make any selection at all. How hard it is to praise God in the face of disappointment, but we are fortunate that we to do everything we told Him to do, we would soon find ourselves doing away with the middle man and simply elevating ourselves to divine status!
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