The Birth of Samuel, Part 1

If you have your Bible turn me to 1st Samuel chapter 1, 1st Samuel chapter 1 as we embark on the study of the great Prophet Samuel and how it is that he was a man of great transition Samuel was the Or one of the greatest judges in the four hundred century or the four hundred years of four centuries that there were judges in the land of Israel and He was a lot like John the Baptist a prophet of transition. Not only was he a judge He was a prophet and he was able to transition to the period of the Kings as John the Baptist transitioned from the Old Testament to the New Testament from the law and the prophets of the Age of Grace and the gospel of the kingdom what God was doing so Samuel became a prophet of transition and he would usher in two kings the first and second king of Israel Samuel and David, I mean Saul and David And there's a reason why Saul is Israel's first king and David's not and we will explain that to you as we go and why Saul from the tribe of Benjamin was Israel's first king and David from the tribe of Judah was David was Israel's second king very important to understand that because Genesis 49 10 tells us that the scepter shall not depart from Judah until the one to whom it belongs arrives and so everybody knew that the Messiah was going to come through the line of Judah and yet From the tribe of Benjamin became Israel's first king and that's because Samuel was not really well received Israel demanded a king they wanted someone to Stand in their stead as the nations of the world Had someone lead them and so we will talk more about that as we go on But but Samuel as it was a great man He was a man who was steadfastly loyal to his God and he as we will see Is one of those individuals who stand strong for God in his kingdom?

he does not compromise and he comes against the king who does compromise and Confronts him and condemns him because of a sinful behavior So he's a man that we want to model our lives after but as we look at for Samuel You're gonna see as as we've seen in the past that the Old Testament narrative parallels today It's not like it was written so long ago that we really have a hard time understanding The of time and the events of what takes place for truly the Old Testament narrative parallels The 21st century because God's Word is living and active and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword What God's Word does is explain to us?

Exactly how unique it is that it hits Every person in every generation, so you're gonna see that tonight as we study God's Word together So let me read to you those first 23 verses and first Samuel chapter 1 as we embark on this study to set the Whole story in your mind and then we'll go back and we'll begin to to dissect it for you break it down and show you how practical This story is for you and me today So it begins in first same with chapter 1 verse number 1 now there was a certain man from Ramatheon Zophim from the hill country of Ephraim and his name was Elkanah the son of Jericho Jerome the son of Elihu the son of Tohu the son of Zuth and Ephraimite he had two wives the name of one was Hannah and the name of the other Panina and Panina had children, but Hannah had no children Now this man would go up from his city yearly to worship and a sacrifice to the Lord of hosts in Shiloh And the two sons of Eli Hophni and Phinehas were priests to the Lord there When they came that Elkanah sacrificed he would give portions to Panina his wife and to all her sons and her daughters But to Hannah He would give a double portion For he loved Hannah But the Lord had closed her womb Her rival however would provoke her bitterly to irritate her because the Lord had closed her womb It happened year after year as often as she went up to the house of the Lord.

She would provoke her So she wept and would not eat Then Elkanah her husband said to her Hannah, why do you weep and why do you not eat and why is your heart sad? Am I not better to you than ten sons? Of course not But we'll talk about that in a minute Then Hannah rose after eating and drinking in Shiloh now Eli the priest Was sitting on the seat by the doorpost of the temple of the Lord She greatly distressed prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly she made a vow and said Oh Lord of hosts if you will indeed look on the affliction of your maidservant and Remember me and not forget your maidservant, but we'll give your maidservant a son Then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life and a razor shall never come on his head But it came about as she continued praying before the Lord that Eli was watching her mouth as for Hannah She was speaking in her heart only her lips were moving, but her voice was not heard.

So Eli thought Eli thought she was drunk Then Eli said to her how long will you make yourself drunk put away your wine from you? But Hannah replied no my lord. I am a woman oppressed in spirit. I have drunk neither wine Nor strong drink, but I have poured out my soul before the Lord Do not consider your maidservant as a worthless woman for I have spoken until now out of my great concern and provocation Then Eli answered and said go in peace and made the God of Israel grant your petition that you have asked of him She said let your maidservant find favor in your sight So the woman went her way and ate and her face was no longer sad then they arose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord and returned again to their house in Ramah and Nelkenah had relations with Hannah his wife and the Lord remembered her Came about a due time after Hannah had conceived.

She gave birth to a son She named him Samuel Saying because I had asked him of the Lord Then the man Elkenah went up with all his household to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice and to pay his vow But Hannah did not go up For she said to her husband. I will not go up until the child is weaned Then I will bring him that he may appear before the Lord and stay there forever Elkenah her husband said to her do what seems best to you remain until you until you have weaned him Only may the Lord confirm his word so the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him Now when she had weaned him She took him up with her With a three-year-old bull and one ephah flower and a jug of wine and brought him to the house of the Lord in Shiloh Although the child was young And they slaughtered the bull Brought the boy to Eli She said oh my lord as your soul lives my lord I am the woman who stood here before beside you praying to the Lord for this boy I prayed and the Lord has given me my petition which I asked of him So I have also dedicated him to the Lord as long as he lives He is dedicated to the Lord and he worshiped the Lord there This narrative is filled with so many practical truths So many things that will help you and I come to grips with how God Works in each and every single one of us here tonight As I said earlier you're in for a great blessing as we begin to understand the first of all the context of the birth of Samuel and then the content of The prayer for Samuel It's important to realize that The context is crucial.

It's the period of the judges the period of the judges And we know that the Bible says in the book of Judges that every man did that which was right in his own eyes because that's how man lived Even some of the people who who wanted to live a righteous life tended to do things that they thought were right and So you need to realize that the context of this whole story is important because nationally as well as Personally there were major issues Nationally there were issues because of where the nation was morally and spiritually the nation had strayed from the Lord The nation was given over to Idolatry in fact in 1st Samuel chapter 7 when Samuel now is older and he takes Israel into war He tells them that they must forgo all of their idolatry in order to defeat the Philistines because idolatry was such a part of their lifestyle during the period of the judges Knowing top of that Indecency was was a part of what was happening in the priesthood Eli was the priest and his sons Hophni and Phinehas two names Which I have no idea why he named him that but if you name your son Hophni and Phinehas You're gonna have some problems.

I don't care who you are and so as you look at these two boys and how they committed immorality on the steps to To the to the to the tabernacle and to realize what was happening there It was a horrific time And so as it is and was then so what it is today Nationally, we live in a society that is morally and spiritually corrupt And so it was then things just don't change much But beyond that is is the the personal issues with Hannah Talked a little bit about this with you on Sunday.

She had physical issues She had marital issues relational issues emotional issues and mental issues Now, I don't know about you, but that probably affects everybody in the room to some degree But she had them all she had physical issues She was barren and the Bible says the Lord Made her barren the Lord Closed Her womb The the Bible is very clear.

The Bible is very specific the the Bible wants you to know that God was at work and that God Had caused the womb of Hannah to be closed So that she would experience supreme heartache So why would God do that? Because God had a plan God was at work was about getting Hannah to live her name which means graced and grace grows best in the winter in times of trials So Paul said in 2nd Corinthians chapter 12 that God's grace was sufficient for him Even though God never removed the thorn in his side Through his weakness.

He was made stronger because of the grace of God Well, God was gonna work in Hannah's life and Teach her about his grace the woman whose name means grace Was going to learn about the strength of God's grace in her life Now did she know that at the time not necessarily? But God was at work we can go back and read the story and see what's going on but but when you're in the middle of the trial when you're in the middle of a difficulty It's hard to see all that God's doing isn't it but God was at work And so not only Had God closed her womb which By virtue of that Israel looked at that as as a curse from God Because in the book of Deuteronomy Book of Deuteronomy the seventh chapter The Bible says this Deuteronomy 7 verse number 14.

God says you shall be blessed above all the peoples It's a promises of God given Israel if you obey my word You'll be blessed above all the peoples and there will be no male or female barren among you so they saw that giving birth to children being fruitful was a blessing but if you are barren It had to be a curse and that's how they looked at this And yet, it's very clear that God had closed her womb But in her mind she was disgraced among the people of Israel She had to face that every single day on top of that there was Just not that stigma that she faced physically because of her barrenness But there were issues In her marriage With her husband Elkanah He married two women Hannah evidently was the first one.

She could not have any children So Elkanah married Panina who by the way had a multitude of children she had sons and Daughters Now why that wasn't necessarily morally right it was Legally, right and they could do that. And so that's exactly what Elkanah did Because Jewish women wanted to produce sons Because the Messiah was going to come and maybe they would be the the mother of the Messiah No one knew who the mother the Messiah was going to be so that everything was about having sons But Hannah had no children but Panina She had all kinds of children And so with that comes that emotional stress comes that mental anguish Because when they would go up to worship in Shiloh The Bible tells us very clearly That Panina would irritate her would provoke her Now, I you know, can you imagine that?

the the bitter rivalry between the two women at home I Don't know how Elkanah handled that one. Not very good evidently, but how did he handle that? the the the the the the fact that Panina would would cause her to thunder by the way Panina's name means pearl and how a pearls develop but through irritation you get she became the irritant of of Hannah and She would irritate her tremendously And the Bible tells us that's exactly what she did and she would provoke Hannah she would cause her to be embarrassed and she would say all kinds of evil against her but Hannah never responded Hannah responded with grace Toward Panina Nowhere does it tell us that she would have this attitude Toward her that would be ungodly or say things toward her.

That would be ungodly. That's not the way Hannah was but the rivalry between the two was fierce was steep was strong So you can imagine What was happening in Hannah's life? Every single day as she heard the voices of children in her home, but they weren't her children sons and daughters playing one with another But they weren't her children that were playing And she was unable to have children simply because the Lord closed her womb There was nothing that she did and you would think that that that God would wouldn't do that You would think that why would God allow this this godly woman?

to suffer as she was suffering and allow the ungodly one Panina To continue to have children more and more and more It seems like God was blessing the wicked woman and not blessing the righteous Woman it would seem that way as you read the story and You know the psalmist in Psalm 37 Psalm 73 would would cry that particular argument out to God In fact over in in Psalm 37 these words are spoken Psalm 37 Says do not fret because of evildoers be not envy envious toward wrongdoers For they will wither quickly like the grass and fade like the green herb Trust in the Lord do good dwell on the land and cultivate faithfulness delight yourself in the Lord He will give you the desires of your heart now.

You can read the story of for Samuel 1 right here in Psalm 37 To light yourself in the Lord he will give you the desires of your heart Do not fret because of evildoers Panina was the evildoer Hannah was the one who learned to trust in the Lord Commit your way to the Lord trust also him. He will do it He will bring forth your righteousness as the light and your judgment as a new day Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way because the man who carries out wicked schemes That's Panina See some anger and forsake wrath do not fret It leads only to evildoing for evildoers will be cut off.

But those who wait for the Lord They will inherit the land yet a little while and the wicked man will be no more and you will look carefully for his place He will not be there But the humble will inherit the land and will delight themselves in abundant prosperity You can read the whole scenario for Samuel 1 in Psalm 37 the same with Psalm 73 same thing because we asked why do the wicked prosper? Why does the evil man seem to succeed but it's only because we have a temporal view of life Not an internal view of life And that's it what the psalmist actually said in Psalm 73 about the wicked prospering until he went To the sanctuary of the Lord till he went to the house of the Lord and then he was able to perceive What's happening with the evil man and understand?

What was God what God was going to do with the righteous man? He had to gain a right perspective He had to be in the word. He had to be under the word He had to know the law of God in order to have the right perspective Concerning how it is. God was going to deal with the righteous and the unrighteous And here you have two women same household in one is Emotionally and mentally distraught She is being provoked regularly But more so when they went to worship When they would go to Shiloh and to offer sacrifices the Lord it would be at that time at that time That she would Padena would provoke Hannah The worst now on top of that the text tells us that Elkanah would give a double portion to Hannah For the words Elkanah felt bad for Hannah And so he would give her a double portion Which in his doing would only provoke Padena all the more because the double portion was to be given to the firstborn son But Hannah had no children alone sons but Padena had sons and daughters and Yet Elkanah would give the double portion to Hannah Which would only make matters worse Have you ever tried as a as a husband to do the right thing only to realize that the right thing ended up being the wrong thing It happens all the time.

Does it right? Does it a fellas? We we try to do the right thing We try to say the right thing. We try to make it the best possible date We try to get the best possible gift. We try to make everything just right only to realize that when it's all said and done It didn't go over nearly as well as we thought it was gonna go over And her wife isn't necessarily pleased So he says to her. Why are you weeping? Why are you sad? Aren't I better to you than ten sons Well, the answer that's no If that was true, she wouldn't be weeping bitterly.

She wouldn't be as sad as she was But she was being distressed And it could have been like Jacob and prayed with his wife for 20 years for a son, but instead Praying with his wife about a son. He went out and married another woman so he could have sons So in his effort to do the right thing, he just kept Doing the wrong thing in his effort to say the right thing. He kept saying the wrong thing, you know, you know open mouth insert Foot and then change it up again. That's just what kept what happening with with with with Elkana He couldn't do anything, right?

It doesn't mean he was an unrighteous man. That wasn't me. He was an evil man I think he honestly tried to do the right thing for his wife. It just kept getting all messed up The things weren't working out. Well at all And here she was Experiencing great stress in her life Her marriage was nothing like she wanted it to be ever since her husband married someone else and Then that just added fuel to the fire Because Panina had all kinds of children. She had none On top of that Panina wasn't even a graceful woman.

She was a unkind woman and would provoke and irritate and in Cause there to be as the text says great thunder for the word irritate means to thunder great thunder in the in the family There was all kinds of turmoil there and Hannah was the one going through the trial So not only was this was there this problem Nationally because everybody was doing that which is right in their own eyes and idolatry and indecency ruled the land Inside that nation was a family and that family had This woman Hannah who was going through supreme Emotional and mental turmoil because of her marriage because of what had happened to her physically So what is she going to do?

How does she handle this? Because how she handles it is very important Because what does she do? She prays and through prayer Changes the course of an entire nation Now very important because I Talk to people all the time And you say hey, have you prayed about this? Oh, of course. I prayed about this. I pray about it all the time But nothing seems to be changing. Nothing seems to be happening. You know, there's a difference between saying prayers and praying But most people just say prayers Very few people pray Hannah prayed She didn't just offer up a prayer didn't just say a prayer she literally prayed I'm gonna talk to you about her prayer here in a moment to ask yourself this question.

Do I pray or Do I just utter words and say prayers? There's a big difference there You see the Bible says that God is our refuge a very present help in time of need Have you ever done a study on on God being your refuge your fortress?

your rock your protector Listen to what Psalm 46 says, you know the verses It says God is our refuge and strength a very present help in trouble Therefore we will not fear though the earth should change and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea Though its waters roar and foam though the mountains quake as swelling pride It goes on to say in verse 7. The Lord of hosts is with us The God of Jacob is our stronghold then again in verse 11. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our stronghold So someone should say The God is my my refuge my fortress my Very present help in time of trouble.

I wonder how many of us really truly believe that Do we truly? understand that Because you see this is where where Hannah was in first Samuel chapter 1 Who does she talk to?

Who does she go see Did someone would say well, maybe she needed to go see a counselor someone who could help her through all of her mental and emotional anguish How would that go for for Hannah she didn't go see a counselor She didn't go see her priest because Eli was was corrupt And he he would he would misread everything about her He thought she was drunk when she was really committed to the Lord in prayer that's how non-discerning Eli was He had two sons that were committing immorality with the women That served in the in the temple arena so She didn't go to a priest for counsel She didn't go to another woman for counsel.

Who is she going to go to I? Mean you'll notice that today that that women will go to other women and talk about their husbands You know, you know, my husband said this my husband did that my husband, you know When I'm married another woman and and now he's trying to console me and and a boy I wish he was more sensitive to my needs ever met women like that.

They talk about their husbands all the time Those are very dangerous women, by the way, be careful those women who always talk about their husbands freely to you another woman That's a very dangerous thing to do Hannah didn't do that Would not be very wise to do that Because the other woman really couldn't help you anyway Who can really help you? when you are physically and Meritally and emotionally and mentally in the pit of despair Only God can Nobody else can I Don't care who you talk to Unless they're able to direct you to the Word of God To cause you to move toward God and to elevate God in your life.

They really can't help you you need a very present help in time of trouble You need a refuge You need a fortress You need a rock And I'm gonna be the first to tell you that there is no other human being who can be all that for you Only God can and if you understand that you're gonna pray if you don't understand that you're gonna say some prayers to God Does that make sense?

If you understand that you're really gonna pray if you don't get that you're just gonna say some prayers to God offer them up Hopefully they make it. Hopefully You know, you don't know for sure. They're gonna make it or not. You hope they do but you just don't know But people who see God as their rock and fortress Look over in Psalm 11 in Psalm 11 psalmist says this though in the Lord I take Refuge in the Lord I take refuge the psalmist says Where do you take refuge with whom? Do you take refuge?

And then over in Psalm 18 Psalm 18 Says this I love you. Oh Lord my strength verse 1 I Love you. Oh Lord my strength The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer my God my rock and whom I take refuge my shield and the horn Of my salvation my stronghold Wow Can you imagine that God is all that and more? And he says I call upon the Lord who was worthy to be praised and I am saved from my enemies Only God who is my rock my fortress my refuge my stronghold can save me from my enemies Then over in Psalm 25 it says this I'm sorry Psalm 27 verse number 5 In the day of trouble he will Conceal me he will protect me In his tabernacle in the secret place of his tent.

He will hide me He will lift me up on a rock and now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me And I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy and I will sing Yes I will sing praises to the Lord Hear O Lord when I cry with my voice and be gracious to me and answer me when you said Seek my face. My heart said to you your face. Oh Lord. I shall seek Do not hide your face from me. Do not turn your servant away in anger. You have been my help Do not abandon me nor forsake me Oh God of my salvation For my mother for my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me up teach me your way O Lord and lead me in a level path because of my folks Wow Then over in Psalm 71, I mean this just keeps getting better and better and better Psalm 71 Psalm it says this in You Oh Lord, I have taken refuge Let me never be ashamed in your righteousness deliver me and rescue me incline your ear to me and save me Beat him to me a rock of habitation to which I may continually come you have given Commandment to save me for you are my rock and my fortress He says in verse 7.

I have become a marvel to many for you are my strong Refuge in other words because God listen because God was his Strength because God was his rock his refuges fortress. He was a marvel to everybody else There was something unique about him Because he knew how to trust he knew how to believe he knew where to go for trouble He knew what to do. He knew what to say He he knew that God was everything to him goes on to say in verse number 12 Oh God, do not be far from me. Oh God hasten to help me hasten to help me why because he knew that God was his Savior and Then of course over in Psalm 91 again a very familiar verse to us And it says these words he who dwells in the shelter of the most high will abide in the shadow of the Almighty I will say to the Lord my refuge and my fortress my God and whom I trust For it is he who delivers you from the snare of the trapper and for the deadly pestilence He will cover you with his pinions and under his wings.

You may seek refuge. His faithfulness is a shield and a bulwark and a rampart and a fortress That's the way God is and So a henna she would be the person who understood that in a time of trouble She needed a fortress Elkanah Not the fortress Elkanah not the shield Husband was not the guy Could he be the guy? Yes to some degree But not fully your husband can never fully be the guy only God can only God can and God has designed us to move toward him in times of need And the question is do you do that?

Do you do that So the context of the prayer the context of the birth Centers around a nation that was in turmoil Morally and spiritually Inside that nation there was a house a home of a man with two wives And one henna was in great distress. She was provoked. She was irritated Causing her to weep bitterly Knowing she could not have children Her relationship with her husband was not where it needed to be her relationship with panina would never be where it could be and So there was all kinds of turmoil So, what do you do?

How do you handle that? Where do you go? You have to go to only place you can and that's the Lord There's no other place to go And once you understand that you begin to pray and that's exactly What Hannah does? So let me show you the contents of her prayer, okay Because this is extremely important as we begin to understand what it is.

God is Doing this is how wise She is Usually when troubles Arise and they continue We stop praying We go and fix it mode We try to come up with solutions Or usually prayer is the last thing we do instead of the first thing we do you ever notice that Well, I guess we better pray.

We've exhausted everything else that we can think of. Well, I guess we better pray now instead of praying First and trusting God who is our refuge a very present help in trouble to deal with whatever it is We're going through but Hannah begins to pray And notice she prays Humbly Humbly look what it says says She verse 10 greatly distressed pray to the Lord and wept bitterly She made a vow and said O Lord of hosts If you will indeed look on the affliction of your maidservant and remember me and not forget your maidservant But will give your maidservant a son Then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life and a razor shall never come on his head Three times here two other times.

She calls herself a maid servant she is Explaining herself And her role of submission and service to her God She comes to him very helpfully she's a come arrogantly to God She's a come to God as if God needs to come through for her as If God better do something for her she comes in a very humble manner as A maidservant same thing that that Mary would say in Luke chapter 1 Remember when God had shown mercy and grace to the humble bond servant female servant of the king This was her attitude It wasn't like she Deserved better or she felt like she deserved better You say well, isn't this this kind of a selfish prayer?

Isn't she being selfish by asking God to give her a son Well Answer it this way she asked God for a son That she's going to give back to him and never see him again. I don't think it's very selfish at all She asked the Lord for a son But she's going to give the Lord the son back and He will serve the Lord forever she's going to dedicate him to the Lord and she will Probably never see him again after he's weaned at three years of age So I don't think that's a selfish prayer at all I Think she's humbly coming before the Lord and saying I I'm I'm I'm your maidservant.

I'm here to serve you Lord I'm here to honor you I'm here Submissively coming to you That's why the Bible says That if you humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, he will exalt you If you ever wonder why God hasn't exalted you Maybe because you haven't come humbly before him Humble yourself James 4 10 in the sight of the Lord.

He will Exalt you That's what the Lord God says And then the Bible also says in the book of 1st Peter those great words in 1st Peter chapter 5 When Peter says this He says humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in the proper time So God's gonna exalt you but he's gonna do it in the proper time Not in your time his time But you must humble yourself under the mighty hand of God a phrase used in the Old Testament to describe the discipline and How it is God works in the lives of his people every day and so Peter is saying You need to humble yourself under God's mighty hand his hand of discipline his hand of destination okay, because whatever God's doing he's doing and so here is Hannah not knowing why God closed her womb, but he did and so she comes to him and Humbly submits herself to the mighty hand of God's discipline process of its discipline Destination process and she's on a move someplace.

She she wants to do what God says So that he would exalt her in proper time in due time at the right time See God's never gonna exalt you before your time.

He would never do that to you only in his time And Peter says you need to humble yourself under God's mighty hand of destiny speaking that God providentially is working in your life and You need to accept what's happening and Humble yourself before him When you kick and scream Against what God's doing then you're not humbling yourself before him and then he says Casting all your anxiety on him because he cares for you You must cast the anxiety upon him because he truly does care for you He says in verse 10 After you've suffered for a little while The God of all grace who called you to his eternal glory in Christ will himself perfect confirm strengthen and establish you So God's gonna do After you've suffered for a little while.

Well, how long is a little while? I don't know. I can't do that for you God lives outside their own time So how long are you going to suffer for a little while? I don't know But I do know this God is going to establish you. He's going to perfect you. He's going to sustain you Because he's the God of all grace and his grace is that which is sufficient for you And this is what Hannah was doing She was humbly coming before her God that she might plead with him Ask him to do something great you see David said in Psalm 51 that a broken and contrite heart God never despises But God does despise an arrogant heart a prideful heart I'm afraid that most of us are saying prayers because we're so arrogant We're so self-absorbed We can't pray we can say a prayer, but we can't truly pray Because we don't humble ourselves before the Lord we don't bow our knee before the throne of God and and humbly come before him and Plead with him And this is what Hannah did So she came number one humbly before the Lord.

This is the contents of her prayer Number two, not only did she come and pray humbly she came and prayed earnestly earnestly She says as she wept bitterly made a vow Spoke in her heart verse number 13 poured out her soul verse number 15.

You see the passion there There's this great earnestness about her prayers There's this great sincerity behind all of her prayer so much so that she would pour her soul out to God Most of us don't spend enough time in prayer to pour anything out to God But she would pour her soul out to God. She would weep Bitterly before her God. She her soul was in anguish and So there's this great Earnestness behind her prayer this great sincerity this great passion behind her prayer Well, we can be passionate about certain things can't we we can be earnest about certain things But very few of us are truly passionate and earnest in our prayer life So much so that we pour our soul out to God So she comes she prays humbly before him.

She prays earnestly to him and she prays Persistently for the Bible says in verse 12 that she continued She continued it says it says It came about as she Continued praying before the Lord that Eli was watching her mouth move There was a persistency there so many times that that that steadfast endurance doesn't exist but it needs to And she would plead her case before God persistently You know, sometimes God doesn't always answer prayer immediately.

Have you noticed that sure you have You pray for something you expect him you expect to God answer right now He doesn't do that. Why because he wants you to learn to trust him He wants to see how persistent you are in your prayer life Are you the kind of person who prays for a day or two that stops? or for a week or three and then stops Or do you persistently pray the same thing over and over and over and over again? Because you want to see an unjust situation Made right and So you won't stop until God answers You see Hannah wasn't gonna stop She continued to pray there was persistence in her prayer Where'd she learn all this from how she learned to pray this way I think the story of Sarah and Hagar Would have been passed down to her.

Don't you think? Sure Abraham had taken a maidservant and Sarah wanted to take the will of God into her own hands because she was barren. She was buried for how long? 90 years 90 years. How long was Elizabeth barren the wife of Zacharias probably some 80 plus years, right? Not sure Hannah was that old yet But still she was barren and So Sarah would take things in their own hands tell Abraham you could go into a hand made Hagar conceive a child through her so Abraham Obliged her and did so and Hagar had Ishmael Which means God hears But the bitter rivalry between Sarah and Hagar Hagar had to leave and she left She cried out to God And not only did God see God heard And I'm sure that some ways down through the ages that was passed down the story of Abraham and Sarah and Hagar would be passed down so that Hannah would know that God sees that God hears That he was the refuge for her He would be the comforter to her her husband could not comfort her Husband did not have the right words to say to her Her husband didn't know what to do for her.

Like most men don't know what to do with her for their lives But God always knows what to do And Hannah would cry out to him And she would cry out humbly She would cry out earnestly Persistently and she would cry out Sacrificially and solemnly But the Bible says these words That she would make a promise of vow to the Lord of hosts This was a sacrifice.

This was a promise She would not just ask for an answer She was willing to give the answer away That's sacrifice. Oh, by the way, she prayed specifically That was another characteristic of her prayer Lord. I asked for a son not a child a son You can give me a daughter I'm asking for a son I want a son You know so many times our prayers are like tiny Tim's God bless us everyone Right and we want to go around and pray tiny Tim's prayers Asking God to bless our family and to bless our church and to bless the missionaries that we pray so generically That you know if God wasn't on mission, he'd be scratching said thinking.

Well, what do you want me to do? But he knows but we need to be specific She prayed specifically for a son because she knew that that would wipe away her disgrace and She knew that if God gave her a son she would give him back to the Lord and That son Would be the key to changing the course of a nation Wow one woman sold out to God one woman committed to God one woman who knew how to pray Revolutionized a nation but more importantly revolutionized her marriage her home Because she knew how to pray.

She didn't say prayers She actually prayed She prayed humbly persistently She prayed earnestly specifically Sacrificially and solemnly That's how she prayed. How do you pray? How do you pray Do you believe that God is your refuge your very present help in time of need Do you believe that he's your fortress that you could run to him and find a shield a protector? we of all people Need to be people of prayer and Hannah was and God did great things in her And I got a lot more to say but let me give this to you let me give to you the consequences of her prayer see the context of her prayer You see the contents of a prayer There are many consequences.

Let me give you three. Okay one is great Tranquility To great triumph in three great timing First of all, there is great tranquility that came upon her.

Look what it says. It says these words in verse 18 Let your maidservant find favor in your sight. So the woman went her way and ate her face was no longer Set Now remember in verse 18 God had not changed her Circumstances, what did God change her countenance? They didn't change her circumstances Not at all Eli said to her May the Lord made the Lord in verse number 17 grant you your petition that you've asked him And Eli was God's representative to the people And she had prayed She had prayed in a way that that She poured her heart out to the Lord And her whole countenance changed She wasn't pregnant yet She had not even had relations with Elkanah yet Didn't know she would But Everything about her life changed great tranquility great peace Why?

Great peace have those who love that law nothing causes them to stumble She trusted in the law of God the word of the Lord that came through Eli also Philippians 4 tells us that we are to be anxious for nothing but By prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving that I request we may know the God and the God of peace So guard your heart and mind right and that peace will be beyond all comprehension Here was a woman who? experienced great tranquility And with that tranquility she experienced great triumph over bitterness Over panini's panini's pettiness over any sinful thought that she might have She gained triumph over her adversary Because her heart was right before the Lord and There was great timing because God would give her a son at the right time Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord.

He would exalt you in the proper time Well, the great timing was that Samuel would be born why was she barren for so long? Because it had to be the right time in the period of the judges For there to come a judge that would be a prophet that would transition To the Kings and there had to be a certain individual to do that and Hannah would give birth to that child See God didn't want to give Rachel just any boy she wanted to give him he wanted to give her Joseph Sarah could just have a boy She had to have the promised seed Elizabeth couldn't just have any son She had to have the forerunner of the Messiah and Hannah couldn't just have another boy We had a lot of boys in Israel in those days and every man did that was right in his own eyes She had to have Samuel You see God had closed her womb because he would open her womb at the right time For the nation Because there was something bigger at stake listen carefully To the emotional and mental stress of Hannah's well-being and That was the course of a nation that had to be set aright And so God would spare Nothing to bring about his answer at the right time for this prophet judge to be born to change the course of a nation This is an incredible story Because I'd venture to say that there are many people in here tonight in our church That have marital issues That are beyond comprehension That you can't talk to another woman about another man about because they're they're so bad That have caused emotional and mental stress upon you that are horrific What do you do you do what Hannah did You don't just say a prayer you pray You drop to your knees you begin to pray humbly persistently steadfastly solemnly sacrificially Specifically and you do it with all your heart with all your strength with all your might Because God is your fortress.

God is your stronghold. He is your rock He is the only one you can trust He's the only one you can confide in he and he alone is what you need And God says look you've got to come to me You got to pour your heart out to me When you begin to do that, you're gonna see great things take place But you've got to come to me And Hannah did She did And the consequences were tremendous But there are so many Conclusions from this story.

There are so many things that we haven't even given begin to broach the subject of what takes place in Alcanna's life And how Hannah deals with this trial on a regular basis and for that We'll cover it next week because there's more here. You need to understand. Let me pray with you father.

We thank you for tonight Truly Lord, you're a great God and you alone are worthy of praise Hannah was a great woman of grace And Lord you bestowed grace upon her and you allowed great things to happen in her And Lord you put this story in Scripture to help us see the power of prayer And how we need to be people of prayer And our prayer tonight is that Lord for whoever's in this room who's going through difficulty? We know as a nation. It's horrific and we need to pray for our country we do But we also know that there are many homes even in our church That are really struggling There are many issues going on in people's lives They need a stronghold They need a fortress they need to submit themselves to the mighty hand of God and Pour their soul out to you and Wait for you to work.

You'll change their countenance You might not change your circumstance today didn't change Paul's circumstances But you'll change their countenance Because they will realize that God's grace is sufficient and that God's grace will take them through their time of turmoil And they'll come out the other side so much better than ever before You thank you in Jesus name. Amen