Me From the Inside Out

Hannah: Asking for the Impossible

Day 1, Week 3 of Beautifully Surrendered, A Love God Greatly Study

Today’s Reading: 1 Samuel 1:1-2:11 (SOAP – 1:27-28)

I asked the Lord to give me this boy, and he has granted my request. 28 Now I am giving him to the Lord, and he will belong to the Lord his whole life.” And they worshiped the Lord there.   1 Samuel 1:27-28  NLT

My Observations:

Heart Resounding Similarities

Hannah’s story is near and dear to my heart, not just because of it’s beautiful example of prayer between a woman and her God but because I waited eight years for God to give me a child. In that eight years I experienced much of the heartache and distress that is described of Hannah. I battled bitterness of other’s pregnancies and anger with God for what He withheld. He won the battle though and in due time spoke words of encouragement and wisdom through my parents to not only trust in the Lord and His will and timing for my life but to learn to be content whether pregnant or not pregnant. The words were hurtful at first – I didn’t want to be content, I wanted to be pregnant. However, when I got home from that conversation those were the very words that drove me to my knees and moved me to “pour out my soul before the LORD” and cry out to Him from the depth of my pain and anguish. – Then the LORD called me to mind, and I became pregnant.

Hannah’s Prayer (1 Samuel 1:10-16

• The source of Hannah’s prayer was from her soul not strong drink

• The heart of Hannah’s prayer was her pain and anguish – driven by her desire for a child

• Lost in the strengths of her faith, unaware that she was observed, and certainly not drunk on wine – Hannah prayed

She prayed boldly and specifically

1. Poured out her suffering to the LORD
2. Keep me in mind”
3. Don’t “neglect Your servant”
4. “Give your servant a male child”

She made a vow

• “Then I will declare Him to the LORD all the days of His life
• “His hair will never be cut”

Prayer’s Effect

Don’t miss the effect Hannah’s prayer had on her. From being very distressed – talking to God and encouragement from Eli, the priest, she went away changed, not only inwardly but outwardly.

So the woman went her way and got something to eat. Her face no longer looked sad.

1 Samuel 1:18 NET

Then …

I love when the Bible says “Then …” because it always means God is about to reveal something. In this case it was all that transpired after Hannah’s prayer and conversation with Eli.

1. They worshiped the LORD and returned home
2. Elkanah was intimate with Hannah
3. “The LORD called her to mind”
4. Hannah became pregnant
5. She gave birth to a son
6. When he was weened she took him up to the LORD’S house
7. She shared with Eli God’s answer, her praise, and the response of her vow

Then …

Hannah’s prayers affected not only herself and her husband but don’t miss how even, at a very young age, they were already affecting Samuel – “THEN he,” [Samuel}, bowed down in worship to the LORD.” To see how her prayer affected many more through Samuel visit this link on the “Life of Samuel” from ‘GotQuestions.org’ – https://www.gotquestions.org/life-Samuel.html

How Then Do We Live?

If we learn anything from Hannah, let us learn that we can be real with God. She poured out her soul before Him, She didn’t try to hide her suffering, or deal with her pain and anguish on her own. She trusted God with her desire, not only in prayer but in life – giving back to God the very thing she asked for – that it [Samuel] might be used for His glory and not just her pleasure or fulfillment.

We can also learn to respond to God’s answers with praise – not kept to ourselves but revealed to others so that God’s goodness, His kindness, mercy, love, grace, power …. are displayed.

• What’s your take away?

Prayer Response

Father, thank You for Hannah’s prayer and the way You have used it in my own life. Thank You for the glimpses of Your hand in the tapestry of Your people – woven together in Your Word for us to glean from. Help us to not become embittered with the disappointments or desires of our lives but to give them to You, boldly and specifically, from the heart and to trust You with the answers. And Father help us always to give You the praise and honor due Your name that others may hear and see and know of Your goodness to “keep us in mind” and the powerful and lasting effects of Your answers.

– All To Your Glory

Me – from the inside-out

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