HANNAH AND HER ANSWERED PRAYER
Hannah and the birth of her son Samuel (1 Samuel 1:1-20)
Hannah lived with her husband Elkanah in Ramah, they loved God and went to His church. Elkanah had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah, Peninnah had children but Hannah had no children. Elkanah loved Hannah, but the Lord had shut up her womb.
We find Hannah having real problems:
- she had no children and her womb was closed by the Lord (1Sam 1:5)
- she was provoked by her rival, Peninnah (1 Sam 1:6-8)
She prayed alone in church and her prayer was:
- with the bitterness of soul and weeping sore (1Sam 1:10)
- with offers of a solemn vow (1Sam 1:11)
- with persistence (1Sam 1:12)
- with her heart (1Sam 1:13)
- with all her soul (1Sam 1:15-16)
- with faith in God’s promise (1Sam 1:18)
Hannah was praying in the house of the Lord; here we can meet the men of God and the angels. God put so much value in His house because there things are happening. Hannah changed her timetable and went to church to pray when it wasn’t church service. While she was praying, Eli, the man of God saw her but he thought she was drunk because she was only moving her lips without voice. She answered Eli that she’s not drunk but she has poured out her soul before the Lord. Then Eli answered her (1Sam 1:17) “…Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou has asked of him”. (1Sam 1:18) “And she said, let thine handmaid find grace in thy sight. So the woman went her way and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad”.
It’s very important the presence of a leader. As I link with the story of Cornelius and Peter, I deduce the importance of a leader. Cornelius was an Italian, “a devout man and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God always” (Acts 10:2). God sent Peter to preach the Gospel to him and his family, (Acts 10:44-45) “While Peter yet spoke these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost”.
As Hannah obeyed Eli and she was no more sad, Cornelius obeyed Peter when he preached the Gospel; they submitted to the leaders and they had the blessing.
In 1Sam 1:19-20 we can see that God remembered Hannah and gave her a son, whom she named Samuel, saying “because I have asked him of the Lord”. Hannah received that for which she asked, but she had made a vow. (1Sam 1:11) “And she vowed a vow, and said, O Lord of hosts, if thou will indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but will give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head”.
Hannah submitted and dedicated Samuel to the Lord (1 Samuel 1:21-28)
Hannah planned to keep her promise (1Sam 1:22) “But Hannah went not up, for she said unto her husband, I will not go up until the child be weaned, and then I will bring him, that he may appear before the Lord, and there abide for ever”. She carried out what she promised (1Sam 1:24-25) “And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bullocks and one ephah of flour and a bottle of wine, and brought him unto the house of the Lord in Shiloh, and the child was young. And they slew a bullock and brought the child to Eli”. Hannah worshiped the Lord (1Sam 1:28).
As a conclusion, Hannah was a woman of faith who endured real problems, extended vibrant prayers, excelled at keeping promises and expressed her praise.
(Assignment for graduation at Upperview Theology Centre) Daniela, June 2010
