Thurssday, January
19, 2017
On the days
Elkanah presented his sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to Peninnah
and each of her children. And though he loved Hannah, he would give her
only one choice portion because the Lord had given her no
children. So Peninnah would taunt Hannah and make fun of her because the Lord had
kept her from having children. Year after year it was the same—Peninnah
would taunt Hannah as they went to the Tabernacle. Each time, Hannah would
be reduced to tears and would not even eat.
“Why are you crying, Hannah?” Elkanah would ask. “Why aren’t you eating? Why be downhearted just because you have no
children? You have me—isn’t that better
than having ten sons?” Once after a
sacrificial meal at Shiloh, Hannah got up and went to pray. Eli the priest was sitting at his customary
place beside the entrance of the Tabernacle. Hannah was in
deep anguish, crying bitterly as she prayed to the Lord. And she
made this vow: “O Lord of
Heaven’s Armies, if you will look upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give
me a son, then I will give him back to you. He will be yours for his entire lifetime, and
as a sign that he has been dedicated to the Lord, his hair will never be
cut.” As she was praying to the Lord,
Eli watched her. Seeing her lips moving but hearing no sound, he thought
she had been drinking. “Must you come here drunk?” he demanded. “Throw away your wine!” “Oh no, sir!” she replied. “I haven’t been drinking wine or anything
stronger. But I am very discouraged, and
I was pouring out my heart to the Lord. Don’t think I am a wicked
woman! For I have been praying out of
great anguish and sorrow.” “In that
case,” Eli said, “go in peace! May the
God of Israel grant the request you have asked of him.” “Oh, thank you, sir!” she exclaimed. Then she went back and began to eat again, and
she was no longer sad. The entire family
got up early the next morning and went to worship the Lord once more.
Then they returned home to Ramah. When Elkanah slept with Hannah, the Lord remembered
her plea, and in due time she gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, for she said, “I asked
the Lord for him.” 1 Samuel 1:4-20(NLT)
Year after year Hannah had to
endure humiliation, because her culture looked down on women who did not have
children. Hannah’s husband tried to
console her, but little could ease the pain of this woman whose womb ached to
hold a child of her own.
As a result of Hannah’s great
anguish she was driven to prayer. It
would have been tempting to give up even on prayer, because Hannah not only had
to endure the mocking of other women, but her intense praying was interpreted
as a substance abuse by the priest, Eli.
It’s bad enough to have the women rubbing salt in her wound of
barrenness, now even the preacher thought she came to church drunk.
If you’re like me you want to
hear the sound of heavy equipment getting ready to move the mountain you have just
asked God to take away. Hannah must have
felt some of that, but she would not give up on God’s way, and, in due time the fruit of her
prayer was named Samuel.
Now perseverance in prayer is
certainly one of the main lessons of Hannah’s story – that it’s important to
hang-in with God in your prayers. But we
must not forget how the ball gets backhanded into our court in the postscript
to God’s answering Hannah’s prayer:
She named him Samuel, for she said, “I asked the Lord for
him.” 1 Samuel 1:20(NLT)
The name Samuel means name of God or God has heard[ii]. Either way, for all his days, and the last
four thousand years, up to this present time, Hannah’s testimony of God’s answer
to her prayer rings in our ears every time this incredibly important prophet’s
name is spoken.
For You Today
We are
quick to pray when there’s an especially-urgent pressing circumstance in our lives. Are we just as diligent to name the answer as God’s answer?
NOTES
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