Part 7: Prayer When Life Is Unfair Series

Great Prayers of the Old Testament

Part 7: Prayer when Life Is Unfair

1 Samuel 1:1-20

Sermon by Rick Crandall

(Prepared October 29, 2024)

BACKGROUND:

*Please open your Bibles to 1 Samuel 1 to see a great prayer when life was unfair. Chuck Swindoll tells us that the events "in 1 Samuel took place over a period of about 110 years, stretching from the closing days of the judges, when the prophet Samuel was born through the anointing of young King David about a thousand years before the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ." Swindoll noted that the Book of 1 Samuel is so important because it records a critical period of Israel's history when God's people transformed from a loosely connected group of 12 tribes into a unified nation under the rule of a king. (1)

*The desperate wife praying in our Scripture today was a godly woman named Hannah. And she desperately wanted to be a mother. But life had been unfair to Hannah. That's why she was praying in these verses, and Hannah's story has some great lessons for us today. Let's begin by reading vs. 1-20.

MESSAGE:

*Not being able to have a baby when you want one is a terrible thing for a couple to go through, especially for the wife. We probably all know some people who have been there. And that's where Hannah was in this Scripture. But she was a good and godly woman. And Hannah's story gives us some great lessons for when life is unfair.

1. FIRST: WE MUST BEWARE OF THE BITTERNESS TRAP.

*We could wish that life was fair. But it simply is not fair. This is not Heaven, and Hannah was having a terrible time in vs. 1-10. First of all, she had a physical problem. Verse 2 tells us that Hannah had no children. And twice in today's Scripture, both in vs. 5 and in vs. 6, the Bible tells us that the LORD had closed her womb.

*Now there is no way that we can fully understand things like that, but we know that God has a good reason for everything He does. And perhaps there wouldn't have been a Samuel at the end of chapter 1, without the problem we see at the beginning of chapter 1.

*Hannah had a physical problem, but she also had a family problem. And the problem was the other wife, Peninnah. This other wife was a triple source of misery in Hannah's life. In vs. 4-5, Peninnah was envious of the double portion Elkanah gave to Hannah. Also in vs. 5, Peninnah was jealous of Elkanah's love for Hannah. And in vs. 6, Peninnah was proud of her own motherhood, so she rubbed Hannah's infertility in her face. Peninnah was mean and hateful to Hannah. Verse 6 tells us that Peninnah "provoked (Hannah) severely, to make her miserable, because the Lord had closed her womb."

*Peninnah was terribly cruel to Hannah, and it wasn't just a one-time thing. Verse 7 tells us, "So it was, year by year, when (Hannah) went up to the house of the Lord, that (Peninnah) provoked her; therefore she wept and did not eat."

*Hanna had a big problem in her family. Her husband Elkanah tried to help. In vs. 5, he loved her and gave her a double portion, but Elkanah's love wasn't enough to solve the problem.

*Hannah had a family problem, but on top of that, she was falsely accused of sin. This happened in vs. 10-16, as Hannah poured out her soul to God in silent prayer:

10. And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the LORD and wept in anguish.

11. Then 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 male child, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head.''

12. And it happened, as she continued praying before the LORD, that Eli watched her mouth.

13. Now Hannah spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she was drunk.

14. So Eli said to her, "How long will you be drunk? Put your wine away from you!''

15. And Hannah answered and said, "No, my lord, I am a woman of sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor intoxicating drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD.

16. Do not consider your maidservant a wicked woman, for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief I have spoken until now.''

*Hannah was pouring out her soul to God in silent prayer, but Eli the priest thought she was drunk. This part of the story reminds us that we must not be part of the problem. Of course, some people are just plain mean, like Peninnah in this story. And God forbid we should be like her: Proud and selfish, taking credit for the things that were hers only by the grace of God.