Hannah: An Epitome Of A Standing Faith

Hannah: An Epitome of a Standing Faith

Study Text: 1 Samuel 1: 1 - 20

Introduction:

- Hannah trusted God without doubt or concern, and her story teaches us that our faith in God allows Him to bless us.

- Her trust in God as she turned to Him, her deep desire for children and her faithfulness in bringing Samuel to God as promised are all evidences of God working in Hannah’s life.

- Every person experiences circumstances that cause grief. Many times, we simply don’t understand why the desire of our hearts is not met.

- But in the life of Hannah we see that God knows our hearts, that everything has a purpose and that trust in Him is never misplaced.

- As we look at Hannah: An Epitome of a Standing Faith, we shall be discussing under three subheadings:

1. The Problem and Mockery of Hannah

2. The Prayer and Motivation of Hannah

3. The Praise and Melody of Hannah

1. The Problem and Mockery of Hannah

- Hannah had come up to the house of the Lord. Year after year she was there with her husband, offering sacrifices to God, and suffering ridicule under the actions of Peninnah who was Elkanah’s other wife.

- How desperate of a situation this all was. Another woman who had all that she longed for. A husband who wanted to do the right thing, love, and take care of his wife, but had absolutely no control over giving her the child for which she so desperately longed.

- But the truth is, it wasn’t all up to them, it never was. Just as our situations, no matter how desperate and broken they seem, are not all up to us to solve.

- Sometimes we mistakenly think they are, or we feel like we must have done something terribly bad for God to do this to us.

- All that we need is to look up unto God and wait patiently for His visitation and intervention. In every situation His timing is perfect.

- A key verse in this story actually says that “the Lord had closed her womb.” That may seem cruel of God to do. Maybe we don’t understand the reasons behind His purposes, just as we can’t always fully see His plans in our troubles.

- But we can be assured that God definitely had a plan. He did then, and He does now. In every situation His timing is perfect.

- Samuel needed to be born at a crucial time in history. Not sooner. Not later. He needed for Hannah to be at a place where she was willing to allow Samuel to be brought up by Eli and be raised as a priest.

- God’s purposes were far greater than only granting Hannah her desire for a baby. He had a plan that needed Samuel at the right place, at the right time, all throughout his years.

2. The Prayer and Motivation of Hannah

- In her brokenness and pain, Hannah trusted God’s power and ability to work on her behalf. She choose to ignore the mockery and take her problem to the one who can help her.

- “And she made a vow, saying, “O Lord Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will even be used on his head.” (1 Samuel 1:11)

- She trusted that God was able to do this miracle for which she asked. She knew He was the only One who could hear her prayer and bring an answer to her longing. Hannah was a woman of great prayer.

- This was not just a nice, neat and little prayer, but was a holy moment, a heart-felt cry, with deep emotions of grief and anguish, pouring out her soul to the Lord.

- She wasn’t aware of anyone else’s presence around her. She didn’t care what she looked like, what anyone was thinking of her. She was humbled, broken, and knew the only way to find relief was in God alone. 1 Samuel 1:10-11

- Her weeping led to worship as her tears mingled with her prayers. The kind of prayer that arises from the bitterness of the soul is far different from the dry prayers that we sometimes utter. When tears are in our eyes, our prayer comes from the heart.

- The Lord Almighty has all the hosts of heaven ready to do His work. She is appealing to His power and authority, because she knows there is nothing she can do.

- There are certain things we can learn from the prayer of Hannah: