1Sa 1:1 Now there was a certain man of Ramathaimzophim, of mount Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephrathite:
1Sa 1:2 And he had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.
1Sa 1:3 And this man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the LORD of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the LORD, were there.
1Sa 1:4 And when the time was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions:
1Sa 1:5 But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion; for he loved Hannah: but the LORD had shut up her womb.
1Sa 1:6 And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the LORD had shut up her womb.
She is a woman wanting a baby, because that is what every woman wanted. She is very specific. She wants a baby boy to give to her husband. Hanna vowed a vow and said: “O LORD of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son...”
Look at what she is doing. She is totally putting herself in submission to God. She is recognizing that the thing that is on her heart is well beyond her power to rectify. She can’t remedy the situation. She can’t do a thing about it. Up to this point in the normal relations between her husband and herself, there has been on conception. There has been no baby.
he has now gone the way of some of his predecessors in Scripture and
taken unto himself a second wife who will raise up seed, but we find in chapter one he had a very special love for Hannah and yet she could not provide for him what he wanted and so he chose another wife and this woman had had babies and was now provoking Hannah
The second wife knew that her husband Elkanah loved the first wife Hannah better and so Hannah had the love, but the other lady had the babies. And so you had this bitter contest to the point where Hannah could take it no longer. And look at what she does. When she gets to the point of breaking and it is so serious, she makes a vow unto God.
She said, “I am afflicted. God, look upon me. I am your servant. And I want you to remember my affliction. And, God,” if I can read
between the lines here, “remember me. I feel like you have forgotten me.”
“Don’t forget me. But, God, in accordance with my specific prayer, give me a baby boy.” I love the fact that she is specific in her request.
Lord, as you give me the desire of this prayer, I am going to honor you by way of fulfilling my vow.” then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life.”
Now this is powerful, one of the things that will bring confidence
into your prayer life and enhance it in my own prayer life is when we know that our prayers are set for the glory of God. When it is clear in our
soul that we are not asking God to do something for us that will pull us away from him, that we are not asking the Lord to do something that will be spent selfishly upon ourselves as James said, “consumed upon our lusts.”
She is sensing that there is an unrighteousness at work in the home where this woman is provoking her. Hannah knows her own heart. What a powerful thing when you know your heart is right with the Lord and you are seeking to please him and yet the wicked and the ungodly around you are prospering while you are being denied and you are saying finally at this point, you are saying, “Lord, this isn't really about me. There is a
sense of unrighteousness here and I am thirsting and hungering for an upright situation.
God, if you will just make this right, I will release it back to you.”
She is in the tabernacle area. It is the time of the sacrifices and the Bible says that she continued praying before the Lord. Eli observed her mouth. Eli is the high priest. He is not the most outstanding minister. He
has got a lot of issues. He is watching her pray. The Bible says Hannah was speaking in her heart. And only her lips moved and yet her voice was not heard.
Typically prayers in that day were offered standing up and they were offered audibly. And a lot of the times in that day women didn’t really pray in public. So this was a very strange thing that Eli was witnessing, but I love the fact that Hannah wasn’t concerned about what the culture of the tabernacle, you know, rituals were. This is woman whose heart is bursting, strong with a desire that she can do nothing about and she doesn’t care what anybody thinks. And she is somewhere in solitude and quietness and she is moving her mouth as she prays to the extent that Eli looks at her and says, “Woman, did you come here drunk? Have you been drinking?
Here is a woman that is being denied. She is doing a righteous thing by
seeking God. She is misunderstood in the process of doing it. She is accused of doing something wicked and yet she doesn’t fly off the handle. She doesn’t turn any outward bitterness. She is not frustrated. She is not upset. something and she doesn't lash out. She simply says, “No, my Lord,” being very respectful to Eli. She says, “I am praying. I am asking God to give me a man child.”
And Eli hears that and he sees this woman’s heart and he says, “May it be unto you according to your prayer. God will give you this child.”
It is a powerful thing. Let me just add this very quickly. Sometimes when God doesn’t give you what you want when you want it, there is a risk of you becoming bitter, especially to other people who are casually receiving the very thing you are being denied. Unanswered prayer is fertile ground for envious hearts.
Make up your mind when you see other people blessed in ways that you are not blessed, you are going to rejoice for them.
In chapter one verses 20 and then 23 through 28 we see an undeniable affirmation. God answered and he was remembered, verse 20. It says:
“And in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, ‘I have asked for him from the LORD.’”
God often does not acquiesce to our schedule. And not only do we have to trust his nature, we have to trust his timing. And he is never late. I know that is hard
Now there is a lot of debate about what his name exactly means. It literally means I have been heard by God. From barren to praying to broken
hearted to being afflicted, feeling like she is forgotten and then all of the sudden conceiving and in a short time she knows that she is carrying the baby. And so for nine months she is rejoicing and thinking and protecting and nurturing. And when the child comes forth, what is her first thought? Her first thought is: God heard me. God was listening to me.
Well, Hannah rejoiced and she remained yielded. This is where the going gets very tough in my opinion. Verse 23, 24 and 25. The Bible says:
“So the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him. And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her...”
That is referring going back to the tabernacle, more than likely three years later. The weaning period at that time kids were usually three years old before they stopped breast feeding.
“...and she brought him to the house of the LORD at Shiloh. And the child was young.”9
Do you remember what the verse said? She vowed a vow. She said, “Give me that boy and I will give him back to you.”
Three years at her breast, three years teaching, three years teaching, three years training, three years of looking into that baby’s face, three years of those eyes looking into momma’s eyes, three years of bonding. And the time came when she had to turn that baby boy over to Eli and over to the service of the tabernacle. And she didn’t flinch.
She didn’t fall in love so much with the blessing that she forgot the one who gave it.
Can I ask you just to do a heart inventory? Have you released all the goodness that God has poured in your life? Have you released that back to him? I can think of a lot of material areas. Of course we see that all the time when we talk about money and possessions and serving the Lord, but, listen. He has given you time. He has given you physical ability. He has given you relationships. He has given you influence. He has given you money. He has given you life. I think one of the worst crimes that we might commit against God is taking all that he has given and saying, “Mine.” And we live for lesser things.
Hannah stands as a tremendous example of what it means to keep your commitment. And the child was young. At three years old momma takes
the little boy by the hand, walks him to the tabernacle about 15 miles
presents him to Eli as we are going to see here in a minute and
she knows she is going home without him. And I don’t know that there could be a harder test for any woman, any man than to turn over your precious child and say, “He is the Lord’s.” It is one thing to do it when they are 18. It is another thing to do it when they are three.
As Hannah rejoiced and remained yielded, we see that Eli the high priest listened and he fulfilled his role. They went up and they offered
appropriate offerings. It says they slaughtered the bull. They brought the child to Eli. That is the Jewish offerings and celebration during the time of the feasts and the sacrifices. And listen to Hannah. She uses a very reverent title for Eli when she calls him, “my lord,” little L.
“Oh, my lord, as you live, my lord, I am the woman. I am the woman who was standing here in your presence.”
“For this child I prayed. Here he is, Eli. And the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him.”
Listen. I am not reading, “Feel sorry for me, Eli. This is the worst day of my life.” AI am
reading praise. I am reading glory. I am reading great anthem of celebration. Though her
heart had to have been breaking in one sense as a mother, she is giving God the glory.
“I have lent him to the LORD. As long as he lives, he is lent to the LORD.” We have sacrificed and now I leave my son. Raise him in the service of the Lord.”
Samuel would ultimately become the spiritual leader of Israel. It was
It was Samuel who anointed David the king, Samuel who anointed Saul as
the king, Samuel who poured blood, sweat and tears into the life of Saul only to see Saul spurn it and then had to confront Saul.
you never know what God will do when you release something to him. And I am going to tell you. When you release what ever it is, the thing you think you can’t release, because I don’t know that Hannah had anything else that would have been more difficult to release to God, but she kept her vow.
I want to encourage you to start praying earnestly. God, show me what to release, because these times are tight and the whole climate around you. The American climate is causing people to fear and clutch and keep and horde and guard We are becoming more and more individualistic and we are becoming more and more paranoid and
Quit hording your time. No matter what, you lose time. Time is
never kept. It is either wasted or invested. So quit hording your time for you. Start investing it. Stop hording your money for you. Start investing it. You ought to give some here as a covenant member. What I am
telling you is invest in the kingdom, invest in people.
Hannah gave the most precious thing she had unto the Lord and you would think she would go home sad, but let’s just get to chapter two, an unashamed celebration. I love this.
The carnal view could be Hannah having this child and she is still living in the same home with the husband and the other lady and Hannah could have made it all about Hannah. Hannah could have thumbed her nose. Hannah could have mocked back.
Hannah could have danced in the presence of that other wife with this baby boy. She could have done that. She could have matched the carnality of the other woman with her own carnality. She didn’t do that.
What did Hannah do? She took what began as private prayer and became a received blessing and she didn’t make it about her. She turned it into public praise and she sang a song.
I want to look at it and I want to ask you how fresh is your praise.
this is a lady who just turned over the most precious thing she had
probably ever received in life. And she doesn’t go home kicking the stones feeling sorry for herself. This is what she says.
1Sa 2:1 And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the LORD, mine horn is exalted in the LORD: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in thy salvation.
Notice we don’t find her talking to the other woman, but we find her talking to God about the other woman.
“There is none holy like the LORD; there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God.”
What is the focus of Hannah? Not on the loss of Samuel, not on what could have been, not on if only I could, but now that she has gone. She just turned him over. She doesn't get him back. She sees him, makes him a little coat and that is a precious little sermon of itself, but she turns her son over and this is what she goes away singing.
“In the Lord, again, in the Lord, your salvation, holy like the Lord, none besides you, no rock like our God.”
That is faith. That is wisdom. That is selflessness.
Listen. You walk on this terrestrial ball long enough, you are going to experience some loss. And human flesh is so angled that if you are not proactively fighting it, your understanding and valuation of God, your praise of him, if you are not careful, your praise and your valuation of God’s worth is going to go down as you experience loss
because you are going to view God through your experience. If you don’t fight that, that is what is going to happen.
And the devil is in no hurry. If he can just chip away at that in your life, just chip away at it every now and then, a little loss in your improper
response, another little loss in your
improper response. Finally you will start living like a victim. You will start feeling betrayed by God. And over there unnoticed, but hissing his little laughter is going to be the enemy because he has helped you to forget the goodness of your God.
And Hannah she just starts off on stanza number one. It is all about you, Lord.
I mean, we don’t find a trace of regret in what she is saying.
Some of this is written a little bit sideways, but it is written to that lady in the house.
How do I know? Well, look at the words.
“Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.”14
Do you know what she is saying here? She is saying, “God saw the whole thing. God was superintending it. While you were running your mouth against me, my God was looking and waiting and working and God saw all the actions and God has vindicated
me.” she was down and now she is able to say, “My God has made it right.” I want to encourage some of you that are around people that provoke you, people that have no decorum, they have no love for you. They take pleasure in your discouragement, in your pain and defeat. And, unfortunately that is a reality. We live in a world like that.
I want to encourage you to start praising God with all of your might, because I am going to tell you something. But I do know it is going to be balanced out The record will be set straight. The scales will be balanced.
So you know what my recommendation is? Just leave it all to God. You don’t have time
for vengeance. You don’t have time for bitterness. You don’t have time to sit around and
stew in your own silly juices. You have got time to praise God and redeem the time and
make the most of the time and give him the glory and you can’t do that if you are
consumed with your enemy. And when God gives the victory, that is when you give him
the praise.
I am going to tell you something, I have done that a time or two where I am a fighter. I
had a friend encourage me before the service and say, “Jeff, God does great things when
your back is up against the wall and he wants you to be a warrior,” and was really
encouraging me. And I thought to myself, yeah, that is a great thing when I am walking
in the Spirit, but when I am walking in the flesh I am just like, “Look, son, let’s get it on.
Come on.” I mean, I don’t do it with my fist, but I do it verbally. Yeah, I am not big
enough to do it with my fist and get away with it. I used to be able to run faster than my
enemy. I can’t even do that anymore. But my point is this. I have learned to bite my
tongue. I have learned to take false accusations. I have learned to let the lies just be lies. I
have learned the hard way. It used to be so important to me that my name was set
straight. I used to fight for my own honor. I used to spend a lot of time defending myself.
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I used to run down a hint of a rumor against me. I am going find out who said it and find
out what they said, because I wanted to make sure that Jeff Lyle was right.
You get exhausted doing that as a pastor and eventually you have to give up. And I want
to tell you something. I am not gloating. I am just telling you how it works. I had to let
some things go for a couple of years and I don't take really any pleasure personally in
this, but I had an adversary that just about killed me. And there was nothing I could do.
Persuaded a lot of people that I was something other than I was and there was nothing I
could do, nothing. And I had to let it go and I lost my name in a lot of people’s eyes. I
lost my testimony. I lost friends. There was nothing I could do until God exposed my
enemy and left it undeniable that his character was not worthy to be trusted. I had to wait
for God to do that.
I am going to tell you something. Personally I don’t like the whole situation at all,
because somebody had to lose, but I am going to tell you. I could have made it worse.
And by God’s grace I didn’t.
Why am I telling you all that? Because some of you all are very close to that same
situation and you are just going to have to let it go. You are praying about it and you are
saying, “God, give me wisdom.”
Here it comes. Vengeance belongs unto the Lord. Let it go. Hannah did and then she
says:
“God is a God of knowledge and by him actions are weighed.”15
So notice her faith. It takes faith to leave your adversary to the Lord. I mean, can we be
pragmatic about this? Do you really think you are going to handle that adversary better
than the Lord will? Let me tell you what you might do. You will handle it more quickly,
because God is as patient with your enemy as he is with you and the longsuffering of God
is given to your enemies so that they will repent just like God gives you patience and
longsuffering and opportunity to repent. We are all about justice when it is the other guy
that needs it. We are all about mercy when it is us that needs it. I want to tell you
something. God loves your enemy just like he loves you. He may not approve of what
they are doing, but, brothers and sisters, let the mercy of God fall on those that oppose
you. That is what will change them.
And so Hannah, once God had vindicated her, she gave the praise to the Lord about it.
Notice her favor. And this is important. I am just about going to wind this thing up here,
but I want you to get this. Look in verses four through eight with me. Read this.
“The bows of the mighty are broken.”16
15 Ibid.
16 1 Samuel 2:4.
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Now that is a reference to her enemy. She said, “Those big mighty bows, they just got
snapped.”
“...but the feeble bind on strength.”17
That is a reference to her.
“Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread.”18
That is a reference, that is a metaphor depicting her enemy.
“... but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger.”19
That is what she is saying God has done for her. Remember how hungry she was for the
boy? Her hunger is satisfied.
“The barren has borne seven.”20
Now get this. This is powerful. She is talking about herself. How many children had she
had up to this point? One. Do you know what she is saying? She is saying, “That one
baby feels as if God has blessed me with a quiver full of them. She says:
“The barren has borne seven.”21
In case you are wondering, she had a total, I believe of six children, never seven, but she
is speaking of the completing of God there.
“... but she who has many children is forlorn.”22
What is being described there? Hannah took greater holy satisfaction in her one child
than her opponent had in all of her children and her opponent didn’t have the pleasure of
knowing that those kids were a blessing from God while Hannah did.
She says:
“...those who were hungry have ceased to hunger. The barren has borne seven...”23
She puts in a very dogmatic statement.
“The LORD kills and brings to life.”24
17 Ibid.
18 1 Samuel 2:5.
19 Ibid.
20 Ibid.
21 Ibid.
22 Ibid.
23 Ibid.
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We have already discussed that he is sovereign over life.
“...he brings down [to the grave] to Sheol and raises up. The LORD makes poor and
makes rich; he brings low and he exalts.”25
Do you get her theology? She has got some great theology. Some Baptists can’t even
come to terms with this. Look, he is sovereign.
Hey, let me just throw this out there. Some of you were never meant to be beautiful. I am
not being funny. I was never meant to be gorgeous. It is just not going to happen. Short
and pale and balding is not really going to make Forbes top list of great looking guys. It
just wasn’t my destiny. I will likely never be wealthy. Some of you will never be
wealthy, yet you are pursuing it because you have assumed that you are supposed to be
wealthy. Some of you were never meant to be wealthy. Some of you will be paycheck to
paycheck until you die and that is God’s will. Why? Because God makes rich and God
makes poor. And yet we assume that we are going to be in the rich crowd.
How do you know? How in the world do you know that? Be content with such things as
you have. And so the Bible is saying here that God determines the...
Listen. Go down to verse number seven.
“He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them
sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor.”26
What we are learning here is that God reserves the right to do a role reversal whenever he
wants to. That involves bring the crowd low and exalting the humble upward.
Hannah was favored. It is a word that, I think, has been abused in our modern times,
because it has been cheapened and the favor of God is seen in a lot of superficial ways,
but I want to tell you something. I want the favor of God on my life. As a matter of fact, I
can’t live without it.
Hannah endured the pitiful state of being that she was given by God when she was barren
and she just took her barrenness to God. And you must. You need to take your lowly
estate to the Lord. You need to bring it to him and if he has put that desire in your heart
for him to bring about a reversal and you know your heart is set that when your
barrenness becomes blessing you will do the same thing with your blessing as you did
with your barrenness. You will give it back to God. And that is the kind of confidence
you can have in your prayer. Why do you want to be favored? Why do you want to be
blessed? Why do you want to be exalted? Why do you want to be increased?
24 1 Samuel 2:6.
25 1 Samuel 2:6-7.
26 1 Samuel 2:8.
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You have tot think through these things. And the mindlessness with which we beg God
for blessings it is no wonder he doesn't just give them to us on first request. You know
why? Because if he gave you most of what you ask for the moment you asked for it, all
you would think of him... you would be the spoiled child. We are all familiar with spoiled
children and their only word they ever say to their parents is, “Give me.”
I have told you this before. I had a good friend and we used to say that to him. He always
had whatever we wanted. And we would say, “Give me, give me,” and he always said,
“Give me got shot.” That was his way of saying, “Shut up. Quiet. I am sick of your
begging.”
James tells us. He says, “You have not because you ask not and then sometimes you ask,
but you don't receive it because you ask amiss that you may consume it upon your own
lusts.”
And so we need to think through. Hannah, she had settled. She said, “God, you give me
what I am asking for and I am just going to give it right back to you.”
And so she was favored and then in verses nine and 10 where we will finish up, notice
her footing, because she has still got a life to live. This is just a season in her life. It
wasn’t the full extend of her life. She looks future and she says:
“He will guard the feet of his faithful ones.”27
Now you just stop there. That ought to encourage the fire out of you.
The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in
his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD
upholdeth him with his hand.28
I don’t know exactly where the path is going to go. I don’t have a clue some days. I know
where I am walking right now. I don’t know where God is going to take you. I don’t even
know where God is going to take me. But I know one thing. When I read my Bible and I
come across statements like this that he is going to guard the feet of his faithful ones, I
say, “Thank you, Lord, that I don’t have to know what you are going to do tomorrow. But
I do know that today and when I am walking tomorrow, you are going to guard my
faithful feet.”
As a matter of fact, let me take it a step further. He makes the feet to be faithful. Oh, I
have got some decisions and some obedience that I am accountable for, but I am going to
tell you something. I can’t even be faithful without him guarding my footsteps. And then
she says this.
“...the wicked shall be cut off in darkness.”29
27 1 Samuel 2:10.
28 Psalm 37:23-24.
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And listen to that last part right there, verse nine.
“For not by might shall a man prevail.”30
That just... wham, that slams right into the thinking of our culture, because everything in
your culture is training you to be stronger, to be more powerful, to be bigger, to be... you
know, you just... the idea of America is that we just inflate over time until we rise and we
expand and we are this big, impressive, powerful being that just happens to be the
opposite of what Scripture teaches concerning what the fulfilled life is. The fulfilled life
says that those who are brought low in humility and contrition are the ones who God
exalts.
We exalt ourselves, God says, “You do that and I am going to have to bring you down.”
Isn’t that amazing? Because everything tells you to exalt yourself, improve yourself,
better yourself, live for yourself. And God says, “No, don’t do that, because I will have to
bring you down in order for me to bless you.”
“...not by might will a man prevail.”31
Let me just sum this up. There are some things that you and I are praying about and
wanting in life. There are some things that we are becoming desperate for and I think that
there is an appropriate desperation that is necessary in your life and mine, but don’t think
that it is on you to make it happen. It is not your power. It never was. It never can be.
You have got to... and this is what can be so frustrating in our day, because we really
aren’t adept at living in God’s power. As a mater of fact, some people are confused by
the whole concept.
Well, what does that mean, Jeff? Does that mean I just sit around and do nothing and I
wait for the holy zap from heaven and all of the sudden I am in?
No. I believe this. I believe that it is an exchange. I believe that... and I don’t know what
begins it and I would assume God takes the initiative, but as you begin to live in his
power where you know you can, you start off loading your power and the more you
renounce of your own trust in self and the more you renounce of your own selfish fleshly
confidences, the more room there is, the more capacity you have for God to bring his
power into your life. And when I say bring it, I just don’t have the appropriate words to
describe the process. It is spiritual. And quite honestly it is supernatural. It is not
quantifiable. And if you have to explain it, it is probably more of you than you think. All
I know is this. When I humble myself and lower myself and empty myself, I find that I
am more filled. I find that I am more pleased. When I renounce my own wisdom I find
myself being made more wise. When I crucify my own appetites, I find a holier
29 1 Samuel 1:9.
30 Ibid.
31 Ibid.
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development of hunger in me. When I say not to the treasures of this world and their
desire to own me, I find that my life is enriched in ways I couldn’t understand. Why?
Because it is God.
Brothers and sisters, when that begins to happen in your life and mine shout it.
Let me give you five things and I am just going to read them and then we are going to
pray and then I am going to leave this with you. Five lessons learned from Hannah
tonight. The first one is this.
It is a good thing to make a vow unto God as long as you keep that vow. Get it out of
your mind that vows are bad. Breaking vows are bad. Vows unto God are good.
Second thing, some prayers are to remain private and only made public knowledge when
they are answered by God. Can you please keep some things just special between you and
God? Just do that. There are just some things that I believe God wants just between you
and him. I am the world’s worst at keeping a secret. I will tell my wife, “Here is what we
are going to do at the church. Now don’t tell anybody, because this is going to be big.”
And the next week in the pulpit I just blurt it out. She always teases me about that, but
listen. There is just some things that are just supposed to be you and God. When he gives
the answer, tell everybody. Keep the petition private, not everything, but some things.
Keep the petition private, but the praise public.
The third thing. When God blesses you with receiving the answer to your prayers,
immediately, as soon as you know he has given it, in your heart and your mind
immediately release it back to him. That doesn’t even necessarily mean that you lose it.
It just means you are willing to because the experience of him hearing and answering was
really the prize, not the actual thing. That is relationship.
So when Hannah got Samuel she never thought she would keep Samuel, but she loved
him.
By the way, this teaches you to love the God of the blessing more than the blessing from
God and that is important in your life and mine.
Fourth thing, God determines the final positions in life. Do you remember what he did?
He said the high will be brought low. The low will be brought high. Those who are down
and out today may be up and in tomorrow. Never envy the wicked. Never rejoice in the
misery of others, even your enemy. Roles can be reversed in a day. There ought to be
nothing in your heart and mine that gloats when your adversary is made low. It ought to
humble us. We can be grateful to God for his righteous balancing of the scales. But that
is not about you. That is about him. And so let’s be wise and remember that he
determines the final positions in life.
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And, by the way, yours isn’t determined yet. Your spiritual standing is determined, but I
am saying where you are today may not be where you are tomorrow. So be wise.
And then the last thing, give God the public glory when he grants you the answer to your
prayer. Make it known to many that God has given you your desire. Tell as many as
possible. Write down the details to preserve the moment. Tell your children and your
grandchildren often. Pass the heritage down. Take them through the process. They may
not appreciate it at age eight, nine or 14. Tell them anyway. Tell them this is what God
did. I promise you they may not rejoice in it like you do, but they will not forget it when
you are gone.
Leave your faith deeply imprinted upon your children.
Can you bow your head with me this evening?
