WOMEN OF FAITH
I SAMUEL 1: 1-20
MOTHERS DAY MAY 13, 2001
INTRODUCTION: E-mail: what men know about women: list of one through 10 with all ten lines blank! Erma Bombeck writes: For the first 4 or 5 years after I had children, I considered motherhood a temporary condition – not a calling. It was a time of my life set aside for exhaustion and long hours. It would pass. Then one afternoon, with 3 kids in tow, I came out of a supermarket pushing a cart (with four wheels that went in opposite directions) when my toddler son got away from me. Just outside the door, he ran toward a machine holding bubble hum in a glass dome. In a voice that shattered glass he shouted, “Gimme! Gimme!” I told him I would give him what for if he didn’t stop shouting and get in the car. As I physically tried to pry his body form around the bubble gum machine, he pulled the entire thing over. Glass and balls of bubble gum went all over the parking lot. We had now attracted a sizable crowd. I told him he would never see a cartoon as long as he lived, and if he didn’t control his temper, he was going to be making license plates for the state. He tried to stifle his sobs as he looked around at the staring crowd. Then he did something that I was to remember for the rest of my life. In his helpless quest for comfort, he turned to the only one he trusted his emotions with – me. He threw his arms around my knees and held on for dear life. I had humiliated him, chastised him, and berated him, but I was still all he had. That single incident defined my role. I was a major force in this child’s life. Sometimes we forget how important stability is to a child. I’ve always told mine, “the easiest part of being a mother is giving birth… the hardest part is showing up for it each day…” Mother’s day is traditionally the day when children give something back to their mothers for all the spit they produce to wash dirty faces, all the old gum they held in their hands, all the noses they wipe, and all the bloody knees they “made well” with a kiss. This is the day mothers are rewarded for washing all those sheets in the middle of the night, driving kids to school when they missed the bus, and enduring all the football games in the rain. It’s appreciation day for making your children finish something they said they couldn’t do, not believing them when they said, “I hate you,” and sharing their good times and their bad times. Their cards probably won’t reflect it, but what they are trying to say is, “Thank you for showing up.”
TRANSITION THOUGHT: Our text for this day tells the story of a real woman with real issue who faces them with real faith. She discovers that there is a real God who really cares about those who seek Him out with “Great Faith.” This text is a challenge to men and women alike to seek God when times are tough rather than run after worldly solutions. Hannah teaches us about a real faith as she proves to be a woman of faith.
THESIS SENTENCE: God honors the prayers of women of faith!
I. WOMEN OF FAITH HAVE REAL PROBLEMS/ISSUES (VV. 1-8)
A. Hannah was a real woman!
1. As we read the story of the scripture, often, because of lack of searching on our part, we feel that the heroes of the faith were people unlike us.
2. Often, we might say to ourselves, they don’t live in our day, they didn’t struggle with our struggles.
3. Surely life was easier back then!
4. BUT, as we carefully study scripture, LIKE IN SUNDAY SCHOOL (RAISE YOUR HAND IF YOU ATTEND SUNDAY SCHOOL!), you will notice that the people of the book had every bit as much struggle, and could I say more, than we do today. We might know more today, but then again, I doubt it!
B. Real women have real problems!
1. Hannah had some serious issues!
2. She shared a husband with a quarrelsome woman.
3. In verse 6, this woman, Peninah is called her “RIVAL.” This is not a pleasant term!!
4. This same verse states that her “Rival” also “Provoked” her!
5. What was the issue of this provocation: Hannah was barren, she could not have children. According to the scripture, God had closed her womb. This is serious business.
6. Verse 7 says that her “Rival” “Provoked” her until she (Hannah) would not eat. This is what you call serious verbal abuse!
7. And if this weren’t enough, Elkanah tries to make it all better by saying, “Aren’t I better than ten sons!” Isn’t that the way us men do it, look at a worst case scenario and say, “Well, at least you have me!”
8. Here in this text, Elkanah realizes that Hannah is depressed, weeping, not eating, and down hearted.” Could it get any worse?
LADIES, CAN I GET A WITNESS? HAVE YOU EVER BEEN THAT LOW? CAN YOU RELATE TO HANNAH AND HER STRUGGLE? IS SHE REAL?
ILLUSTRATION: One afternoon a man came home from work to find total mayhem in his house. His three children were outside, still in their pajamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn all around the front yard. The door of his wife’s car was open, as was the front door to the house. Proceeding into the entry, he found as even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded on the wall. In the front room, the TV was loudly blaring a cartoon channel, and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing. In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door. He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles and piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she may be ill, or that something serious had happened. He found her lounging in the bedroom, still curled in the bed in her pajamas, reading a novel. She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went. He looked at her bewildered and asked, “What happened here today?” She again smiled and answered, “You know every day when you come home from work and ask me what in the world I did today?” “Yes” was his incredulous reply. “Today I didn’t do it and here it is!”
HOW DID HANNAH DEAL WITH THE REAL ISSUES OF LIFE?
II. WOMEN OF FAITH HAVE A REAL PRAYER LIFE (VV. 9-16)
A. PRAYER IS THE WORK (vv. 9-11)
1. Hannah could have stayed down! Hannah stood up! VERSE 9!
2. Have you ever felt like staying down, giving up, and quitting? You can’t get much lower than Hannah!
3. Hannah knew the Answer! Hannah knew where to go and to whom to go! Hannah WEPT, but Hannah PRAYED!
4. In verse 11, we get to hear her prayer, and it is not just any old prayer, the Word calls it a “VOW!”
5. Have you ever made a vow to God? Did you keep it? Desperate times call for desperate measures and when life gets tough, we know who to do business with! Hannah got down and serious with GOD! Do you think it is time we got down and serious with God! Is there DROSE to be burned off? Are you ready to make a vow with God?
6. Note how many times the word Praying is used in verses 9-16: 4 times! Do you think the writer was making a point! HANNAH PRAYED!
B. PRAYER BRINGS OPPOSITION (vv. 12-16)
1. What is the outcome of prayer? You may not want to hear this, but prayer will bring opposition!
2. In verse 12 is says that Eli the priest watched! Important Notice! If you pray, others will see! If you pray, others will know! If you pray, others will watch you! 3. If Hannah doesn’t have it bad enough, what does the “Priest” think the problem is? ELI THOUGHT SHE WAS DRUNK! The same thing happened in Acts chapter 2 verse 13, “Some, however, made fun of them and said, “they have had too much wine.”
4. When the Spirit of God is at work, LOOK OUT CHURCH, people will think we are DRUNK! Remember Ephesians 5:18, “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.” Church, it is time to act, or should I say pray, like Hannah until others see the Spirit of God moving in us!! 5. Eli even went as far as to rebuke her, “How long will you keep on getting drunk? Get rid of your wine (verse 14).”
6. By now, you may not be sure if you want to be a “WOMEN OF FAITH” or not. How does it look? Real Problems answered by more problems, just when you thought you had the answer, one more monkey wrench falls into the machinery!
ILLUSTRATION: The moment you wake up each morning, all your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists in shoving it all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other, larger, stronger quieter life come flowing in. --- C. S. Lewis
To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive with- out breathing. -- Martin Luther
And Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees. -- Anonymous
III. WOMEN OF FAITH FIND REAL PEACE (VV. 17-20)
A. Being in God’s presence is enough (vv. 17-18)!
1. Eli finally gets it after Hannah has made her case.
2. This less than Spirit lead Priest gives a pat answer as all us ministers are taught in School, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.”
3. This blessing can be viewed in two ways. The first is that Eli states that God is going to Answer Hannah’s prayer! The second is that Eli HOPES God will answer Hannah’s Prayer.
A MAJOR ASIDE HERE: Can I tell you something Scary, “It doesn’t matter what Eli meant, GOD KNOWS!” Lest I lead you off on some tangent, God does speak through HIS servants, but God speaks to those who speak to HIM. I desired for a long time for others, Preacher’s mainly, to come and confirm a word over me. BUT, I have learned that it is not the person, but the God behind the person that matters. God finally helped me to seek his confirmation before I worried about what others had to say about me or for me!!
4. None the less, Eli spoke peace, and Hannah honored this priest, “May your servant find favor in your eyes.” This may be an important word to someone. Watch how you treat your priest!
5. The real miracle here is what is said in the conclusion of verse 18! She (Hannah) went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast.” 6. When you have wrestled with God in prayer and He has met you there, it is enough! Did you hear me? It is enough! Hannah experiences the Peace that only God can give to those who pray!! DO YOU WANT PEACE? DO YOU WNAT TO BE A PERSON OF FAITH? PRAY!
B. Seeing God’s answers come is more than enough (vv. 19-20)!
1. Hannah continues to do what is right before the Lord!
2. Did you notice that phrase, “early the next morning they arose and worshiped before the Lord.” When is a good time to pray and Worship? Does worship only happen on Sunday?
3. The LORD remembered her!
4. Hannah conceived!
5. Hannah remember her VOW and the Lord, “She named him Samuel, saying, “Because I asked the Lord for him.”
ILLUSTRATION: Billy Graham writes: The sea was beating the rocks in huge, dashing waves. The lightning was flashing, the thunder was roaring, the wind was blowing; but the little bird was asleep in the crevice of the rock, its head serenely under its wing, sound asleep. That is peace – to be able to sleep in the storm! In Christ, we are relaxed and at peace in the midst of the confusion, bewilderment’s, and perplexities of this life. The storm rages, but our hearts are at rest. We have found peace – at last!
CONCLUSION: Are you a woman of faith? In the midst of the struggles of life, have you found prayer to be the answer? Have you truly found peace in the midst of the storm? God is calling you to be a woman of faith; will you heed HIS call? Will you commit today to be a woman of faith?
