One of my favorite comics is “The Family Circus.” Once I believe that the father was helping Billy with his homework with the rest of the family there in the kitchen. Dad asks Billy, “What is the greatest power source in all the world?” In turn everyone is pictured thinking what the answer may be. We can see each of the children thinking about things like high voltage power lines, speeding race cars, nuclear explosions, Niagra Falls and other such powerful things. Mom however pictures something else; the greatest power on earth that she can imagine is her children kneeling beside their beds saying their prayers.
Someone has said (I think it may have been Spurgeon), “Prayer is the nerve that moves the hand of God.” Someone else has said (and I’m not sure who, but it’s still true), “All hell trembles when the weakest saint is on his knees in prayer.”
Prayer is powerful. The Bible says, “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective” (James 5:16 NIV).
As we continue our 50-day spiritual adventure “Daring to Dream Again–Overcoming Barriers That Hold You Back” this morning, we are going to look at Hanna. Hanna was not just a dreamer, nor did her life end filled with regret because of unrealized dreams. Hanna energized her dreams through prayer and saw her dreams come true. “Energizing Dreams Through Prayer”, you too can see your God-given dreams become a reality!
+ Read: 1 Samuel 1:1-28 (The Message Bible)
1. Hanna had a dream that was unfulfilled.
+ 1 Samuel 1:2 Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none. (NIV)
Hanna had a great dream. Much like the dreams of young ladies today, Hanna dreamed of having a family. She never guessed on her wedding day of the sorrow that was before her. Years passed and Hanna was unable to have the children she had always dreamed of having.
In Old Testament times, barrenness for women was a curse. A childless woman was considered a failure; she was an embarrassment to her husband. Husbands actually had the right to divorce his wife if she was unable to produce children. Children were an important part of the economic standing for a family; large families were a symbol of status and wealth.
This was a “good news/bad news” story for Hanna. The good news was that her husband Elkanah loved her very much; her marriage was safe. The bad news was that Elkanah had a second wife, Peninnah who had given Elkanah many sons and daughters. Hanna’s bad dream became a living nightmare.
Let’s take a brief “rabbit trail” because some of you may have already run down that trail with some questions. You don’t have to look hard to find examples of polygamy in the Old Testament: Jacob and Esau, the grandsons of Abraham; David, Solomon, and other kings of Israel and Judah all had multiple wives. Not even the example of David, a man after God’s own heart, legitimizes polygamy.
From the beginning God’s plan was that marriage would be a relationship between one man with one woman.
+ Genesis 2:24 . . . a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. (NIV)
Why then did polygamy exist among God’s people? The short answer: it was for the same reason husbands took multiple wives in pagan nations. Why was polygamy such a common practice?
[1] It enabled a man to have more children.
[2] The continuation of the man’s family line increases by having more sons.
[3] A large family increased the labor force to do all the work that was required in an agrarian society.
[4] A large number of children was a symbol of status and wealth.
[5] Often many young men were killed in battles against warring nations. Therefore, polygamy was an acceptable way of supporting women who otherwise could not have otherwise married and in turn been poverty-stricken.
Despite all these would be benefits of polygamy, a husband having multiple wives often caused serious family problems. Elkanah’s family was no exception as we see the rivalry that developed between Hannah and Peninnah.
Alright now, lets get back to Hanna’s dream, a dream that was unfulfilled.
2. God will sometimes postpone the fulfillment of our dreams.
Remember a God-given dream takes time; no one dreams the dream and then wakes up to discover that the dream has become a reality. Sometimes the delay is part of God’s will, a part of fulfilling His greater purpose in and through our lives.
+ 1 Samuel 1:7 This went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the Lord, her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat. (NIV)
Hanna didn’t just have a bad day with Peninnah. Hanna had to endure the criticism and cutting remarks of her rival year after year after year. Broken and crushed within her soul, Hanna would cry out to God for help; “God have you forsaken me? Please give me a child to show that you are with me.”
Imagine that every time you go to worship God at church someone is right there with you to continually put you down and show you all your faults. How would that make you feel? That’s what Hanna felt. “God are you there? Do you even care about my suffering?”
Who do you know that may be struggling with God’s timing wondering if God is even listening to their prayer? Or perhaps has God postponed your dreams and you’re discouraged? Has anyone been there?
What do you need in those times of brokenness before the Lord? What does a friend who is discouraged need? It’s not more criticism; what’s needed is faith. Someone needs to come alone side and lift them up and dream with them!
When your Spirit-inspired dream is delayed, don’t give up on God! When your timing seems to have been postponed, have patience and wait on God’s timing, have faith in God and in His Word.
+ Habakkuk 2:3 This vision-message is a witness pointing to what’s coming. It aches for the coming—it can hardly wait! And it doesn’t lie. If it seems slow in coming, wait. It’s on its way. It will come right on time. (MsgB)
The God-given dream “aches” to come true; “it can hardly wait.” A God-given dream is not dependant upon us to see it come to a reality; God gave the dream and He will fulfill it–IN HIS TIME! Be patient and do not lose faith in God; the dream will come at the right time.
Someone has said, “God is seldom early, and He is never late. God is always right on time.”
3. Dreams are energized through personal and persistent prayer.
Elkanah tried to support his wife; “Don’t you know how much I love you; isn’t my love better than having ten sons?” Kind words for a husband to share with his wife, but Hanna didn’t just need to know that her husband loved her. Hanna needed to know that God loved her; she needed her faith to be encouraged. Hanna needed to get in touch with God and know that God was with her in the midst of her trial. Hanna needed to know that the God of the dream was working on her behalf to see the dream to completion.
Hanna went to God in prayer and cried out to the Lord.
+ 1 Samuel 1:10 Hannah was in deep anguish, crying bitterly as she prayed to the Lord. (NLT)
Hanna cried inconsolably. Only God could help her now. God heard Hanna’s prayer; He gathered up all of her tears. Hanna’s dream lay like a seed on dry and parched ground. God used her prayer and tears to water her dreams giving them life.
When your dreams are delayed God will take your prayer –even your tears–and use them to water your dreams. Personal prayer energizes your dreams, & brings them life.
Remember that nothing in Hanna’s story should cause us to believe that Hanna only prayed once and God answered her prayer. We would like to come to God with a “microwave-able prayer” and receive the answer to our request immediately. That’s not reality; that’s fantasy!
Year after year Hanna went with her husband to worship in Shilo, and every year Peninnah would rub salt in the wound taunting and teasing Hanna because she was barren. Why didn’t Hanna just stay at home? Hanna was not required by the Law to go and worship the Lord at the tabernacle; only men were given such requirements. So why did she choose to worship with the family and suffer under Peninnah’s cruel words?
Hanna was persevering in prayer; she would continue to call out to the Lord until she received what she had asked for.
+ Matthew 7:7-8 7Keep on asking, and you will be given what you ask for. Keep on looking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened. 8For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And the door is opened to everyone who knocks. (NLT)
WHY ARE DRAMS ENERGIZED BY PERSONAL PRAYER? Why couldn’t Hanna’s dream for children been fulfilled through her husband’s Elkanah’s prayers?
In Hanna’s story the simple answer was that Elkanah had a hard time even encouraging his wife. If Hanna’s dream was going to come true, she had to pray. Scripture gives us no indication that Elkanah even shared Hanna’s dream; he apparently was satisfied with his family. Remember: Dissatisfaction is a key to dreaming a God-given dream.
But why do you and I need to pray in order for our dreams to be realized? Isn’t it good enough if the pastor prays for you?
Put simply, personal and persistent prayer energizes our dreams because PRAYER IS FAITH IN ACTION.
+ Hebrews 11:1 What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see. (NLT)
A divine daring dream cannot be seen with natural eyes; the dream can only be seen with a Spirit-inspired imagination. Our dreams can be seen only through the eyes of faith. And our faith is activated as we pray.
+ James 1:6-8 6But when [you] asks, [you] must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. (NIV)
HAVE FAITH IN GOD–ACTIVE FAITH! Pray believing that God will indeed bring to completion the dream that He has put within your heart. Have a Spirit-inspired confidence that the One who started the work will bring it to completion; God leaves no work unfinished! (See Philippians 1:6)
I know some of you may say, “Pastor, that all sounds well and good; you’re probably right, but I just don’t know if I can make it another day.” So what happens when our dreams are not just postponed, but they seem to be dying and our faith is gone? How many of you have time for me to preach last weeks message on Judas again? No, I better not.
Remember ISOLATION is one of the dream killers that prevented Judas from seeing his dreams resurrected. Elkanah may not have done a very good job, but he at least reassured Hanna of His love for her. As long as Hanna knew he loved her, then the dream still had the possibility of being a reality.
This is why we need on another within the body of Christ; none of us can make it alone. We need a brother or sister to come along side us with a timely word of encouragement, not just a pep talk that things will get better. We need the word of God spoken into our lives because “faith [comes] by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17 (KJV).
We can also be encouraged to dream again through the power of praying in agreement together or through the gifts of the Spirit which may flow to us through other believers. Let’s encourage one another to dream a God-given dream and in turn to see their dreams energized through personal and persistent prayer.
Before we move any further, let me ask you to stop right now and answer this question, “Who might God want you to reach out to in order to encourage? Who do you need to begin to pray with so that they can know they are not alone?” Before you do anything else write their name down with the time that you are either going to call or go to them. (See also the application in spiritual adventure journals–page 36.)
4. Seeing our dreams fulfilled require faithfulness to our commitment to the Lord.
Putting it another way: If we want God to keep His word and bring our dreams into reality, then we must likewise keep our promises to God.
+ 1 Samuel 1:11 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. . ." (NIV)
Hanna kept her promise; she gave her son Samuel back to the Lord. Hanna had nothing to lose, and everything to gain provided she would be faithful to the Lord. God used the postponement of Hanna’s dream to not only develop perseverance, but also obedient faithfulness within her heart.
+ Ecclesiastes 5:4-5 4So when you make a promise to God, don’t delay in following through, for God takes no pleasure in fools. Keep all the promises you make to him. 5It is better to say nothing than to promise something that you don’t follow through on. (NLT)
Conclusion:
Prayer is powerful! Your dreams and mine will be energized through personal and persistent prayer. The key to unleashing the power of prayer is that we learn to pray in faith; remember real prayer is faith in action.
Billy Graham said, “Heaven is full of answers to prayers for which no one ever bothered to ask.” Have faith in the God of the dream; let’s ask God to bring the dream to completion. God’s answer is ready; it’s just waiting for our personal and persistent request.
