Survivor:how To Overcome Your Peninnah? Series

As hard as he tried, even a loving husband couldn’t remove the deep anguish and pain Hannah felt.Elkanah was no longer a substitute for she what she wanted. He was no longer substitute for the real thing. Hannah had got to the point in her life were she realized that her husband could no longer complete her. He was no longer what replace what she needed.. So she turned in another direction - her response becomes a model for us. Hannah turned to the Lord. Sometime we want to run to our parent or friends to tell them our troubles and get solutions to our troubles but how many of you know that they don’t no the answers. Or we go call the psychic hotline only to find out that they don’t even have a clue. The only solution or answer to you troubled is Jesus. You need to learn how to run to him. In some instances the pastor may have the answer. Again I say run to Jesus.

What are you using to substitue the need of God in your life? What has become you Elkaniah

First, we learn that she wept "in bitterness of soul". It seemed to her that she just couldn’t take it anymore. It was too much to bear. The shame, the lack of fulfillment, the taunting looks and even words of the other woman; watching the children of the other wife playing in the yard, perhaps the attention shown to them by their father - the hopelessness, the despair. Does it feel that way to you sometimes? Perhaps not for the same reason as Hannah’s, but you feel as helpless. And the tears want to flow. The first response was hers, bitter tears. Let them flow - there’s nothing wrong with tears - but let it be in the presence of the Lord, and be quick to get to the next step.

Let the crying turn into praying. Let’s notice these points about Hanna’s prayer:

She prayed "in her heart". Yes, her lips were moving, but no words were uttered. Perhaps this was the kind of prayer Paul spoke about in Romans 8:26, "with groans which cannot be uttered." For some, it may even be praying "in an unknown tongue", the language supplied by the Spirit to pray for ones own and others’ needs even when full understanding is lacking.

Notice also that Hannah "poured out her soul’ as she prayed. This was not a surface prayer - it was prayer from the center of her being. It reminds us of the familiar words of the Psalmist included in our songs, "Unto Thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul", and "Bless the Lord, O my soul."

The priest, Eli, wasn’t very discerning that day - maybe he had other things on his mind, like the troubles in his family (2:12-17). He evidently thought that Hannah was nothing but a drunken, temple prostitute. She had to explain to him that she was praying, and that her prayer was coming out of her "anguish and grief".

We also want to see that Hannah was persistent with her prayer. Verse 12 says that she prayed, and "kept on praying."

As part of her prayer, Hannah also made a vow (v.11). Actually, it sounds more like a bargain than a vow - "if you will do ______, then I will do _______" Like the soldier who prays, "God, if you get me home alive, I’ll become a minister." Or the smoker who prays, "God, if you’ll help me kick this habit, I’ll work harder than anyone to keep cigarettes away from children and teenagers." Or like so many people, "Lord if you heal me, I promise I’ll go to church every Sunday." "Lord, if you bless my new company, I promise I’ll give you a tenth of all I earn."