Hannah’s pain had not disappeared. Her circumstances had not changed. But something happened when she poured out her heart before God. In Part 1 of Hannah’s Prayer, we discover what Hannah knew about God—and about herself—that transformed the way she prayed and began changing her before the answer ever came.

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Welcome to the Fortifying youg Family podcast.

It can be daunting to navigate through an anti marriage and family culture.

Our teacher will expound biblical principles to help fortify our families and keep these sacred institutions strong.

And now, here's this week's teaching from Sam Wood.

First Samuel, Chapter one.

Turn back there with me tonight, if you would.

First Samuel, Chapter one.

And I said this morning that I wanted to just share with you a little tonight.

A brief sermon tonight on Hannah's prayer and some aspects of Hannah's prayer that really stood out to me when I was studying this, that I think that were key, we might say, to it being a transformative prayer in her life that is transforming her in that time of prayer and her time with God.

For those who may not have been here this morning, or in case you were here this morning, I'll just give you a two or three minute overview of what we said this morning.

We looked at Hannah's hurt, and that is she was a very, very hurting woman who lived in the home of a polygamist.

Her husband, Elkanah, had another wife, which is very common in that day and time.

And I said he wasn't a perfect husband.

He, like many other men and even men like King David who practiced polygamy back in the Old Testament, he was a man still who sought God in his life and worshiped God.

But yet it did present a lot of problems.

And Debbie and I were talking about this afternoon of imagining what it would be like to have two wives in the home and the continual problems that that would present a family.

Well, they had two wives in the home and Peninnah certainly was one who really hated Hannah and hated her because of Elkener, loving her and showing love to her more than he did to Peninnah.

And because of that, she continually provoked Hannah, sorely, distressed her, belittled her, not even just in the home, but even when they came to the temple, when they came to church, she continued to do it even at church.

She was an example of certainly what you should not do in a situation like that.

Certainly if you know God and you are a child of God.

So we see Hannah, that's in a very, very difficult position in her life.

Her society, we said, was crying out to her that the answer to her problem was to have a child.

And I took a few minutes this morning to talk about how important that was that day and time for women to have children.

That was where they found their identity.

That's where they found their meaning, their sense of worth in their culture and their society today.

And we might look at that and say, well, that's kind of sad.

But really, if we look in the Bible, we see in First Timothy, the Bible says that a woman is saved through what anybody remember, through childbearing.

That is, not literally.

She isn't come to Christ through that, but she is saved in the meaning of finding significance, the main significance in her life and meaning in her life through having children.

So Hannah was experiencing a very, very difficult time in her life through not being able to have a child.

And certainly in a home where Peninnah had several children and she had none.

And she was continually provoked because of that.

But then Elkanah came along beside her and said, honey, listen, I love you.

Don't worry so much about that.

I love you more than if you had 10 sons.

So what he's trying to do is comfort her, like every husband should do in a situation like that, and show love to her.

He gives a double portion to her, twice as much as he gives to Peninnah to show his love to her.

But yet that leaves her still empty inside.

And we said that that did not feel that vacuum within her heart, that emptiness within her heart that was still there.

And I said this morning and share with you this morning that it was a key in verse nine.

If you look at verse nine, it says, so Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh.

That is, at this point in her life.

She stood up.

She rose up.

And what that means is in the Hebrew that she decided to take a course of action in her life.

She decided to make a choice of how to feel this emptiness in her heart, this longing within her heart that was there that her marriage couldn't feel, that having a child could not feel.

And so she went and she prayed to God.

She rose up and she went and she prayed to God.

And I just want to read this passage again from verse 11, if we could, and we'll read down through verse 20 again.

Then I want to share a few thoughts with you that I think are interesting and helpful and I hope, encouraging to look at in regards to her prayer.

Verse 11, chapter 1.

And she vowed a vow and said, o Lord of hosts, if thou would indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me and not forget thine handmaid, but will give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life.

And there shall no razor come upon his head.

And it came to pass as she continued praying before the Lord that Eli marked her mouth, or he noticed her mouth moving.

Now, Hannah, she spake in her heart, and only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard.

Therefore Eli thought she had been drunken.

And Eli said unto how long wilt thou be drunken?

Put away thy wine from thee.

And let me just pause there and say that just shows us.

Of course, if you read the story in 1st Samuel, you see the condition of the heart of Eli and the condition of his sons Hophni and Phinehas.

You see the condition of his home and his relationship with God.

It was a very barren time.

It was a very empty time in the history of Israel when those in Israel were doing what was right in their own eyes.

And for, I think, Eli to look at Hannah, who was pouring her heart out to God, as we'll see in verse 15, she's there and she's praying.

Her lips are moving, and she's praying to God.

And not even have enough spiritual sensitivity to tell the difference between those probably in that day and time that came to the temple three times a year just to give mechanical prayers to God.

And she was there bearing her heart to God.

He could not tell the difference in thinking that she was even drunk.

I think is just a picture of the condition of the country in that day and in that time.

And Eli said unto her again in verse 14, how long wilt thou be drunken?

Put away thy wine from thee.

And Hannah answered and said, no, my Lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit.

I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink.

She's not doing what a lot of the world would do to handle their problems.

That is, to go to some other source to go to some go to alcohol, to go to drink or something like that.

She's not doing that.

But she says to Eli, but I have poured out my soul before the Lord.

Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial or daughter of the devil.

For out of the abundance of my complaining grief have I spoken hitherto.

Then Eli answered and said, go in peace, and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him.

And she said, let thine handmaid find grace in thy sight.

So the woman went her way and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad.

And they rose up in the morning early and worshiped before the Lord and returned and came to their house in Ramah.

And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife.

And the Lord remembered her.

Wherefore it came to pass when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived that she bare a son and called his name Samuel, saying, because I have asked him of the Lord.

I want to share with you tonight five very significant characteristics of Hannah's prayer.

Five things that I just wrote down here that stood out to me in looking through this prayer that I think are somewhat significant.

The first thing that I think we see in her prayer is she prayed knowing who God is.

She prayed knowing who God is.

Look at verse 11 again, it says.

And she vowed a vow and said, and I put this in parenthesis in my Bible, O Lord of hosts.

This is the very first time that this name is used in the bible.

Here in 1st Samuel chapter one for God.

This particular title for God, Hanukkah prayed confidently.

I believe in her prayer because she knew the God to whom she prayed.

I think that's so important that we understand that if we're going to pray confidently to God, that we need to know who God is and know the God that we are praying to.

So she addresses him and calls him the Lord of hosts, which is Yahweh, Sabbath in the Hebrew Yahweh being God's covenant name, Yahweh, Sabbath, meaning the Lord God Almighty.

The Lord God Almighty refers to God's command of armies to the legions of heaven and describes and pictures his omnipotent power, that God is great, God is transcendent, God is powerful.

And this is one of the most majestic names for God really, in all of Scripture.

And it makes again, as I said, its first appearance right here in First Samuel chapter one.

Hannah is probably remembering the greatest thing that God had done up until that time in Israel.

And you say, what are you talking about?

I'm talking about the Exodus.

She is probably thinking back and she's remembering the Exodus of the people of God from the bondage of Egypt.

The Lord had told Moses in Exodus chapter 3 and verse 7.

I've surely seen the affliction my people which are in Egypt.

And I have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.

I can't help but think that Hannah may have been thinking on God hearing the afflictions of his people and hearing the cries of his people and the sorrowful hearts of his people.

God's statement to Moses, I believe, showed that his deliverance in Exodus was an answer to their call to him in their time of affliction, their time of sorrow, their time of trial.

So Hannah, I believe, is reflecting back.

And she sees God as God, the Lord of hosts, God the omnipotent.

One God, the great Almighty God.

And I believe a good place to start our prayers is where Hannah started hers.

Her prayer is theological in nature, we might say, because she remembers one of the attributes of God and addresses him according to the need of her heart.

I believe that's a good clue for us.

Sometimes when we're praying, we think about what we're going through and what we're struggling with.

To think about an attribute of God that deals with that particular struggle that we might be facing.

And even in that time in our prayer to address God with that particular attribute, recognizing that he is a God who sees.

He is a God Almighty.

He is the God who provides, that we remember who God is.

It's so important that we do.

I think in the beginnings of our prayer that it is theological in the fact that we remind ourselves.

She reminded herself of who God is, let me say.

Secondly, I think another thing very importantly that we see is Hannah also prayed, reminding herself and knowing who she was.

Knowing who she was.

Look at verse 11.

And she vowed a vow and said, o Lord of hosts, if thou would indeed look on the affliction of thine, look at the next word, handmaid, and remember me and not forget thine.

Here it is again.

Handmaid, but will give unto thine handmaid, a man child.

She refers to herself three times in that verse as a handmaid or handmaid in that day and time was someone who is recognized as a very lowly servant.

It's a place of humility, we might say.

And she is recognizing herself in the presence of God.

And she's humbly coming before God in a state of humility by saying that she is a very lowly servant.

Notice several things that are missing from her prayer in verse 11.

And I just noted them.

I wrote them down.

One thing that strikes me is she did not come to God complaining about her circumstances.

And that to me, it's just striking that she doesn't mention that she's not coming complaining to God.

She doesn't do that at all.

It's another thing, I think, that's missing in her prayer.

She doesn't ask God to take vengeance against Peninnah.

Wouldn't that be easy to do, God?

Have you not seen how Peninnah treated me, God, why don't you just strike her down?

Give her leprosy God, you know, or something like that?

I mean, isn't that our nature to do something like that, to pray like that?

And I'm not saying that some prayers in the Psalms are like that.

There Are prayers in the Psalms that where that David would pray against his enemies.

But in this particular prayer, it's noteworthy to see that she does neither of these two things.

She didn't complain about her circumstances.

And her heart is so fixed on God.

And her heart is, as we'll see, being poured out to God in such a way that she isn't even thinking about how she's been treated in the family by this other wife by the name of Peninnah.

And she identifies herself as a servant of the Lord and comes to him in a spirit of total humility.

Thirdly, here's another thing that I wrote down.

She knew what she wanted and she was not afraid to ask for it.

She knew exactly what she wanted from God, and she was not hesitant.

She was not afraid to ask God for what she wanted.

Look at verse 11 again.

Remember me and not forget thine handmaid, but will give.

Here it is.

Unto thy handmaid, a man child.

Hannah comes as a humble servant, recognizing God as the Lord of hosts and God Almighty, knowing exactly what she wanted from this omnipotent, all powerful God.

Certainly our prayers should consist of more than, I believe, just a list of things that we desire to have from God.

They should include a time of worship to God.

Thanks, Confession.

We see many examples of this of prayers in Scripture.

But we must also remember that God invites us to make request of Him.

And God invites us to make great request of Him.

He does.

He invites us to make great request of Him.

And God is saying, don't just open your mouth to me.

He says, open your mouth wide.

Ask me for great things.

I am a great God.

I. I am able to do great things.

Open your mouth wide.

And God says, I will fill it.

So God invites us to come to him and to pray to him for great things.

Sometimes things that seem impossible because he is the God of the impossible.

Praise God, he is.

And certainly a prayer such as Hannah's is a prayer where she is coming to God and she is asking something that earthly speaking, humanly speaking, is impossible.

God, I'm barren.

I cannot have children.

God, I want to have a man child.

So she gets right to the point.

She says, God, this is what I want.

I'm reminded of what James says in James chapter four and verse two.

He says, you have not because you what?

Ask not.

You have not because you ask not.

But also she was not afraid to ask God for this.

She was not afraid.

And I'm reminded of Hebrews.

In Hebrews it says, for we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

And I like this next verse.

Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne.

And I like the throne of grace.

God is a God of grace and God is a God of mercy.

And God is a God who sees our hearts and he knows our sorrows and he knows our hurts, he knows our pains.

He knows right where we are and when we pray.

We should come knowing that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ is able to sympathize.

Boy, if we could just get that.

He's able to sympathize with all of our weaknesses and all of our sorrow and all of our pain because he has been tempted in every way like we have, yet without sin.

So we can come.

And we're invited to come and ask God.

And he invites us to ask him for great things, to open our mouth wide, to be specific in our prayers.

And we're invited to come boldly before the throne of grace with with our prayers.

You have listened to the first part of a two part message by evangelist Sam Wood.

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