I’m So Glad She Prayed
What Can Hannah Teach the Church about Prayer?
Key verse. 1:11: Willingness to surrender brings blessing.
Personal application. The most difficult situation can be transformed by bringing it to the Lord in prayer.
Hannah’s name is related to and evokes the common word ḥen, or “favor.” Yet not only is she not favored with children of her own, but her rival wife Peninnah taunts her regularly with her lack of them, and especially at the time of feasting.
True prayer may only be offered on the grounds of the sacrifice (v. 3). By Christ’s offering, not only is atonement made for sin, but the audience and acceptance of our prayers is obtained for us. In all our supplications, we must have an eye to the Great Sacrifice.
Your Circumstances Put You in the Position of Petition (1 Sam 1:10-11)
Here is a specimen of the intense desire that reigned in the bosoms of the Hebrew women for children.
This was the burden of Hannah’s prayer; and the strong preference she expressed for a male child originated in her purpose of dedicating him to the tabernacle service. The circumstance of his birth bound him to this; but his residence within the precincts of the sanctuary would have to commence at an earlier age than usual, in consequence of the Nazarite vow.
Hannah is portrayed as the paragon of faith among the women of the Hebrew Bible. No other woman in the OT goes to the house of Yahweh (except Peninnah, by inference).
O Yahweh of hosts Hannah calls God by the Hebrew title yhwh tseva'oth, which identifies Him as a commander of armies—those of Israel, as well as heavenly armies.
Elkanah regularly attended the festivals with his wives, and Hannah there poured out her soul to God in petition for a son. On one such occasion Hannah made a vow that if God would grant her request she would give her son to the LORD for as long as he lived.
The doorpost of the tabernacle refers to the entrance of the place of worship, where people would approach Eli for judicial rulings.
The term “tabernacle” (Heb. hêkal), here, is used elsewhere for the temple or for a palace and thus suggests that the structure at Shiloh was no longer merely a tent but a semi-permanent structure, which preceded the great temple built in Jerusalem by Solomon.
Within the context of her prayer, Hannah made a vow to God. She promised that if God would give her a son, the child would be given back to God.
Vows are voluntary, conditional agreements that are common in most of the cultures of the ancient Near East, including Hittite, Ugaritic, Mesopotamian and, less often, Egyptian
In the ancient world the most common context for a vow was when a request was being made to deity. The condition would typically involve God’s provision or protection, while that which was vowed was usually a gift to deity.
The words deeply hurt can be more literally rendered “bitter of soul,” using the same Hebrew word that Naomi used (mara,
Hannah is so desperate for success in having a son that she is prepared to vow a male child back to God.
She was so distraught that she seems not to have noticed the presence of Eli, and had no hesitation in presenting her desperate situation in prayer to the Lord
For her, the power of the Lord of hosts was not confined to military exploits; she believed he knew all about her and could give her a son. For her part, she would acknowledge that any son born to her was in answer to prayer, and therefore she vowed to give him back to God, who gave him. The outworking of the vow shows that she intended this quite literally (v. 24).
Hannah wept and prayed to the Lord “in bitterness of soul,” a phrase used elsewhere to characterize the psychological pain experienced by one who has been deprived of a child through death (cf.
In her prayer she implicitly recognized that the Lord alone is the giver of life. She also understood that the proper position of a believer in relation to the Lord is that of absolute subjection; three times she referred to herself as “your servant” (Hb. ʾămātekā), a term used elsewhere to describe a female household slave.
Mighty Power in Prayer.—There is a mighty power in prayer. Our great adversary is constantly seeking to keep the troubled soul away from God. An appeal to heaven by the humblest saint is more to be dreaded by Satan than the decrees of cabinets or the mandates of kings (ST Oct. 27, 1881).
Everyone Won’t Comprehend Your Posture of Prayer (1 Sam 1:12-16)
The suspicion of the aged priest seems to indicate that the vice of intemperance was neither uncommon nor confined to one sex in those times of disorder. This mistaken impression was immediately removed, and, in the words, “God grant,” or rather, “will grant,” was followed by an invocation which, as Hannah regarded it in the light of a prophecy pointing to the accomplishment of her earnest desire, dispelled her sadness, and filled her with confident hope (
1:13 Eli considered her to be drunk She was praying intensely and inaudibly.
1:15 I have poured out my soul before Yahweh In contrast to some of the matriarchs in Genesis, Hannah took her problems directly to God in prayer (compare
So intense was Hannah’s silent prayer that Eli, the high priest who was seated nearby, noted the movement of her lips and assumed she was intoxicated. When the priest learned about her true plight, he assured her that God would answer her prayer.
Eli watched her mouth: From a distance, Eli was unable to understand what Hannah was saying. Because of the long time she spent in prayer, Eli assumed that she had drunk too much wine.
Poured out my soul before the LORD is an excellent description of fervent prayer (
Often prayers were accompanied by sacrifices. In this official act a priest would be paid a fee to offer the sacrifice and recite an appropriate prayer.
Hannah, lacking funds for such an official undertaking, is praying on her own but is delighted to receive a favorable blessing from the priest, which she took as having the force of an oracle.
1:12–14 Eli misread Hannah’s anguish as drunkenness and scolded her for her apparent disregard of the holy place.
1:15–16 Hannah immediately clarified the situation with Eli. The depth (lit “abundance”) of Hannah’s anguish and resentment over her situation had come to the surface.
The priest has added to the hurt, taking her distress and prayer for the drunken babbling of someone who has feasted too well
Eli was quick to rebuke what he took to be drunken behaviour. It was a terrible mistake, but no doubt it tells us something about the problems he frequently had to contend with.
He was measuring Hannah by the criterion of his own experience with his sons, yet he was not past the point where he could understand the unfolding revelation of God. Through Hannah’s experience the Holy Spirit revealed to him that God looks upon the motives of the heart.
But God did not speak to her through an angel; He used the appointed medium of the priesthood, even though it was imperfect and in need of reformation. God recognized the fact that Hannah’s natural desire for offspring had finally been absorbed in a passion for devoting the most precious of gifts to Him, and He answered her petition through Eli.
Worldly wisdom teaches that prayer is not essential, that there can be no real answer to prayer, that this would violate natural law, and that miracles just cannot be. It is part of God’s plan to grant, in answer to the prayer of faith, that which He would not otherwise bestow (GC 525).
Hannah’s lengthy silent prayer caught the watchful Eli’s attention and led him to an incorrect conclusion
Here, as elsewhere, Eli is portrayed as a man unable to distinguish appearance from reality, as a man who himself lacked substance.
Though Eli was the high priest of Shiloh—and ostensibly a man of exceptional spiritual maturity, he is consistently depicted by the narrator as spiritually blind and inert. He was a man who watched lips instead of perceiving hearts, who judged profound spirituality to be profligate indulgence in spirits, who heard nothing when the Lord spoke (
The fact that Hannah was portrayed as conversing with Yahweh suggests that Yahwism was not as “sexist” as some may portray it to be. A woman was not so unimportant in Israel as to be considered incapable of communicating with Israel’s God. Significantly, Yahweh was also portrayed as a deity who listened to a woman and answered her prayer.
There is Power in the Companionship of Partners. (1 Sam 1:17-18)
1:17, 18 Go in peace: Hannah’s changed countenance seems to indicate that she experienced God’s peace (
1:17 D. J. Wiseman says, “The expression Go in peace marks a successful conclusion of negotiation or assurance that the request for a desired state of relationships has been granted.” R. P. Gordon notes that this is the only place in the Old Testament that a priest blesses someone.
1:18 The Hebrew word for favor with which Hannah replied was a shortened form of her own name.
Once he saw the genuineness of her need and the sincerity of her faith he did his best to reassure her. Go in peace affirmed his acceptance of her explanation and, though the recorded conversation does not refer to the content of her prayer, Eli added his priestly prayer for its fulfilment
Peace comes only on the cessation of hostilities, on full victory or surrender. Having made such a surrender to the Lord, Hannah found that the animosity and jestings of Peninnah lost their sting. With her Saviour she could say, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (
Hannah was not dependent on circumstances; she rested her case with God—and an answer came forthwith.
Eli proved quite capable of fulfilling his priestly role, even if he was spiritually dull. Learning the true nature of Hannah’s actions, he validated her prayer with a wish and a blessing.
Hannah responded to Eli’s blessing with a winsome and gracious pun—the “Woman of Grace” (the Hb. meaning of Hannah’s name) expressed hope of finding grace (Hb. ḥēn) in Eli’s eyes.
Hannah’s departure from the sanctuary area was an example of faith triumphant. Though she had approached the Lord in the depths of despondency, she left the sanctuary elevated and transformed. Hannah’s spiritual victory, won through the labor of tearful prayers, enabled her to eat the festival meal in peace and hope.
