Hannah: A Woman of Prayer

Introduction

Raise your hand if you have ever prayed before?

There is such misunderstanding about prayer.

You have the people who approach prayer as if God is some sort of cosmic vending machine. Say the right things, at just the right way, in just right order and you will get what you want.

Others have heard prosperity gospel preachers tell you that if you “have enough faith” you can get whatever you want from God. All you have to do is ask with enough faith and you will get what you want. If you don’t have it, it’s because you didn’t have enough faith.

The simple idea is that prayer is a method to get what we want, when we want it, however we want it. That’s one extreme of misunderstanding.

There’s another extreme of misunderstanding.

Some say that prayer doesn’t really accomplish anything. Nothing is going to change. It doesn’t matter. Just don’t worry about it.

Others will say that prayer is just to comfort ourselves. It’s a spiritual coping mechanism. They say that people pray to make themselves feel better.

This view of prayer takes the stance that it’s simply something that happens in our head. There’s no real substance to prayer.

I firmly believe from scripture, observation, and personal experience that prayer is powerful. It accomplishes great things.

Prayer is not bringing our list of wants to God.

It’s more than bringing our items of need to God.

Prayer is our direct access to the creator of the world.

Prayer is conversing with God.

In prayer, we encounter God and God encounters us.

In prayer, God receives our praises and concerns.

When we approach God rightly, God promises to hear and answer our prayers.

This is the heart of our text this morning. Let’s take a look at Hannah, a woman of prayer, and see what we can learn from this text.

1 Samuel 1:1-20

Prayer

"Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.

Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created and you shall renew the face of the earth.

O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that, by the same Holy Spirit, we may be always truly wise and ever enjoy your consolation;

Through Christ, our Lord.

Amen"

We don’t know much about Hannah except a few pieces of information from our text this morning.

She’s one of the two wives of a man named Elkanah.

Up to this point, Elkanah’s first wife, Peninnah, has had children. Hannah has not bourn any children.

This would have been a very difficult situation. In that culture, a woman’s greatest value was to be able to bare children.

Hannah joins a long line of women in the Bible who were barren: Sarah (Abraham’s wife), Rebekah (Isaac’s wife), Rachel (Jacob’s ‘favorite wife), Samson’s mother, Elizabeth (the mother of John the Baptist).

This situation was so bad that Peninnah would make fun of Hannah for this issue.

Elkanah obviously favored Hannah but there wasn’t much that he could do. He takes Peninnah as a wife to carry on his heritage.

This is all that we really know about Hannah and her situation in our text.

Well, there is one more thing. Hannah turned to God in prayer as she faced this difficult trial and her example of faithful prayer serves as a good example of us today.

Let’s take a closer look at our text.

Hannah--A Woman Carrying a Heavy Burden (Vv. 1-8)

Let’s begin by looking at verses 1-8. Here we see Hannah as a woman who is carrying a very heavy burden.

In verses 1 and 2 we get some of the backstory about Hannah that I shared before. Hannah has obviously wanted a child for a long time but it’s not happened.

As we read verses 3 to 5 we see that they would go to the Temple ever year to make sacrifices to God. Part of those sacrifices was to take a portion and eat it. These verses says that Elkanah would give Hannah a double portion. He deeply cared for her and understood that her barrenness caused her great pain.

Verses 6 to 8 tell us about Peninnah mocking Hannah for her inability to have children. This went on for years and impacted the relationship that she had with her husband.

She was deprived of the opportunity to experience the joy of motherhood.

She was deprived of an heir to care for her in her old age.

She was mocked for all of this.

This was a heavy burden that she was carrying. All of us have burdens that we carry.

Perhaps you have come into this place carrying your burden of sin. You know that God holds you to a high standard. You have tried, time and time again, to meet that standard but you keep failing.

Perhaps, you have come into the place carrying a personal burden. You are going through a difficult time. Maybe it’s a physical need and you don’t know how you are going to make it. Maybe your struggling with a broken relationship with someone. Maybe you are struggling with loss.

Perhaps, you feel that your burden is just something small and that you should try and handle it.

I want you to know that God knows exactly what you are carrying. God is not surprised at what is going on in your life.

I also want you to know that God can handle it all.

There is nothing too big for God—I remember a point in Elizabeth’s pregnancy with Ellie when we thought we might lost her. I spent a significant period of time walking in my backyard in prayer, laying it all out to God. That was a big need and I knew that God cared.

There’s also nothing that is too small for God—I remember when I was Pastor of Antioch Church in Pikeville. We had a little girl whose dog had died of parvo a few months prior. Her parents had just gotten her a new puppy. She asked if she could bring her puppy to church and have us pray for that puppy. We did just that.

There’s no burden, problem, or trial that is too big or too insignificant for God.

Don’t let your burdens weigh you down. Bring them to God in prayer. This is exactly what Hannah does in these next few verses.

Hannah’s Prayer--God, Please Give Me a Son! (Vv. 9-11)

Look with me at verses 9-11. In these verses we see Hannah’s prayer to God.

Verses 9 and 10 record Hannah going into the temple to pray.

Verse 10 says that Hannah was deeply distressed. The Hebrew word used here can be translated as bitter. The idea here is that she was in a deep, dark, and stressful place.

She did the one thing that she knew to do, go to God in prayer.

The scripture mentions her weeping bitterly.

This all puts into focus the passion with which she prayed. She wasn’t worried about what someone would think. She wasn’t worried about how she would look or if she would draw unwanted attention to herself.

She was focused on her prayer to God.

In verse 11 we find what it was exactly that she prayed for.

She prayed for a son.

She promises that if God does give her a son that she we dedicate him back to God.

What we see here is that her prayer ends up not being all about herself. It ends up being about God and the service of God. She was promising to give the very son that she wanted back to God.

Hannah’s prayer was not for her own glory or honor, but for the glory and honor of God.

The type of prayer that God honors is similar.

Hannah’s prayer came from a true desire or her heart. She was passionate about this and she brought her greatest passion to God.

Hannah’s prayer was also not a selfish prayer. Ultimately, her prayer for something that benefit God’s work in the world and would bring glory and honor to God.

Scripture does tell us that God will give us the desires of our heart but we need to make sure that they are God-honoring and in service to God’s kingdom here on Earth.

Hannah’s Prayer--Eli Joins In! (Vv. 12-18)

Now, look at verses 12-18 with me because we catch a glimpse of how Hannah’s prayer impacted Eli.

In verses 12 and 13 we see the intensity of Hannah’s prayer even more. It was so intense that she was moving her mouth but nothing came out. Eli, the priest, thought that she may have been drunk.

In verses 15 and 16 Hannah tells Eli that she is not drunk but that she is pouring out her soul to God. This was not a shallow prayer, something she went quickly to do. She was intent on bringing her burden to God and on spending time in God’s presence.

As we read verse 17 we see that Eli recognizes that she truly is righteous in her actions, he blesses her and joins in her prayer that God will grant her request. Her prayer inspired Eli. He joins in her prayer.

There is something about a communal prayer.

We know that God hears each of us as individuals when we pray.

But...there is something about two, three, or even more, coming together in faithful prayer to God that is just powerful.

Let me give you an example.

We have all gone to God in prayer individually about various people being sick. We know that God has heard our prayers. We know that God has promised to answer our prayers.

Many times, we have come forward and asked to be anointed for those physical sicknesses. The oil is a powerful symbol of God’s promise but the people of faith gathering around to join in prayer at that moment is powerful as well.

I’ve seen this many times.

I’ve seen people come and pray with someone at the altar. They have prayed together and cried together. They have brought that burden to God together.

I’ve seen students at camp come and pray with each other. There wasn’t anything those students could do other than be there for their friend.

I’ll never forget being at the altar at camp praying this past summer and having a couple of campers come up and place their hands on my back, praying for me. They stayed until I finished praying.

I want to encourage you to keep your eyes open to be a part of communal prayer.

You have an opportunity to help a burdened person take that burden off of their shoulders and place upon Jesus.

You also have an opportunity to experience God together.

Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

God blesses these moments with the presence of his Spirit. I’m not going to promise that you are going to have some emotionally charged event but I do believe that God will be there as you pray with and for each other.

God Answered Hannah’s Prayer (Vv. 19-20)

Look at the last two verses of our text. In verses 19-20 we see that God answered Hannah’s prayer and did so by saying yes. Hannah did have a son.

In this moment, God saw fit to give Hannah exactly what she prayed for.

Let me make something perfectly clear. God doesn’t always answer every prayer the way that we would like for God.

I’m reminded of Jesus’s prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane:

“Let this cup pass from me.”

Jesus was facing the events of his trial, crucifixion, and death.

Jesus prayed that this would pass and that he would not have to face it.

Although Jesus prayed that the cup would pass, he also prayed, “Not my will but thy will be done.

Did Jesus have to face trial? YES

Did Jesus have to face crucifixion? YES

Did Jesus have to face death? YES

God’s plan was to provide salvation for sin through these horrible events. God said no for a purpose.

I’m also remined of Paul as he prayed for the “thorn in his flesh” to be taken away. We don’t know exactly what it was but God did not take it away and actually used it to teach Paul and others to trust in God in the difficult moments.

God may not answer our prayers the way we want but God does hear and answer every prayer that his children offer up to him. God is God and knows that RIGHT answer to every prayer.

Like a good parent being asked for a sweet by their child.

Sometimes we saw yes--it’s appropriate at that time, maybe we are rewarding them for something good or we just want to see them happy.

Sometimes we have to say no--they don’t need that sweet or it may even be bad for them.

Sometimes we have to tell them to wait--we are not telling them no but we are telling them to hold on, they will get the sweet at the right time.

God answers our prayers in a similar manner

Yes

No

Wait

Conclusion

Hannah's prayer teaches us a great deal about prayer.

Bring your burdens to God in prayer—God calls us to come to him with our burdens. God promises to take those burdens upon his shoulders and to work on our behalf.

When we pray, seek God’s honor and God’s glory; make this the point of your prayer. We don’t pray to get God to serve us. We pray as an act of worship to God.

Look for opportunities to come together with others in prayer.

Understand that God does answer our prayers.

In these next few moments, we will have an opportunity to respond. Perhaps that response is prayer.

Prayer to God for salvation—come and offer God a prayer where you express your repentance and faith.

Prayer surrendering to God’s calling on your life—come and commit to God in prayer

Bringing a burden, worry, or trial to God.

I want to do so our time of response a little differently this morning. I am going to sing our song of response myself. During this time, I want you to spend some time in prayer with God. Whatever you need to go to God in prayer about, do just that. Hold nothing back. I hope that you will take advantage of this sweet moment of prayer to God.

CLOSE THE SERVICE AFTER THE OFFERING WITH HAVING EVERYONE GATHER AROUND THE ALTAR