As I’ve shared with you previously, Humility + Faith + Intimacy with the Father = Powerful Prayers. In this post we will unpack a story that includes a prayer life that reflects this process of prayer. The story of Hannah is ultimately a story of how prayer and obedience go hand in hand. 

While In college in the Upstate, a group of us would go to the nearby town of Boiling Springs, SC for Sunday services pretty frequently. Every once in a while they’d hold a baby dedication ceremony during service.  The pastor, who was this really cheerful but really old feeble man who was probably about 150, would take the baby in his arms from the mother and parade it around on stage to show off to the congregation. As feeble as that pastor always looked, we’d be afraid he was going to drop one of those babies, but he’d lift that baby up like he was Simba on The Lion King and present it to the world. The second verse of “Because He Lives” would always play in the background. You know, the one that goes, “how sweet to hold a newborn baby.”  I always half expected him to bust out singing “It’s the circle of life!”

There are lots of ways to dedicate your child to the Lord or recognize parents and their God given responsibility to share Christ with their child. But in today’s passage, we will look at a woman who cried out from the depths of her heart with a great desire and her obedience to God after the Lord indeed answered her prayer. 

You’ll find Hannah’s story in 1 Samuel 1-2. There are three main issues with Hannah’s trouble. First, she had no son to carry on her husband’s line and provide for her after his eventual death. This would have been a serious problem for her in ancient times. Producing an heir was her source of societal value and her source of income and provision in her later years. Being barren, she may have been thought of us broken or lesser than. Elkanah’s other wife, Peninnah, certainly saw her that way.

Which leads us to Hannah’s second problem. Peninnah made her miserable. She was constantly taunting her for her state and reducing Hannah to tears. Her husband does not even understand her pain so there is no one to empathize or properly comfort her. She is alone and helpless in her suffering. 

Thirdly, if we paid attention to Elkanah’s ancestry here and compared them to the family line given in  1 Chronicles 6, we will learn that he was a Levite. Hannah’s son would have also been a Levite, which was a holy honor, Hannah’s ability to give birth to a Levite would have also provided her with a sense of honor. Levites were responsible for leading the rest of Israel in religious worship and keeping of the Law of Moses. Without a son, she was perceived as a nobody. 

But Hannah would become a prominent example of devotion and obedience to the Lord. Elkanah was a faithful Levite who worshiped the Lord regularly and brought his family to worship also. Though Hannah was downcast about her situation, she was confident in the One who could overcome her condition. 

After Hannah goes to worship with her husband in Shiloh, we find her praying with the priest, Eli, nearby. This is a curious scene we see between Hannah and Eli, the priest. Hannah is so deep in prayer that Eli assumes she is drunk. She is weeping and in great anguish and decides to take her concern to the Lord. And even in this moment she is seen by another in a negative way. The priest himself thinks her to be a drunk woman who stumbled into the temple. 

This serves as a good reminder that even when the most righteous person cannot see your need, the Lord sees. Even when the holiest of companions cannot hear your prayers, the Lord hears. Notice what it says in verse 12, “While she continued praying in the Lord’s presence.” You see the Lord was the third person in this scene. He was there. He was watching her cry. He was listening to her prayers.

Sometimes we suffer in silence. Sometimes the deepest desires of our hearts remain hidden, but they do not remain hidden from the Lord. He knows. He sees. 

And Hannah’s prayer was powerful. She displayed both humility and faith in this moment. More than once she referred to herself as the Lord’s servant. In original translations she was using a word that described female household slaves. She came to the Lord in complete surrender. 

Even her prayer and vow to God were indicative of complete surrender. Hannah made two promises to the Lord. 1)  I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and 2) his hair will never be cut. These were the vows of a Nazirite reserved for a special time of consecration to the Lord. But the Nazirite vow was usually temporary. But Hannah was so surrendered to God that she promised to Him that the child would be given to him all the days of His life and consecrated to the Lord for a special purpose. 

Hannah was completely dependent on the Lord for her situation. And she was completely surrendered to Him. She was completely confident in the Lord’s ability to hear her and answer her. 

After receiving a blessing and benediction from Eli, she took it as a sign that God had heard her prayer. So confident in this outcome, she went back to her family, ate, and was no longer sad. Her prayer had not even yet changed her circumstances but it had changed her. 

When you are waiting on a prayer to be answered and you’ve truly given it to the Lord – if you’ve truly stepped into His presence – you have no need to worry over it any longer. Hannah knew something we should all learn. God doesn’t immediately change the story, but he does change our spirits. 

We don’t simply go to God because we have a need. We go to him for a new perspective on things. There was a popular Christian song in the 90’s that reminded us of this truth. The lyrics say, “Sometimes He calms the storm

With a whispered peace be still

He can settle any sea

But it doesn’t mean He will

Sometimes He holds us close

And lets the wind and waves go wild

Sometimes He calms the storm

And other times He calms His child”

Eventually, the Lord does change Hannah’s story. A son is born to her. And not just any son. Samuel plays an important role in the Old Testament narrative. He is the last of the judges of Israel and first of all the prophets. The Lord saw her humility, saw her faith, saw her willingness to come to the Father in her time of need and he honored her greatly. 

And what was her response to answered prayer? Another prayer, of course! This one not of tears and anguish but of joy and triumph.

1 Samuel 2:1-10, “Hannah prayed:

My heart rejoices in the Lord;

my horn is lifted up by the Lord.

My mouth boasts over my enemies,

because I rejoice in your salvation.

2 There is no one holy like the Lord.

There is no one besides you!

And there is no rock like our God.

3 Do not boast so proudly,

or let arrogant words come out of your mouth,

for the Lord is a God of knowledge,

and actions are weighed by him.

4 The bows of the warriors are broken,

but the feeble are clothed with strength.

5 Those who are full hire themselves out for food,

but those who are starving hunger no more.

The woman who is childless gives birth to seven,

but the woman with many sons pines away.

6 The Lord brings death and gives life;

he sends some down to Sheol, and he raises others up.

7 The Lord brings poverty and gives wealth;

he humbles and he exalts.

8 He raises the poor from the dust

and lifts the needy from the trash heap.

He seats them with noblemen

and gives them a throne of honor.[a]

For the foundations of the earth are the Lord’s;

he has set the world on them.

9 He guards the steps[b] of his faithful ones,

but the wicked perish in darkness,

for a person does not prevail by his own strength.

10 Those who oppose the Lord will be shattered;[c]

he will thunder in the heavens against them.

The Lord will judge the ends of the earth.

He will give power to his king;

he will lift up the horn of his anointed.”

Maybe your prayers today are filled with anguish and longing. If you continue with humility and faith, the Lord will turn those prayers into ones filled with rejoicing and exaltation. 

But like Hannah, you must be completely surrendered to the will of the Lord. All she wanted was a child. She so badly wanted a son that she was willing to give him back to the Lord if only she could hold him in her arms for a little while. Her will was in total subjection to Him. 

And in the midst of our prayers, we can know that the Lord hears. He may not answer in the timing we desire or in the way we want, but he answers us. 

Whenever you are praying through a storm and your heart is troubled, know the storm is not meant to last forever. But in the meantime, trust in the Peace Speaker. He is right there in the boat with you. He may not calm the tempest but he will comfort you. 

Whether he calms the storm or calms the child, He can be trusted. He can be trusted. Do you trust him?