Hannah - an Epoch Making Vessel — Stephen Kaung

Hannah's Prayer and the Birth of Samuel

Will you please turn to 1 Samuel, 1 Samuel, chapter 1. We will read the first chapter. 1 Samuel, chapter 1. And there was a certain man, Arimatheon Zophar, of Mount Ephraim. And his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tehu, the son of Zuth, and Ephrathite.

And he had two wives. The name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other, Panina. And Panina had children, but Hannah had no children. And this man went up out of his city from year to year to worship and to sacrifice to Jehovah's host in Shiloh.

And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of Jehovah, were there. And it came to pass on the day that Elkanah sacrificed, he gave to Panina his wife and to all her sons' and daughters' portions.

But to Hannah, he used to give a double portion, for he loved Hannah. But Jehovah had shut up her womb. And an adversary provoked her much also to make her fret, because Jehovah had shut up her womb. And as he did so year by year, as often as he went up to the house of Jehovah, she provoked her thus.

And she wept and did not eat. And Elkanah, her husband, said to her, Hannah, why weepest thou? And why eatest thou not? And why is the heart grieved? Am I not better to thee than ten sons? And Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh and after they had drunk.

Now Eli, the priest, sat upon a seat by the doorpost of the temple of Jehovah. And she was in bitterness of soul and prayed to Jehovah and wept much. And she vowed and vowed and said, O Jehovah of hosts, if thou will indeed look on the affliction of thy handmaid and remember me and not forget thy handmaid, but will give unto thy handmaid a man child, then I will give him to Jehovah 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 Jehovah, that Eli mark her mouth. Now Hannah spoke in her heart. Only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard.

And Eli thought she was drunken. And Eli said to her, how long will thou be drunken? Put away thy wine from thee. And Hannah answered and said, no, my lord. I'm a woman of a sorrowful spirit. I have drank neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before Jehovah.

Take not thy handmaid for a daughter of burial, for out of the abundance of my grief and provocation have I spoken heretofore. And Eli answered and said, go in peace. And the God of Israel grant thee thy petition, which thou had asked of him.

And she said, let thy bondwoman find grace in thy sight. And the woman went her way and did eat. And her countenance was no more as before. And they rose up early in the morning and worshiped before Jehovah and returned and came to their house at Ramah.

And Elkanah knew Hannah, his wife. And Jehovah remembered her. And it came to pass when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived that she bore a son and called his name Samuel, saying, because I have asked him of Jehovah.

And Elkanah, her husband, and all her house went up to sacrifice to Jehovah, the yearly sacrifice and his vow. But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, I will wait until the child is weaned.

Then will I bring him that he may appear before Jehovah and there abide forever. And Elkanah, her husband, said to her, do what is good in thy sight. Abide until thy has weaned him. Only may Jehovah fulfill his word.

And the woman abode and gave her son suck until she weaned him. And she took him up with her when she had weaned him with three bullocks and one ephah of flour and a flex of wine and brought him to the house of Jehovah to Shiloh.

And the boy was young. And they slaughtered the bullock and brought the boy to Eli. And he said, oh, my Lord, and as thy soul liveth, my Lord. I am the woman that stood by thee here to pray to Jehovah.

For this boy I prayed. And Jehovah has granted me my petition, which I ask of him. And also, I have lent him to Jehovah all the days that he lives. He is lent to Jehovah. And he worshiped Jehovah then.

Dear Lord, we want to praise and thank thee for the privilege of being invited to thy table. How we praise and thank thee for the immense love that thou hast loved towards us. Thou who are the greatest, the highest, the God, the only God.

And yet thou has given thyself to us totally. Dear Lord, we are grateful. And we just come to thee and say thank you with all our hearts. And as we continue in thy presence, Lord, we pray that thou will open thy word to us, speak to us, and enable to see thy heart, thy plan, that we may join ourselves to thee and allow thee to work out thy purpose, even in people like us.

We ask in thy precious name, amen. Well, brothers and sisters, my burden is still with the theme that we had during the summer conference. God is looking for an epoch-making vessel. We know that we are at a change of a tremendous age.

The Epoch-Making Vessel and the Coming Kingdom

God is going to change this age of grace, which has lasted for over 2 ,000 years, to the age of the kingdom of the heavens. Every sign indicates that this change is imminent. And as we are living during this tremendous transaction, what is it that God is looking for?

He is looking for that epoch-making vessel, not an individual, but a corporate vessel. And I believe this is something tremendously essential and important to each and every one of us. God is looking for you, for me, for every one of us, to be that vessel that he's able to make that change.

So this thought has been with me all these times. This morning, I'm thinking of Hannah. But before I do that, I would like to share with you something that happened at the beginning of the last century.

The Welsh Revival and Travail in Prayer

We know that in 1904 to 1905, there was a tremendous revival that affected the whole world. It was the Welch revival. God was working in such a tremendous way that in many places in Wales, the judge had no case to judge.

Many miners came to the Lord. And after they came to the Lord, they no longer cursed. You know, they used to curse. And when they are using their donkeys, they curse. But after they believe in the Lord Jesus, they no more curse.

And the donkey couldn't understand them. It was such a tremendous revival. So many came to the Lord. But the instrument that God used during that revival was a young miner. He was 26 years old, Evan Roberts.

While he worked in the mine, he always brought his Bible with him. Whenever he had opportunity, he would read the Word of God. He was never absent to any meetings, especially prayer meetings. Why? Because he was afraid that should the Spirit of God came upon the people and he was not there, what a mistake it would be.

So he never missed a meeting. Once, a number of them were praying. And the burden of the Lord came upon him. He cried out to the Lord, Ban me, ban me, ban me. And after that, he prayed. Ban the church and save the world.

Out of such travailing prayer, the Lord began to work in such a marvelous way. In 1970, I was invited to New Zealand to speak to a group of people. And these people were the remnants of the Welch revival.

So brothers and sisters, the Lord is looking for an epic making vessel. And what can the Lord do with such poor people as we are? So this really stirred me up. And for that, I was thinking of Hannah. If you are familiar with the history of Hannah, you know her husband was Elkanah.

Even though he lived in Mount Ephraim, and yet he was a Levite. Because it was the custom of that time, wherever the Levites lived, they were considered as people of that place. But actually, he was a Levite.

And he had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. But Peninnah had sons and daughters. But Hannah had no children. Now, brothers and sisters, today with us, he means nothing. But with the children of Israel at that time, it was a tremendous challenge.

Why? Because according to the Old Testament, if you are blessed by the Lord, then the womb of your wife will be blessed. You will have many children. You were surrounded, as it were, with the children at the table.

That's a promise. We find not only in Deuteronomy chapter 28, verse 4, but also in Psalm 128, verse 3. So according to the Old Testament time, if you love the Lord, if you're loved by the Lord, you will be blessed with many children.

But here you find Peninnah, she was not a devout woman. And yet she had sons and daughters. While Hannah, who loved the Lord, had no child. Now, of course, the name Hannah means grace. And in the Bible, you'll find the name of a person has meaning.

In other words, here you'll find a sister. She was grace. In other words, before God, she received grace. She was gracious. She loved God. She was a woman of grace. And yet, in spite of her piety, she had no child.

It was a contradiction. It seems as if God did not keep his promise. And while this happened to Hannah, it was tremendously difficult. And not only that, but because Peninnah often laughed at her. You have no child.

And especially when they went to the temple to offer sacrifice, she used that opportunity to stir up Hannah. And we do not know how many years passed by with such thing happening. So Hannah was praying.

She was a praying woman. And she brought her case to the Lord, seeking the Lord, asking the Lord to correct this strange situation. Brothers and sisters, how often we find when God is going to do something, he may do it in a very mysterious way.

God always moves in a mysterious way, wonder to perform. So here you'll find Hannah prayed and prayed and prayed, and there was no answer. But thank God, she did not give up. She continued to pray. But thank God, somehow God began to reveal to her.

As she was thinking of her own need, God was trying to tell her that God has a need. So after all, she began to realize that. She realized that God had a need just as she had a need. And most likely God was going to supply that need through her.

But it is not for her. It is for God. Brothers and sisters, how often in our prayer we are only thinking of our own need. But sometimes you find God did not answer. And you wonder why is it. Maybe, most likely, God had a need.

And he wants to meet that need through you. So here you find Hannah began to realize that God had a need. And he began to pray. So one year, when they went to the temple, and the same thing happened to her.

She was stirred, and she went to pray before the Lord. But she prayed silently. In other words, her lips moved, but no voice came out. But she was praying earnestly. And she said, Lord, if you give me a man child, I will give it back to you.

While she was praying, Eli, the priest, was there. He noticed that his mouth was moving, but no sound came out. So Eli thought that she must be drunk. So he told her, how long will you be drinking? Put away your wine from you.

And then Hannah said, I'm a woman in sorrow. I'm praying. And Eli said, may the Lord grant you your request. And she believed. And immediately you find her attitude changed. She was no longer in sorrow.

Her countenance was no more as before. And he ate. And then the story continued. They went home, and she conceived. And she gave birth to a child. She called the child Samuel. Now we know that Samuel was an epic-making vessel.

Because he was the one who changed the age of the judges to the age of king. Now often when our prayers are answered, probably we were so happy with the result that we will forget that it is connected with God's will.

And we begin to enjoy our prayer answer. But not Hannah. Here you find Hannah was faithful to what she promised God. So she brought up the child until he was weaned. And then he brought Samuel to the temple and let him serve God in the temple.

Prevailing Prayer as Cooperation with God's Will

So that's the story. So brothers and sisters, what we learn from this story is before God does anything, there needs prevailing prayer. Whenever God is going to do something, he is always waiting for prevailing prayer from his people.

He will share his secret with those who are close to him, as we find in Psalms. The secret of the Lord is with them who are close to him. God will reveal his mind, his secret, to those who are close, near to him.

And then his people will take up that burden and pray. And when they did that, he was laying down the railroad track so that the mighty rail can run through that track. So this is what prevailing prayer really is.

Brothers and sisters, as we look at the book of Revelation, we find time again the Bible mentions before God is going to do something special, he is waiting for the prayer of his own. For instance, if you turn to Revelation 5.

In Revelation 5, we find that our Lord Jesus, as the lamb slain, he stood before God, receiving from God the scroll, which is the title deed of this earth. And then in verse 8. In other words, it is the prayer of the saints that brought in the seed.

And then you see in Revelation 5, you see how our Lord Jesus in his ascension, he will receive from God that little book which is the title deed of this earth. And he's going to open that sealed book.

In other words, to bring this earth back to God. And how did it happen? You find the prayers of the saints. Those whom the Lord has given that burden and they pray for it and the result was God was able to do what he intended to do.

And again you find in chapter 8, the same thing. In chapter 8, you know that after the seventh seal, the Lord is going to open the seven trumpets. But before that, in verse 3. A much incense was given to him that he might give efficacy to the prayers of all the saints at the golden altar which was before the throne.

In other words, you find again, you find the prayer of the saints. But because the prayer of the saints are weak, so you find more incense was added to give it efficacy to the prayers of the saints. Now what is that incense?

Of course, it is the prayer of our Lord Jesus. He as the great high priest, he is praying before the Father and his prayer is added to the prayer of the saints and that caused the change of time from the seal to the trumpets.

A Call to Heartfelt, Burdened Prayer

So brothers and sisters, here you find that whenever God is going to do something, whenever God is trying to change the time, he always shares his burden with those who are close to him. And those who are close to him will take up that burden and pray through with prevailing prayer.

It is not just common prayer. Lord, brothers, sisters, when we come to the prayer meeting, sometimes we just go through the motion. We are praying but our heart is really not in it and such prayer will avail nothing.

Only the prayer that really comes from the heart, from a heart that is touched by God, that we really have a burden in us. And we try to discharge that burden through prayer. And this is prevailing prayer and that is what God is looking for.

So brothers and sisters, I feel that by every indication, we know that the change is imminent. This world cannot go on anymore. The Lord is coming soon. But the secret is, are his people really travail in prayer?

Are we so busy with our own things that we forget God has his need and his need can only be met by his own people. Will we at his people take up the burden of our Lord and really pray through so that the change may come and not be delayed.

So brothers and sisters, this is the burden of my heart and I want to share with you and I don't think there's anything else I can say. So may the Lord give us such prevailing prayer. Dear Lord, we praise and thank thee because thou hast saved us.

But Lord, thou hast saved us not just for our own enjoyment. We believe that thou hast saved us with a purpose. Thou want to use us as instruments, as vessels, to bring in what thou hast in thy heart.

O Lord, oftentimes we pray, come Lord Jesus. But our prayer seems to hit the ceiling. It does not go through. Pray Lord that thou will not allow us to just go through the motion. Pray that thou will make us thy people means business.

If thy grace shall come upon us and shall open our hearts to see thy calling, calling us to pray with prevailing prayers. O Lord, may it be so among us. We believe thou hast saved us with a purpose. Lord, we want to offer ourselves to thee for thy purpose.

So do pray that thou will share thy secret, thy burden with us and enable us to really come before thee and pour out our hearts in prevailing prayer. Lord, remove any hindrance that stand in the way of thy imminent return.

And pray Lord that thou will come. We wait for thee in thy precious name.