May 21, 2017 Hannah's Prayer by Conley Owens

Hannah’s Barrenness and the Need for Redemption

There are many books written on prayer, and there are many books, if you go to a Christian bookstore, you'll find many books that are written about biblical prayers. So books on the Lord's Prayer, there's a very popular book on the prayer of Jabez.

There are books on David's prayers and the Psalms, and these books are designed to look at some biblical pattern. And we observe how the prayer prayed, and we see how we should pray. And then maybe if we pray the way that people in the Bible pray, our prayers will be answered.

Now, I looked it up, and there are many books written on the prayer of Hannah. I have not read any of them, so I don't know what they say. But I think the answer to making sure that all your prayers are answered is right here in the prayer of Hannah.

So if that sounds too good to be true, well, then pay attention, and maybe you'll find out. All right, let us begin. If you don't mind me reading this again, let us read the first few verses of Samuel.

There was a certain man of Ramathim, Zophim, of the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuth, an Ephrathite. He had two wives. The name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other, Peninnah.

And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. Now, this man used to go up year by year from the city to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the Lord.

On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to Peninnah, his wife, and to all her sons and daughters. But to Hannah, he gave a double portion because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb, and her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb.

So it went on year by year. As often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she used to provoke her. Therefore, Hannah wept and would not eat. And Elkanah, her husband, said to her, Hannah, why do you weep?

And why do you not eat? And why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than 10 sons? So Hannah's problem is that the Lord has closed her womb. She is barren. She doesn't have a child. And in that culture, that would have been very shameful.

And even many times in our culture, it's shameful. And this afflicts her. In fact, the reason why Elkanah has two wives is likely because Hannah is barren. Hannah, if you notice, Hannah seems to have special favor from Elkanah.

So it's likely that she is his first wife. If you remember the story of Sarah and Hagar, the reason why Abraham marries Hagar is because Sarah was barren. This is likely why there are two wives. However, as I said, Elkanah expresses special compassion to Hannah.

As they go up year by year to this festival, he gives her a double portion. Now, this portion is not simply to be sacrificed and left at that, because it would not make sense why that was something special.

Part of the sacrifice is eaten. So this means that she has more food to eat. But even though she has more food to eat, even though her husband has special compassion on her, she does not eat. She is too sad to eat because she has no children.

And year by year, as her husband expresses this special compassion, the other wife, Peninnah, is jealous and lashes out at Hannah by persecuting her, by picking on her. And this is a pattern we've seen before in scripture too.

I mentioned Hagar and Sarah. Hagar, when she finally had a child, then began to despise Sarah. If you remember Leah and Rachel, Rachel is the favored wife, and Leah takes it out on Rachel by picking on her for being barren.

And so that pattern is there. And I think another way to think of Hannah's problem is that what she needs is not just to have a child. She needs redemption, redemption from shame, redemption from all her burdens.

And if you think about it, Hannah's problem is not too different from our problems because I think all of our problems basically boil down to a need for redemption. Redemption means to be bought. And in the biblical context, that often means to be bought out of slavery.

And often it means to be bought out of the slavery to sin. Now that is not always slavery in the sense of, I'm a slave to sin, and so I keep on sinning, and I need someone to keep me from sinning. Often it is slaves to the effects of sin.

All suffering, anything that is sub-ideal, any lack of prosperity, barrenness, your health problems, finances, your relationship situations, anything that you desire to be corrected, that is an effect of sin.

All of us require redemption from sin, and all of our prayers are prayers for redemption. So there is some identity between our prayers and Hannah's prayer. Her prayer is for redemption from her shame.

Our prayers are for redemption from any of the effects of sin that afflict us. Now, people turn to all sorts of things to fix their problems with the effects of sin. They most often turn to man. You know, other men seem like the kind of people who can help fix your problems, but oftentimes they can't.

Think about Hannah's situation, barrenness. What person at that time could fix barrenness? Even in our own time, there are only limited fixes for barrenness. And a lot of people turn to very powerful men, like kings, government.

There's a short story written by Kurt Vonnegut named Harrison Bergeron, and the premise of this story is that this is some time in the future in this dystopian world, and in order to make everything fair, in order that no person has any special kind of shame, the government decides that, you know, if someone is too beautiful, they put a bag over their head, or if someone is too strong, they put weights on them.

Now, this is silly, and I know people don't try this kind of thing, to fix people's problem. However, if you are trying to make a fair world, a world where nobody is below anybody else, this is honestly probably the best approach that I could think of that has any chance of succeeding.

Man is entirely incapable of solving the problems, the effects of sin. You have to turn to someone greater. Only God can do the impossible. Let us continue reading with verse nine. After they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh, Hannah rose.

Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the Lord. She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly, and she vowed a vow and said, O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life and no razor shall touch his head.

As she continued praying before the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was speaking in her heart, only her lips moved and her voice was not heard. Therefore, Eli took her to be a drunken woman, and Eli said to her, how long will you go on being drunk?

Put your wine away from you. But Hannah answered, no, my Lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord. Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman.

For all along, I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation. Then Eli answered, go in peace and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to him. And she said, let your servant find favor in your eyes.

Then the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad. They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord. Then they went back to their house at Ramah, and Elkin knew Hannah, his wife, and the Lord remembered her.

And in due time, Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel. For she said, I have asked for him from the Lord. So in verse nine, it says, after they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh, Hannah rose.

So they're at this festival where they're making special sacrifices. And then after they had eaten and drunk, of course, Hannah is fasting. She hasn't actually eaten. After they have eaten and drunk, she goes to the temple.

So they have already most likely even been at the temple doing these sacrifices, but she comes back afterward. She comes back in private, and it shows her sincerity. You know, it's one thing to pray only when we gather for Wednesday night prayer, or to pray when we're having corporate worship during the service, or to pray with your family.

These times it's easy to pray. However, it's another thing to be really sincere and to go to God one-on-one earnestly, as Jesus said, you know, in your closet. That is, if you earnestly desire something from the Lord, I urge you to do as Hannah did, and to go to him in private to make your request known.

Not only does she go in private, but she exalts the Lord. She refers to him as the Lord of hosts in verse 11. And she vowed a vow and said, "'O Lord of hosts.'". Now, in all the scripture, this chapter is the first time that we ever see this title, Lord of hosts.

It's in verse three, and it's here in verse 11. God is the Lord of hosts. What are hosts? A host is an army, and specifically for God, it's an army of angels. God is powerful, and he commands an army of angels.

So she's acknowledging him as the one who is powerful enough to solve her problems. Now, not only does she exalt God, she also humbles herself. Let's keep reading verse 11. "'If you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant "'and remember me and not forget your servant, "'but will give to your servant a son.'".

She refers to herself three times as a servant. She exalts God, and she calls herself a servant. She humbles herself. And beyond that, she makes a vow to the Lord. "'Then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, "'and no razor shall touch his head.'".

She commits herself that if God gives her a son, she will give the son back. She knows that a good prayer is a prayer that glorifies God. A good prayer is a prayer that is not prayed simply for selfish reasons, but understands God's prerogatives.

You know, Romans 8 .28 says that all things work together for good to those who love God. Now, I can't imagine that verse being true if what that means is that all things that happen in the world directly are for my good.

How does a leaf, you know, fluttering in Asia, how is that for my good? However, if we understand this to mean that all things work together for the glory of God, and all those who love God are benefited by God being glorified, that makes sense.

And so a good prayer is a prayer that is not only considers your needs, but considers God's glory, because that is a prayer that benefits all God's people. And so she vows that she will give a son back to the Lord if the Lord gives her a son.

And she does this here at the entrance of the tent of meeting. It says in verse nine, now Eli the priest was sitting at the seat behind the doorpost of the temple of the Lord. This is fascinating because this is actually the very, if she is to dedicate her son as a Nazarite, she says that no razor shall touch his head.

Remember how Samson has no razor touch his head? He's a Nazarite, right? It's someone who's dedicated to the Lord. If she is to dedicate her son to the Lord, she has to bring him there to the entrance of the tent of meeting there at the doorpost.

And so she is saying that if you give me a son, not only will I give him back to you, but I will do so at this very place that I am right now. And Eli observed her, and he thinks that she's drunk. Now, for a long time, I never really understood this because I see people mumble to themselves all the time, and it's not really a big deal.

However, it's not saying that she's mumbling to herself. She's talking silently and her lips are moving. And I imagine it's a little more than small movements. It's probably, you know, I'm going to look really goofy doing this, but something like, you know, it's, that looks like it might be someone just trying to feel how their lips move or something.

It doesn't look like someone talking. And so Eli sees this, and he recognizes her as a drunken woman. Now, this does more than just, you know, give us a little amusing comic relief in the middle of the chapter.

It lets us know the depth of her grief and her sincerity. She is moved to such a degree that her lips are moving without even speaking. And she says, do not let me be called, do not consider me a worthless woman.

This is how Hannah has felt, you know, her whole life. This is what she's trying to get out of being a worthless woman who has no children. So she does not want Eli to consider her a worthless woman. Literally, this phrase is daughter of Belial.

And this phrase is used several more times in 1 Samuel. It's used to speak of Hophni and Phinehas, the evil sons of Eli. It's used to speak of those who oppose God's appointment of a king. They're all called sons of Belial.

And so she is saying, do not consider me a worthless woman. I desire to be more than worthless. And so Eli responds to her and says, may God grant you your petition. And how does Hannah respond? Immediately, she responds in faith.

She responds, you know, not having any other indication that this is going to come to pass. She responds immediately as though it's going to come to pass. She responds by immediately being happy. She immediately begins to eat again.

She ceases to fast. Everything has changed for her. She's responding in faith. And then when the son comes, she responds in faith even more so. She names him Samuel. Samuel meaning something along the lines of his name is God.

Not that Samuel's name is God, but that the one who gave her Samuel, his name is God. And all this amidst all the obstacles in place. And there's more to these obstacles than we initially see. Yes, Hannah is barren and that's something very difficult, but the author of 1 Samuel has spoken in a way to kind of raise the tension of what's going on.

So she wants to dedicate Samuel to the Lord, right? In order for him to, you know, if you know that he's supposed to be in the temple as Samuel will be, that doesn't really work out if he's an Ephraimite.

And we have, you know, in this first verse, you know, he's going to be a descendant of Zeus, the Ephrathite. And many of your versions of the Bible say Ephraimite. Same word here, but two different meanings.

An Ephraimite is of the tribe of Ephraim and he would not be able to serve in the temple, but an Ephrathite just lives in the land of Ephraim. And so actually Samuel can, but it doesn't appear that way at first.

1 Chronicles 6 makes it clear that Samuel is actually in Zuth. Zuth is a Kohathite, a Kohathite being of the tribe of Levi, that special family that's able to minister in the temple. Now, not only that, but we also see with no other reason for this appearing, the two sons of Eli in verse three, Hophni and Phinehas, they're ministering there in the temple.

Now, if you're reading this when this was written, it is quite likely that you will know who these people are and that they're not good people. But even if you don't, their names are Egyptian names. And so that kind of tells you that they're not of good stock.

Now, Aaron had a grandson named Phinehas who was godly, but barring him, these names don't give you the impression that we're talking about godly men. And so you've got this temple full of wicked men.

You've got Hannah who wants to have a son coming from the land of Ephraim and she wants him to minister in the temple. She goes there to have this prayer answered. It doesn't seem like things are going to work out the way this chapter is written, but lo and behold, God does wish to replace Hophni and Phinehas.

God does wish to give this woman from Ephraim a son who will minister in the temple. These are good things. Now, the world would say that it is foolish to trust as Hannah has trusted. Remember, she responds in faith even before she receives any answer to prayer, knowing that God has heard her.

However, if you do not trust in the Lord, what hope do you have? No one else can fix barrenness like the Lord can. No one else can fix problems like the Lord can. And if you trust in men, for example, if you have a health problem and you trust in a doctor, the only reason the doctor has any ability to heal is simply because the Lord has given the doctor the skill to do so.

The only reason anything has any reliability at all is because a perfectly reliable God sits underneath them as a foundation. Let us continue. There's, I would say that you must call out to God. However, there is a bit of a glaring problem in all this.

If I read verse 17 again for you. Then Eli answered, go in peace and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to him. All right, we don't have any Eli to come to us and to tell us, hey, your prayers are going to be answered.

Okay, we don't have that. We don't. In fact, I cannot guarantee you that if you pray to God, he's going to answer you the way you want. In fact, you know, given Hannah's prayer, a lot of people that have been in this place have prayed Hannah's prayer, right?

They have wanted a child and have not received a child. So what's wrong there? Do they have a different God than Hannah? Did they pray differently than Hannah? I don't think any of that's the problem.

God answers people in different ways. And if you have received all the answers to your prayers, then either you are a liar or you just don't pray very often because, you know, any person who spends some time in prayer recognizes pretty quickly, God doesn't give us everything we want exactly how we want it.

I talk to people occasionally who tell me that they wish that they lived in Old Testament times because back then, you know, people talked to God and God spoke right back to them and gave them what they wanted.

Well, no, that's not really how it worked. We've got a large Old Testament, but it only covers a small portion of that history. And it was, these are some very special moments that it's covering. Most of the time, it was just like things are often for us where we pray and sometimes God answers and sometimes he doesn't.

So what do we do? See, we need not so much a special method of prayer to make sure that all our prayers are answered. We need a different mindset about what prayer is and what an answer to prayer is. And I think we start to see some hints at that mindset as we continue reading.

Let's look at verse 21. The man Elkanah and all his house went up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice to pay his vow. But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, as soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him so that he may appear in the presence of the Lord and dwell there forever.

Elkanah, her husband, said to her, do what seems best to you. Wait until you have weaned him. Only may the Lord establish his word. So the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him. And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah flower, and a skin of wine.

And she brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh. And the child was young. Okay, so we have them going back. The next year comes. And if Hannah's conceived around this time, then maybe Samuel is three months old.

And Hannah, while she loves going to this festival, does not want to go this year, because if she goes, she won't be ready yet to give Samuel over to the Lord. And so she would like this to be a more momentous occasion.

So she decides to wait until it's the appropriate time, and then she will go up to the festival. And Elkanah says that this is okay with him as long as she does indeed fulfill her vow. And this is all that concerns him.

It's all that concerns her, as long as she fulfills her vow. And so when she's finally weaned him, which in that culture was maybe three years or something like that. Finally, you know, he's a young child.

She brings him back to the Lord. And these items she brings, she brings wine and flower and a young bull. These things are all, they're not just sacrifices to be brought for the festival, but they are things brought for the dedication of Samuel.

They're things brought so that they can dedicate him as a Nazarite before the Lord. So there's a little more to this story than just this. 1 Samuel is a continuation of other books in the Bible. Before this, we've had Genesis, we've had Joshua, we've had lots of stuff.

And we had judges, and we've had a brief interlude in Ruth, but 1 Samuel pretty much picks up on the history of the judges and what was happening in the judges, in the book of judges. You have this constant cycle, this constant pattern.

The people turn away from the Lord. They begin to serve idols. God sends enemies after them. The people finally repent, call out to God. He sends them a judge to lead them on to military victory. The judge dies, the people turn away from the Lord and serve idols, et cetera.

And it keeps going and going and going, judge after judge, after judge, after judge. And things get pretty bad in judges. And at the end, everything is in a mess. And one thing judges ends with, if you go ahead and turn over a few pages, in Judges 21, 19, it says, so they said, behold, there is a yearly feast of the Lord at Shiloh, which is north of Bethel.

On the east of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem and south of Labona. Now, what's going on there so much doesn't concern us, except for what I've mentioned, that things are in a bad state.

But they mentioned this festival right at the end. They're trying to figure out how to deal with their problems. You know, they're talking about more or less their need for redemption, to stop being oppressed by all these people around them.

And they're talking about this in the context of this festival. And we pick up in 1 Samuel, where we're right back again at this festival in Shiloh. We're right back again. And this time, instead of the big issue of the nation's need for redemption and the oppression of enemies, we're focused in on this little microcosm of Hannah and her need for redemption and the oppression of her enemy, Peninnah.

And she's calling out to God. And what is it? And so her answer to redemption is a little bit more than that. What is it that the people were crying out for in judges? Even if not explicitly, what is it they wanted?

They needed a better judge. And Samuel is going to be a better judge. Samuel, in addition to being a good judge, he's going to be a great judge in the sense that all the other judges only judged a little portion of Israel.

For Samuel, all the people of Israel from large distances are going to come to him for wisdom. He's a special kind of judge that covers the whole land of Israel. But that's not the only thing that the people are calling out for.

The people need something more than a better judge. They need a king. Because see, that problem with that cycle is that when the judge died, the people were without leadership once again began serving idols.

And they don't have a military leader to lead them on to victory. The difference between a judge and a king is when the king dies, there's a son. And when he dies, there's another son. And this keeps going.

So the people are not without a leader. And so the king's reign in theory is forever. It keeps going. And Samuel is the answer to this too, because even though he is not a king, he is going to be the one to establish the king.

He is going to establish David, the first Davidic king. So Hannah's prayer is not just an answer to her, the answer to her prayer is not just for her prayer, not just her need for redemption. It is the whole nation's need for redemption.

I mentioned that Ruth was a bit of an interlude, but if you look at just the last few verses of Ruth, that's the book right before Samuel, says, now these are the generations of Perez. Perez fathered Hezron, Hezron fathered Ram, Ram fathered Amminadab, Amminadab fathered Nashon, Nashon fathered Salmon, Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed, Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David.

So Ruth is building up to this as well. They need a king. Ruth tells us who that king is going to be. And then first Samuel tells us how this is all going to be enacted so that that king, David, will be established to answer the people's need for redemption.

Hannah, Elizabeth, and the Pattern of Barren Women

Now, this story is even bigger than just that continuation from the past. It also goes off into the future because the people find a need for redemption once again. You know, they have a good king, they have David, and then they have Solomon.

Things start going downhill. Eventually, the people are captured and sent off to Babylon. And at that point, there's no king. And then later, people are occupied by Greece. They're occupied by Rome. There is no king.

And so once again, the people find themselves calling out for redemption, calling out for this reproach of being oppressed by enemies to be removed. And so I'd like us to turn to Luke, where the story picks up again.

If you look at Luke 1, we're not going to read the passage that Joss read to you. We're going to read before that, if I can ever find it. All right. Luke 1, let us begin at verse 5. In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah of the division of Abijah.

And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron. And her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.

Now, while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of the people were praying, outside at the hour of incense.

And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.

And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord, and he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.

And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.

So here you have a continuation of this story, a continuation where the people have lost their king and they need it to be restored. But once again, you have this microcosm of not the people's cry out for redemption, but Zechariah and Elizabeth's cry out for redemption.

And think about all the similarities. You know, you have these barren women who would like a child. You have Kohathite parents. Remember, Zechariah is ministering in the temple, so it means he's a Kohathite.

You have this answer being given in the temple. You have the children being dedicated as Nazarites. Did you hear what the angel said about not drinking? That means that he's going to be a Nazarite. And you also have a song.

At the beginning of 1 Samuel, you know, we haven't read it and we're not going to, but at the beginning of 1 Samuel, Hannah sings to praise God. And she sings a song about how God has flipped the world upside down.

He has made the lowly exalted and he's humbled the proud. And right when Elizabeth announces to Mary that she is going to have a child, Mary sings an almost identical song. She sings about how the Lord has flipped the world upside down, he's exalted the lowly, he's humbled the proud.

And the song is often called the Magnificat, if you've ever heard that name. You have all these parallels and there's more to it than that because what is John the Baptist's purpose? His purpose is to judge the people.

Yes, give them wisdom, you know, tell them to repent. But more than that, it is to establish a king. It is not to establish the first Davidic king like Samuel was given to do. It is to establish the final Davidic king.

John the Baptist establishes Jesus Christ. So even though Hannah's prayer and even though Elizabeth's prayer and Zechariah's prayer are all for their own little personal problems, the answer to all these things is the answer to a much bigger problem, a problem of the whole people.

And Jesus Christ is the answer to everyone's need for redemption. It is an answer to all the people of God, Jew and Gentile alike. Because we all need redemption, we all need to be freed and bought out of the effects of our sin.

Jesus Christ, who paid the penalty for our sin, did that, bought us the redemption that we need. So here is the answer to how you can have all your prayers, how you can have all your prayers answered.

You should pray as though all your prayers have been answered in the gospel because they have. All your prayers for redemption are answered in Jesus Christ. Now, it may be the case that God gives you the specific answer that you're asking for.

He may give you the child that you want or the health that you want or the finances or the fixed relationship issue. But when he does so, that is only a taste of the redemption that you can have in Jesus Christ.

Here in this world, here in this world, by being freed from the guilt of sin, but then also the promise of what we will have eventually, being freed entirely from all the suffering and all the effects of sin.

And if he doesn't answer you the way you want, he will comfort you. If you are a believer, he will comfort you that you have all you need in Jesus, even if you don't get what you want. This is the answer to have all your prayers answered.

It is to recognize that an answered prayer is not necessarily getting what you want. An answered prayer is finding everything you need in Jesus, having those tastes of Jesus. Now, you might ask me, well, why would I continue to pray than if I've already got everything I need, if all my prayers are already answered?

Well, here's the thing. First of all, if there is something that you desire, it is unlikely God's going to answer it if you don't seek him for it. And like I said, these answers to prayers are tastes of the redemption that we have in Jesus.

So you will not receive these tastes of the redemption that we have in Jesus if you do not seek him. And then on those occasions when God does not answer your prayers, on those occasions when he does not answer them the way that you would have him to answer them, if you hadn't prayed, he will not, it is unlikely that he will comfort you.

By seeking him, by going to the Lord in prayer for all our needs for redemption, we can be comforted by the Lord, finding everything we need in Jesus. And that is what we do when we pray. We pray conforming ourselves to what God would have us to be, people who find everything we need answered in Jesus Christ.

So I would suggest that you pray. You pray knowing that your prayers are already answered in Jesus. And if you don't, you are like a man who, a poor man who lives in a house of gold, not realizing that he's surrounded by wealth.

This is good stuff. Otherwise, your prayer life is just a cycle of purchasing lottery tickets. You know, maybe this one will work, maybe this one will work. No, every prayer is answered in Jesus Christ.

And this is excellent because that means that my prayers, my prayers are effectual every time. Every time I pray, I have an answer. It is not just up to the winds of arbitrariness whether or not my prayers do anything.

I'd like us to continue reading. We were in verse, sorry, back in 1 Samuel, we were in verse 25. Then they slaughtered the bull and they brought the child to Eli. And she said, oh my Lord, as you live my Lord, I am the woman who is standing here in your presence praying to the Lord for this child I prayed.

And the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him. Therefore, I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord and he worshiped the Lord there. So you have Hannah and Elkanah worshiping the Lord.

In fact, even Samuel is old enough here at this point to begin worshiping the Lord. Some take this as just him, you know, worshiping the Lord eventually when he's able to, but given that Hannah has not sung her song yet that she sings there, I think this is Samuel worshiping the Lord right there in that moment.

And if she gives back this son because she has gotten the son, what is it that we have in our redemption? It is our lives. We need to give back our lives to the Lord. We owe him everything. If you think about the history of mankind, ever since the fall, ever since Adam first sinned, there have been the effects of sin in our life.

And if all of these things we need redemption from, and it is in Jesus Christ that finally all these things are answered. And if all these things are answered, then that is a reason to give our lives.

That is a worthy cause. And when we pray, you know, I started off talking as though we want to pray like Hannah, but we don't have to pray exactly like Hannah. We don't have to pray wondering whether or not God is going to answer.

And I think of David who, in his psalms, often prayed, and then before the prayer is answered, he has comfort in the Lord, that the Lord will answer him. We can pray even better prayers than that because David did not know what form that redemption would take.