The Prayer of Hannah
05/09/04 AM
Text: 1 Samuel 1:1-20
Introduction
Happy Mother’s Day!
Q: How many here have either been a mother, or have had a mother?
Some of you will catch that on the way home.
I admire mothers, and having had the incredible experience of witnessing the birth of my kids, I especially admire my wife. But as a dad I have limited insight into what it means to be a mother, like it was at the birth of our kids, I am a spectator to the spectacle. I am fortunate to have two very excellent examples of the best of motherhood in my own mother and in my wife. So when I knew I would be filling in on Mother’s day I started surveying the bible for possible sermons and I came across the story of a Mom with a message for everyone. The story and the sermon are about The Prayer of Hannah.
The Story of Hannah 1 Samuel 1:1-20
Hannah was a mother who didn’t just get married and start having kids. A number of women know the heartache of not being able to conceive. Hannah knew that heartache. The Lord had closed her womb, and she had a rival in another wife of her husband who tormented her because of her lack of children. Hannah wants to be a mom in the worst way, let’s look at her story: 1 Samuel 1:1-20
The lesson Hannah has for all of us, and what we are going to focus on, is the nature of her prayer to God. I want to focus on the nature of her prayer, because all of us can learn from her prayer, whether you are a mother or not. Let’s explore the lesson of The Prayer of Hannah:
There are at least three principles I want us to put into practice from Hannah’s prayer, and the first is to…
I. Pray Persistently
A. Hannah prayed for a son.
1. She purposed in her heart to beg the Lord to give her this blessing.
a. Anyway, she was not going to be dissuaded, even in the face of the encouragement of a husband who loved her and saw her pain, and expressed his love for her.
b. And she persisted even in the face of persecution and ridicule. Her rival was merciless in her ridicule and taunting.
c. She persisted even in face of the high priest, who seeing her lips move as she prayed, thought she was drunk.
1) And when he saw the heart of Hannah, he blessed her and expressed his hope that her request would be granted.
2. Persistently as Jesus taught in His parable of the widow - Luke 18:1-8
3. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
4. Her lesson to mothers, and to all of us, is to pray persistently.
a. The Bible says that if we pray according to the will of God, He hears, and He grants that what we have asked.
b. God had a plan for Samuel before the beginning of time. Hannah was convinced that God was capable of opening her womb, and to use her son to His glory, which He did.
c. Samuel went on to become the last judge of Israel, and anointed both Saul and David as kings of Israel.
So, pray with persistent intent. Second…
II. Pray Purposefully
A. Hannah prayed not just for a son.
1. But not just a son, but one who would grow up to be a servant of God, promising to give him over to the service of the temple after he was weaned.
a. Let’s stop there for just a moment. She prayed for this boy, and then gave him over when he was weaned, probably when he was two or three.
b. I can’t imagine what it must have been like for Samuel’s mother to do that, after praying for him for so long, nursing and nurturing him, and rejoicing in the provision of God.
c. But she did it anyway. It was in accordance with what she had prayed beforehand.
2. Jesus said: Matthew 6:7-13 (teaching prayer); Matthew 26:42 (in the garden) “Your will”
3. With the right motives “You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives…” James 4:3a
4. Back to our point. She could have said, “Give me a son, so I can be happy.” “Give me a son so my husband will be happy.” “Give me a son so I can shut up that other woman.” “Just give me a son.”
a. But she went beyond that. She knew what she wanted, and prayed purposefully for it.
5. There is no reason for us to be nebulous in our prayers.
a. We can be bold in asking God for specific needs and concerns. Get beyond, “Bless him or her.” Pray for a specific blessing.
b. A lot of people pray that God would “be with” somebody. “Lord, be with brother so and so today.” Now, if they know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior, then God is with them.
c. Pray that God would do something in that person’s life! Anyway, we need to pray specifically.
6. One last thing before we get into the next section. Sometimes we don’t know how to pray for someone.
a. Sometimes we get a burden and we don’t know what’s going on. Or sometimes we are facing a situation and we don’t know how to pray for it.
b. That’s okay, because we have a helper sent from God:
In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. Romans 8:26-27
But whenever possible, pray specifically. Next…
III. Pray Positively
A. Hannah’s attitude was one of positive expectance.
1. She knew she was praying to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the one who had delivered Israel from the clutches of Pharaoh, and had brought them to the Promised Land.
2. She knew that God was capable of bringing her request to fruition, so she prayed expecting Him to do it.
3. God has given us many great and precious promises in His Word, that we can claim and expect God to fulfill in our lives.
a. And while Hannah is not claiming a promise of God from Scripture, we can learn from her attitude.
b. Pray like God can do it. Expect Him to keep His Word. Expect Him to bring loved ones to Christ, or to bring them back.
7. Matthew 7:7-10
4. Now remember, God doesn’t promise to always answer our prayers the way we want, but He does promise to answer.
5. But pray with the idea that the all-powerful God is listening, hears your heart, and is willing to act on your behalf, just as He did in the case of Hannah.
Conclusion
I mentioned before that while this is mother’s day, and that while we were looking at the prayer of a mother, the principles would be universal.
It’s true. We can all pray persistently, purposely, and positively.
Now that’s something to consider, whether you are a mother, father, uncle, aunt, or whatever. Others can be impacted by your prayers.
Pray persistently. Pray purposely. Pray positively.
INVITATION
