The story of Hannah shows us the power of prayer and faith.  She is a character in the Bible who inspires us to continue in faith despite hard times.  She also inspires us to endure hardships, because God will eventually make it better.  Furthermore, her story teaches us to make sacrifices to God and He will multiply the sacrifice.  Here are highlights from her story:

 

1. Hannah was a woman married to Elkanah (1 Samuel 1:1-2).

   1. They were of the children of Israel.

   2. Hannah was not the only wife in the household.

   3. Elkanah had a second wife named “Peninnah”

      1. Peninnah was blessed with children.

      2. However, Hannah was not blessed to become a mother yet.

2. Every year, this family made of Elkanah, Hannah, Peninnah, and Peninnah’s children would go up to the town of Shiloh to make an animal sacrifice to the Lord God (1 Samuel 1:3-5).

   1. Shiloh was where the Tabernacle stood at the time (Judges 21:19) (Dehoff, 1987).

      1. The Tabernacle was a huge tent where the priests would sacrifice to God for the people.

      2. After the animal sacrifices were done, the children of Israel would eat and celebrate together.

      3. Unfortunately, Hannah was very sad, because she did not have any children of her own.

      4. It broke her heart that she could not have children for years within her marriage to Elkanah.

      5. Out of compassion for Hannah, Elkanah would give her double the amount of the food at the yearly feast, because he loved her and he knew about her sadness over being childless.

3. Unfortunately, Hannah’s sadness would be worsened by Peninnah (1 Samuel 1:6-8).

   1. Peninnah would irritate her by teasing her.

   2. Peninnah was teasing Hannah for not being able to have children.

   3. The sadness of being childless and teased by Peninnah made her cry often.

   4. Even Elkanah could not truly understand her pain or offer real comfort to her.

      1. We should never kick a person when they are down as we say in the United States.

      2. As Christians, we are to offer encouraging words to a person to help make them feel better and not worse (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).

      3. This is a part of loving people as we would love ourselves (James 2:8).

      4. Peninnah’s behavior was shameful and sinful in God’s eyes.

      5. As a result, we should never treat anyone the way Peninnah treated Hannah!

      6. Make a vow in your heart today to treat others right!

      7. This is pleasing and acceptable in the sight of God!

4. As all Christians should do, Hannah took her concerns to the Lord (1 Samuel 1:9-19).

   1. The Bible shows us that she was praying and weeping at the same time.

   2. She said the following sweet words to the Lord in her prayer, “…Lord Almighty, if you will only look on your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head” (New International Version).

      1. She made a promise to God if He would grant her a child during her lifetime.

      2. She made a vow that all parents should vow.

      3. That is, when we become parents ourselves, we must be determined to raise our own children in the Lord.

      4. We must teach them the Bible so they know how to live right in God’s eyes.

      5. We must teach them how to behave so God would be pleased with them (Ephesians 6:4).

      6. We must also teach them how to be faithful by always bringing them to worship service like we are supposed to always go to worship service consistently ourselves (Hebrews 10:25).

      7. This is why Hannah said she would never cut the child’s hair.

         1. This was the Old Testament way of making someone a Nazarite.

         2. A Nazarite was a special type of person in the Old Testament days who had to live an especially holy life to please God (Numbers 6:21) (MacArthur, 2005)!

         3. So, Hannah was vowing to give the child back to God so the child could serve Him in the most holy way possible!

         4. She was planning to be a good mother as we should always have this plan for our own children if the Lord Wills for that moment to come in our lives in the future.

   3. Now, getting back to the story, while Hannah was praying, the High Priest, Eli, saw her praying but did not hear any words coming out of her mouth.

      1. Unfortunately, he thought she was drunk as her lips were moving but nothing was coming out.

      2. Hannah told him that she was not drunk, but praying in a very troubled spirit.

      3. In other words, she was pouring out her heart to God!

      4. After speaking to her for awhile, Eli wished her well and that God would bless her.

5. The blessing in the story thus far is that after Elkanah and the family returned back to their home, God did grant Hannah her wish!

   1. She gave birth to a boy named “Samuel!”

      1. Remember, this a testimony to the power of prayer.

      2. God can and does grant anything we ask for that is according to His Will (1 John 5:14-15).

      3. Nothing is impossible for Him (Luke 1:37).

      4. Also, always do what Hannah did in her time of distress, which was to pray about the situation.

      5. Not only does prayer give us our requests, but it calms us down so we feel better afterwards by the power of almighty God (Philippians 4:6-7).

6. The end of 1 Samuel 1 shows Hannah fulfilling her vow to the Lord (1 Samuel 1:21-28).

   1. When Samuel was old enough, she gave him to Eli the High Priest of the Tabernacle.

      1. Samuel was raised there in the Tabernacle and learned how to serve God there from a young age!

7. In I Samuel 2, we see Hannah offering a prayer of gratitude to God (1 Samuel 2:1-10).

   1. Remember, never forget to give thanks for what God has done.

   2. This is what He wants from you and me.

   3. It is also the least we can do as all of our blessings come from God (James 1:17).

8. The Bible shows that Samuel did serve in the Tabernacle service after his parents left him with Eli to fulfill their vow to the Lord (1 Samuel 2:11, 18).

   1. Although Hannah had to fulfill her vow to God by leaving Samuel at the Tabernacle, God’s mercy allowed her to see him each year.

      1. She was blessed to come up every year to the annual sacrifice.

      2. She would bring him a little robe each time she was blessed to see him (1 Samuel 2:19).

   2. Also, there was very good news for Hannah and Elkanah.

      1. The Bible says the following, “20 Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, saying, “May the Lord give you children by this woman to take the place of the one she prayed for and gave to the Lord.” Then they would go home. 21 And the Lord was gracious to Hannah; she gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord” (1 Samuel 2:20-21 New International Version).

      2. For her sacrifice of giving up Samuel, God blessed her with many more children.

      3. This must have comforted her dearly for her sacrifice!

      4. Remember, God is always there to comfort us when we have hard times.

      5. Never forget that, because God will make it eventually better if you continue to trust Him no matter how bad things seem!

   3. Lastly, the Bible tells us that Samuel continued to grow up physically at the Tabernacle, but most importantly, because he was righteous, he had the favor of both the people and God (1 Samuel 2:26).

 

In conclusion, we would do well in pleasing God if we imitate the high points of Hannah’s character.  As you can see, having faith, an active prayer life, and being willing to make a sacrifice pleases God and causes Him to bless us!  Are you willing to take on this challenge of faith, prayer, and sacrifice in your life?  If so, you will not regret this awesome decision!

 

 

 

 

REFERENCES

 

Dehoff, G. (1987). Dehoff’s commentary volume II: Old Testament history. Murfreesboro: Dehoff Publications.

 

MacArthur, J. (2005). The MacArthur Bible commentary. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.