WOMEN IN THE WORD: HANNAH

Hannah wasn’t known as a great Sunday School teacher. Her name isn’t remembered because she sang a solo in the Easter cantata. Nor is she known as a great philanthropist or sacrificial giver. She wasn’t the child of royalty or wealth or power. Her husband wasn’t a king, a priest, or a prophet.

Hannah is remembered and memorialized because she had a great need for which she fervently and persistently prayed. Hannah was childless and she begged God to allow her to conceive.

She didn’t pray just once or twice. “Year after year … she went up to the Lord’s house” (1 Samuel 1:7) “to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of Armies” (1 Samuel 1:3). Hannah’s prayers weren’t of the one-and-done variety.

Her prayers were urgent! Her pleadings were desperate! She cried out to the Lord! “Hannah prayed to the Lord and wept with many tears” (1 Samuel 1:10).

She trusted God’s Word! “The Lord … hears the prayer of the righteous” (Proverbs 15:29). “The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit” (Psalm 34:18, NKJV). “Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble” (Psalm 10:17, NKJV). She believed.

Faithful to His word, God answered! Hannah bore a son and named him Samuel, meaning “requested from God” or “God has heard.”

Beyond her faithful praying, Hannah was known for something else. Just as Abraham offered his beloved son on Mount Moriah, Hannah offered her miraculously-born son as a living sacrifice. She gave all she had… her only son… her very best!

“I prayed for this boy, and since the Lord gave me what I asked him for, I now give the boy to the Lord. For as long as he lives, he is given to the Lord” (1 Samuel 1:27-28).

So, we learn two lessons. Pray! Pray hard! Pray persistently! Pray faithfully. And… demonstrate your faith by giving God your very best!

Thanks Hannah!

“… think on these things” (Philippians 4:8, KJV).