1 Samuel 1:19-28
We are taught that when we have a
need we go to God in prayer and pray earnestly.
“Ask, and it will be given to you;
seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who
asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will
be opened.
Matthew 7:7-8 ESV
Hannah does a good job of praying.
She prays earnestly to the point that that the priest Eli thought she was
drunk.
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.
1 Samuel 1:14-15 ESV
We need to pause and look at her
response to God and why she was praying for a son. Hannah begs God for a son
because her duty to God and her husband is to have children. God gives her a
son so she can fulfil her duty and glorify God. What is her response? She gives
back to God what he gave her and further glorifies God.
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.
1 Samuel 1:27-28 ESV
Hannah prayed for a son, so that
she could glorify God. She even names her son to glorify God and show God’s
hand in his birth.
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.”
1 Samuel 1:20 ESV
Hannah does not forget her
promise, but does keep it at the appropriate time.
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.”
1 Samuel 1:22 ESV
Hannah did not forget that her
son was from God. It is easy to forget what God has done for us. God wants us
to remember what He has done for us. Hannah knows that Samuel is a gift from
God.
When we come to church and sing
praise songs along with our rituals, they are all worthless if we forget the
grace God has given us.
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.
1 Samuel 1:28 ESV
Hannah gave back to God her best.
There was nothing better she could give. Although she will see Samuel, he is to spend the rest of his life away
from her and his father. Samuel will be God’s for his lifetime.
Christians fast, pray, do good
works not because they are trying to gain something, but because we have
already received our grace and we are expressing our gratitude.
In the parable of the talents in
Matthew 25:14-30. We read about the wealthy man who gives bags of gold to his
servants. His servants invest the money and make more for their master, but
there is one who does not. He has no place in the master’s kingdom.
“For it will be like a man going
on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To
one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to
his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at
once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had
the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent
went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. For to everyone who has
will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has
not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into
the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Matthew 25:14-18, 29-30 ESV
Like Hannah, let us give our best to God in the understanding that this has come from God and the best way to glorify God is to share his blessings with others.
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