 Tonight we're going to look at the heart of Hannah as we look at two of her prayers and you know ladies our prayers I don't know if you ever stopped and listened to yourself pray Just what am I praying and you know that your prayers reveal a lot about your heart And so tonight we're going to look at two of her prayers And we're going to look at the heart of Hannah as seen through her prayers And I trust it will be a type of type of a time of self-examination For your own life to look into your own heart and what does your heart reveal About you and the way you pray and then tomorrow morning I'm really looking forward to our first lesson when I started this session last year with my ladies This is the prayer we started with the one we're going to start with tomorrow morning because I wanted my women to understand Just who this is they are praying to and ladies if you don't have a right theology of who God is Your prayers are going to be very shallow And I think that's why a lot of women run around with anxiety and worry and frustration Because they do not know the God whom they're praying to and so tomorrow morning We're going to look at one of David's Psalms. It's a beautiful Psalm. It's a psalm of pure praise and it is nothing But exalting God and who he is and so we're going to look at this awesome God that we pray to and Then after that we're going to look at a prayer that has become I think a favorite of many and that is You know many times the Lord says no and I'm sure all of you could say that there are things that you've been praying about for years and years and years and years and God doesn't answer and You know there was someone else in the scripture that same thing happened to in his name is Paul and He had this you know thorn in his side and God said no I'm not going to answer your prayer and so we're going to look at the righteous attitudes as well as the actions that you and I should have when God says no I'm not going to answer this prayer and so hopefully that will encourage you doesn't mean you give up praying We are to be persistent in prayer, but there are those things that God does not answer Then I don't know do I get to eat or do I still have to maybe maybe okay, so I think one more session before lunch And that's going to be Jehoshaphat's prayer what to do when you don't know what to do And I'm going to give you 11 of principles on what to do when you don't know what to do And that was Jehoshaphat's problem and he didn't know what to do But he prayed and he turned his eyes to the Lord and so we're going to learn 11 things on what to do when you don't know what to do in life just seems overwhelming and I like what Elizabeth Elliott says she says when you don't know what to do just do the next thing So whatever that is do it But we're going to learn some different things from Jehoshaphat and then after lunch We'll do a Q&A and then we're going to end tomorrow with I think it was I think Debbie said That's when we ended last year and she said I think that was my favorite one and Learning some numerous principles from Nehemiah's prayers. I don't know if you know but Nehemiah prayed 11 times in that short little book We're only going to look at one prayer his first prayer But I'm going to leave you tomorrow afternoon with some principles for your prayer life that I think will will change the way you pray so hang with us and You know I hope you get some good rest tonight And if you don't have some coffee in the morning and and we'll get going as Nikki said I can talk very fast So if I see the time go slipping away, then we'll we'll start talking fast, but Anyway for tonight turning your Bibles to first Samuel first Samuel and we are going to consider Hannah's first prayer and we're going to look at the heart of Hannah as revealed through her prayers According to recent statistics about ten percent of women in the United States That are of the childbearing age are Unable to conceive a child now ladies There's nothing new under the Sun right because this was the same in the biblical world There were many women in the Bible that were not able to have children Hannah is one that we're going to look at tonight Sarah Rebecca Rachel Saul's daughter Michael Samson's mother the Shunamite woman and Elizabeth These are just some of the women in the scriptures that were not able to have children And in fact, it's interesting as I was looking at the research on there on this as to why women can't have children The theories out there are just downright weird I won't even share some of them with with you But there are some weird theories out there as to why the infertility rate is so high in the United States of America But we as Christians in fact if we as reformed believers We believe that God opens and shuts a wound right would you say that that's true God is sovereign He opens and he shuts a wound now even though we believe that just like we believe God is sovereign in salvation He calls soon whosoever he will He ordains some to eternal life. He elects some before the foundation of the world Even though we believe God is sovereign in salvation We still pray for the lost right even though we believe God is sovereign and in opening and closing a womb We still pray. Why do we still pray? Why do we pray if we believe God is sovereign in opening and closing a womb? Why should I even pray about having a child if I believe God is sovereign in salvation? Why do I pray and evangelize to the lost? Well, because what we are commanded to what pray about? Everything right everything we're to pray about everything And so we pray about everything and then we wait and we wait to see what God does ladies We obey we trust God with the outcome whether it suits our will or not God is interested in our heart and as we come to our first lesson on prayer We're going to see the heart of a precious woman named Hannah who was childless and in this lesson We're going to consider her first prayer and then I guess you don't get a break. So I'm really sorry about that I don't either and so right after that we're going to get into her second prayer in Chapter two and this will be after she has the child conceives the child And then we will consider her second prayer after conceiving this child So you have an outline there before you we're going to look at Hannah's hurting heart her humble heart her hopeful heart and Her heavenward heart. So let's begin with verse one of chapter one by peering into Hannah's heart and notice her hurting heart Verse one says now there was a certain man of ramath and Zophim of the mountains of Ephraim and his name was Al-Khina The son of Jehoram the son of Elohu the son of Tohu the son of Zuf and Ephraimite and he had two wives The name of one was Hannah and the name of the other Panina Panina had children, but Hannah had no children So we learn from this verse Al-Khina's the husband of two wives Now that might seem very odd to you because we live in the 21st century in the United States Where polygamy is not legal at least not yet But don't I don't hold your breath too long because it could be just around the corner with everything else that is happening I expect that to be the next thing that is going to be implemented into our government But in the Old Testament polygamy was permitted Deuteronomy 20 went 2115 Talks about that in fact it even talks about if a man has a wife and she can't bear him a son Or a daughter. He is allowed to take another woman as his wife So Al-Khina had two wives Hannah was barren Panina had children now interesting Panina means precious stone Hannah Means the favored one and indeed she was favored Look at verse 3 goes on to tell us a little bit more about Al-Khina the husband of these two wives This man went up from a city yearly to worship and sacrifice to the Lord of host in Shiloh Also, the two sons of Eli Hopni and Paninas the priests of the Lord were there now Al-Khina goes up to worship He takes his family Every man was required by the law to go up to the house of sacrifice To worship every year and they would take an animal and they would slaughter it to make an atonement for their sins and notice here they sacrifice and Worship and look very carefully at who they worship because this is going to be very important in just a minute they worship the Lord of Host and why is that important? Well, this is a title that is given to the true God in Contrast to the false gods of the day, but hold on to that in just a minute because I'm going to show you another Reason why it's important now It's also mentioned in this verse if you look very carefully Eli's two sons were there Now if you've ever read first and second Samuel, which if you haven't shame on you, you better read it Hopefully you read the whole counsel of God from Genesis to Revelation But we know if you know anything about Eli's sons from first Samuel to 12 They were evil and they were worthless. They were committing adultery with women on the temple doors I mean these guys were taking stuff that was not even belonging to them And so because of their evil God killed them God killed them and I do not think it is a Coincidence that they are mentioned here in first Samuel because Hannah probably knew of their reputation You know, they were like those preachers kids that are always the worst kids no offense kiss but I remember when I was growing up of his preachers kid to Karen wherever you are and You know out of the seven of us. There's only two of us that are redeemed and we were some of the worst kids ever and But Hannah knew of this of Eli's sons She knew of their reputation and as she prays for a son. I imagine she's saying if I you give me a son I don't want him to turn out like Eli's kids They're pretty bad Well, Elkina makes his offering and he does something that might seem odd to us in verses four and five Whenever the time came for Elkina to make an offering He would give portions to Panina his wife and to all her sons and daughters But to Hannah he gave a double portion for he loved Hannah although the Lord had closed her womb now What is a portion? Well a portion was a part of the offering which belonged to the one who was offering it Which would have been who Elkina the husband of these two wives. He was offering the animal He gets a portion of it We know the breast and the right shoulder Belong to the priest and the fat belong to the Lord. I always come to that verse I go, why did all the fat belong to the Lord? I give him some of mine, but I know it's because it smelled good That's why the fat belonged to Lord if you ever, you know, that's probably the favorite part of the meat that I like D I don't know what that is, but it just tastes good and it smells good But the fat belonged to the Lord and the right breast and the shoulder belong to the priest But the one who offered it in this case was Elkina. He got a portion Of the the animal that was sacrificed and so he would take that portion And he would offer it to his family and to his friends and this would be a time of Communion and worship to the Lord as an atonement for their sins and notice in this verse He gave Hannah a double portion Gapinina one portion, but Hannah double for two reasons number one He loved her it says and number two I think because he felt sorry for her Because the Lord had closed her womb and she had no child the ladies This show of favoritism obviously was unwise on Elkina's part Because it more than likely contributed to the other woman Panina Provoking her look at verse six her rival provoked her severely to make her miserable Because the Lord had closed her womb now the rival was obviously who Panina and she provoked her severely You know what this means in the Hebrew? She raged Against her she raged against her. I had a woman a few weeks ago I was speaking in a different state and and she came up to me during the lunch hour and she said I want to talk to you and I want to talk to you outside and I go Okay, I'm in trouble indeed. She did she got her Bible verse and she was doing this and and she was she was raging on me And I thought I think she's gonna hit me and sure enough she grabbed my shoulders and started shaking me and and she was in a rage And that's kind of probably what this means. I mean she Panina was provoking Hannah In fact the Hebrew word could mean that actually she even got physical with her She might have got a little rough with her like that lady got with me a few weeks ago And and I was thinking well, I am bigger than her. I think I can take her out, but Anyway, I tried to diffuse the situation and get back inside real quick before she punched me out But she was really angry at my teaching. So praise God for that. But anyway All of this made Hannah miserable she was miserable which means she's agitated think about it ladies Added to the disgrace of not being able to have a baby You have this other woman that is provoking you all the time Nanny nanny nanny now you can have a baby, you know, I can you can't and probably even getting physical with her You know, we're gonna look at Hannah's heart, but you know, Panina's heart is also revealed here How senseless how awful how wicked to kick someone while they're down, you know Panina's heart is evil. It's haughty and it showed itself in her actions by raging and provoking Hannah Now nothing in the text indicates Hannah returned evil for evil You know what Hannah is a reminder of to me Something that Amy Carmichael once said she said this if a sudden jar can cause me to speak an inpatient unloving word Then I know nothing of Calvary's love Nothing of Calvary's love So it was verse seven year by year when she went up to the house of the Lord. She provoked her Therefore she wept and did not eat ladies. Can you imagine this provoking was year by year by year? I can't even imagine I was thinking about that in light of what happened to me a few weeks ago I don't you know, that'd be really hard I was able to fly back and get back home and leave, you know all that to them But can you imagine year after year after year somebody provoking you and ladies Hannah had three Chances and they were not to do evil. You know what she did she wept she fasted and She prayed she prayed now ladies For the Jewish woman to be barren Was a sign of God's displeasure To the Jew they would say God must not be favorable toward you. You must be in some type of sin So this was humiliating for Hannah not to mention on Panina's ongoing provoking of her and all this made her very sad Can't blame her right? Of course Elkina her husband could not understand her sorrow and notice what he says to her Hey, why are you weeping? Why don't you eat? That's what I'll be saying tomorrow. Why can't I eat? Why is your heart grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons? Her husband didn't understand the ladies we should not fault him okay Men and women are different God made us that way in fact I was just telling Alicia that Doug and I were doing some premarital counseling last fall and and I just knew counseling this young girl I was like she has no idea she thinks she's got marriage. It's in a wrong picture of marriage So they got married and then we they came back and we still meet with them once a week for discipleship and I said How's it going? She goes it's hard And I said I told you you had a wrong view of marriage. I knew you're gonna be in trouble and And it doesn't mean that a husband shouldn't live with his wife in an understanding way and try to understand her but men and women are different and Hannah's husband thought he was as good as ten sons aren't I as good as ten sons? What's wrong with you? Now on a side note, I remember when I first got married I don't think I'd been married a year when my husband said to me and at that time I wanted to you know claw him, but I didn't but he said you know Susan God didn't make me to meet all your emotional needs so don't expect me to and you know back then I thought well, that's not a nice thing to say you know the what the bride of your youth But you know looking back that was a very wise thing my husband said God did not make a husband to meet his wife all of her emotional needs and ladies We must guard against that we must guard against it that our husband our children do not become Idols and I know marriage is a blessing. I've been married 42 years almost marriage is a blessing children are blessing Grandchildren are blessing. I have seven of them. They're great But we must realize we cannot love father sister brother mother children husband more than God Well, what do we learn about Hannah's heart? Her heart is hurting for two reasons if you're taking notes She's barren which was a disgrace for a Jewish woman and she's being badgered by the other wife of her husband Now how did Hannah respond to these two hurts? Well, she didn't return evil for evil and she didn't become angry at God either She did something else and once again. We get another glance in the Hannah's heart in verses 9 to 11. We see her humble heart So Hannah rose after they finished eating and drinking and Shiloh now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat by the doorpost of the tabernacle of the Lord now ladies even though Alkina had given her the two portions. She hadn't eaten them yet evidence by verse 18 If you let your eyes look over there the woman went her way then she ate after the prayer She has still not eaten. She had not eaten anything yet She had not drunk anything yet and ladies. She was probably getting weak remember she had to do this 15 mile walk I haven't told you that yet, but it's 15 mile walk to where they had to go up to sacrifice And so, you know walking that long and she was fasting. She hadn't eaten anything yet She hadn't drinking anything yet. And so she was probably getting very weak and Needed to take some nourishment, but she had to do something else first. She needed to pray Hannah needed to pray and so Eli obviously noticed her He's sitting there on the seat by the doorpost of the tabernacle which was just a elevated seat kind of like this a throne And he's sitting there as a priest would do and notice what it says in verse 10 She was in bitterness of soul and she prayed to the Lord and she wept in anguish Ladies even though Hannah was in bitterness of soul her bitterness led her to pray and weep Now the word for pray here means to intercede and I have to tell you over the years as a biblical counselor I have met a lot of women who are bitter And you know the last thing they want to do is pray They don't want to pray and yet, you know what that's the one thing they should be doing, right? First of all, they should be repenting, but they should be praying asking God to give them a love for the person they're bitter against Ladies our bitter hearts should drive us to our knees and cry out to God for help Bitterness should drive us to pray not to dismay and The weeping in anguish here indicates a sorrowful weeping ladies Hannah's just not like oh him me a little Kleenex She's weeping. She's in anguish. She's pouring out her heart to the Lord. She's heart broken. She's grieved Well, what did Hannah pray? Well, we have her first prayer that she made here in verse 11 It's one short prayer and yet when we come to the second prayer in just a minute It's ten times longer the one we're gonna see in chapter 2 Why do you I say that ladies? We must remember the length of our prayer is not what makes it righteous, okay? It is the heart of the one who is praying short prayers do not indicate shallow Christians But neither do long prayers make what mature Christians in fact Jesus even rebuked the Pharisees You know for pretense you make long prayers so everybody can see how spiritual you are And so we need to keep that in mind here. She makes a very short prayer chapter 2 a very long prayer Well, here's her prayer in verse 1 or 11 She made a vow and she said oh Lord of hosts if you will indeed look on the affliction of your maid servant Remember me. Do not forget your maid servant give your maid servant a male child I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life and no razor will come Upon his head now ladies Hannah not only makes a Nationality praise here, but she makes a vow and vows are very very serious. We don't it's very unfortunate in our day We don't we're not women of our word Our yes is not yes our no is not no, but in the biblical world a vow was very serious Hannah would be bound to this vow that she's making to God Unless her husband God are out of it That is the only way according to numbers 30 that a married woman could get out of a vow Was if her husband gave her the release from that But you know why Solomon said something about making vows to Ecclesiastes 5 when you make a vow to God Do not delay to pay it for he has no pleasure in fools Pay what you have vowed. It's better not to vow Than to vow and not pay and we know from Jesus and from his half-brother James We are to let our yes be yes and our no no least we fall into condemnation let our yes Be yes our no be no list we fall into judgment ladies That is serious and that is something that we I you know I don't know about you, but nobody's word can be trusted anymore even in the church, you know And that's terrible. That's a terrible indictment on the church When we tell someone we're gonna do it we should do it right especially when we make a vow to God We better pay it Now it's interesting She starts her prayer with calling God the Lord of Hosts because this was the same name What used in verse 3 when they were offering the sacrifice? This is the same God. She's just worshiped and she calls him the Lord of Hosts and ladies. This is important. Why? Because Hannah worshiped the true God and Ladies if you don't worship the true God, you might as well hang up your praying, right? Because God does not listen to the prayers of sinners. We know that God does not hear sinners John chapter 9 So Hannah, that's very important when we pray. We must pray to the true God Ladies Hannah's devotion and love for God is amazing here when you consider her prayer If you give me a child if you give me this thing I've longed for I've wept for Then I'm not gonna keep him for myself. I'm gonna give him back to you If you look on the affliction of your handmaiden your female servant I Will give this child back to you. I love that she calls herself a servant ladies. We're all servants, right? We're all servants of the most high God. God is our master. He's our Lord Hannah knew this she knew this about herself If you will give me a son I will give him back to you notice what she says all the days of his life and no razor will come upon his head What's she saying here? Well, we know the Levites would only serve to the age of 50 But when Hannah says no razor, she's talking about an azerite vow, which was for life You know what she's saying You give me this child and I will give him back to you for his entire life You can have him for his whole life So ladies we see Hannah's heart is humble evidence by what calling God her Lord and by calling herself his maid servant Her heart is also humble evidence by pouring out her soul to God The one who knows all things Her heart is humble also by evidence by giving this child Back to God Ladies Hannah's heart was set on things above not on things of this earth You know she wanted a child that would serve God not serve her She was not thinking of how this child would bring her joy She was thinking of how this child would bring God joy Hannah's not thinking of someone to care for her in her old age She's thinking of someone that will care for the things of the Lord Ladies that's humility. That's a woman who has a humble heart. You know what? Hannah's prayer here is a rebuke to the shallow praying of our age. Have you ever listened to how people pray? Have you ever listened to yourself pray? Do we pray with the glory of God in mind or for our felt needs? You know I need this Lord I need this I need this Do we keep the glory of God in mind when we pray? Well does Hannah have hope this petition is going to be answered. Yeah, she does look at verses 12 day 18 We're gonna consider her hopeful heart and it happened as she continued praying before the Lord that Eli watched her mouth Now Hannah spoke in her heart only her lips moved but her voice was not heard and Eli thought she was drunk So Eli said to her how long are you gonna be drunk? Put your wine away from you ladies. She continued praying which shows her persistence She's not gonna give up praying and Eli's watching her and he's noticing her lips are moving But he doesn't see he doesn't hear anything coming out of her mouth. So what why would what was she doing? Well, she was speaking in her heart. That's what it says here She was speaking in her heart Which is center of her feelings but because her lips wasn't weren't moving then Eli thought she was drunk Now that would be You know, he's probably assuming the worst in her But remember they were they had just eaten and drunk even though she hadn't yet because she was fasting But in the biblical world the water we didn't they didn't have the purification system like we do You know, I've got three water bottles up here. I mean these probably they probably say they've all been purified but I don't know if I believe that but The biblical world didn't have a purification system. So the drinking here probably would have been wine that had been purified So he lie thought well, she must have been drinking a lot. She was eating and she was drinking and She must be drunk But ladies nothing indicates that she ate or drank until we come to verse 18 after her prayer. She hadn't done either Nevertheless Eli thinks evil of her and he says put your wine away from you interesting His sons were evil, right? So he thought what she must be wicked to she must be evil Intoxication was the furthest thing from Hannah's mind, you know Eli's a great example of what Jesus condemns in Matthew chapter 7 You know what Eli was doing? He was trying to help Hannah get the 2 by 4 He thought out of her eye when he you know I mean the speck out of her eye when he had a 2 by 4 in his own eye So Jesus says first get the 2 by 4 out of your own eye for you try to help your brother get the speck Out of his eye You know Eli needed to take care of the wickedness of his own children, right? And quit judging someone else Well Hannah responds to him in verse 15 and she says oh no my lord I'm a woman of sorrowful spirit. I haven't drunk neither wine or any intoxicating drink I've poured out my soul before the Lord. I'm not drunk I'm not poured wine into my body. I have poured out my soul to the Lord Ladies we know from Ephesians 5 18. We are not to be drunk with wine We're in his excess, but we are to be filled with the spirit of God People who are filled by God's spirit they pray and they pray about everything and they even pray about you know Not being able to have a child and that's what we see Hannah doing here. I'm not drunk I'm pouring out my soul to the Lord. In fact, she goes on to say to Eli in verse 16 Don't consider your maid serving a wicked woman for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief I've spoken till now Just because your sons are wicked doesn't mean I'm wicked just because they have sexual relations with women at the door of the temple I'm not among those type of women Ladies the fact that all this was going on in Eli's day tells us how bad things were during the time of Eli's priesthood You know sometimes in our own evil. We hope others are just as evil as we are so we don't look so bad, right? And I think that's what Eli might be doing here But Hannah makes it clear. No, I am not behaving sinfully. I am not drunk. I'm speaking to the Lord about my problem So Eli says in verse 17 go in peace and the God of Israel grant your petition which you have asked of him Now interesting Eli doesn't have much to say to her Except the priestly saying go in peace and the God of Israel grant your request now Remember we've already seen the word of for God Lord of Hosts, which is the true God Did you know either Eli didn't use that term Lord of Hosts? You know what word he used for God? The God of Israel was just was a common name that all Jews would use And I find it interesting that Eli didn't call the Lord the Lord of Hosts Ladies it might have been an indication that even though he was a priest He had some issues with idolatry. Obviously. He didn't have his sons his house in order, right? Just a reminder Being a priest being a pastor Does not guarantee that the one they serve they claim to serve God is their Lord We need to keep that in mind and we know that Eli's house was not in order So she says to him in verse 18 let your mate serve and find favor in your side So the woman went her way and ate in her face was no longer sad She speaks to him and notice lady. She refers to herself as a maid servant the same thing. She said to God I'm your servant ladies. That's just amazing. She's just been falsely accused by Eli and Yet she respects him and she says I am your maid servant And I think we can learn a lot from Hannah. She was a woman who did not forget her position to be Respectful to those in authority over her and again, we've lost that right? We don't respect the government We don't respect our pastors. We don't respect our elders. We don't respect our teachers But Hannah shows her respect her respect of Eli's position as a priest Even though his sons were worthless even though he accused her of being drunk so she asked for his favor and after doing so notice she goes her way and she eats and Ladies this eating shows her great faith The fasting is over for now the weeping is over for now. She ate the portion her husband gave her in fact I don't know the text does not tell us but she was probably pretty hungry and she probably ate both portions and Probably like to me tomorrow afternoon. They're not gonna let me eat till then and so I will eat all the way back to Oklahoma and so she probably ate both portions and Her face was no longer sad. Why? Because she left her complaint at the throne of grace that she could find mercy in her time of need I like what Peter says to the persecuted Christians cast all your care upon him for he cares for you Know what that word cast means throw it off throw off your cares and leave them there That's what Hannah did. She threw it there and she left it there Well Hannah's heart is hopeful as seen in these verses by first of all getting up Eating by the fact her face is no longer sad Do you know Hannah could echo with the psalmist in Psalm 42 where he says why are you cast down on my soul? Put your trust in God. He is the lifter of your countenance He was the lifter of Hannah's countenance Ladies he is our hope. He is the lifter of our countenance Well, let's close this lesson by looking at one more glimpse of Hannah's heart her heavenward heart in verses 19 to 28 So they were rose early in the morning and they worship before the Lord and they returned and came to their house at Ramah and Al-Qaeda knew Hannah his wife and the Lord Remembered her now the day when it says the day the pronoun they would have been Al-Qaeda his two wives and Their children they rose and returned to Ramah ladies, which is 15 miles From Shiloh where they had gone to sacrifice But I find it very interesting Before they go on a 15 mile walk the average traveler in the biblical world would walk 20 miles a day You know, they didn't have airplanes. They didn't have cars, but they would walk and 15 miles That's a good day. Debbie and I walked 20 miles one time and it took us about 10 hours. That's a long day But you know what? Before they do that notice what they do they worship They rise early in the morning and they worship Ladies what an example for us to follow even if we have a 15 mile walk with two wives that you know One of them's at the other one all the time and then you know Panina's kids. I don't know how old they were But can you imagine that? But the temptation would be what for Al-Qaeda man, let's get going. Let's we don't have time to stop and worship We don't have time to pray. We don't have time to worship the Lord. Let's get out of here But Al-Qaeda sets an example for us all ladies We need to seek the Lord early no matter what kind of day we have Well after returning home Al-Qaeda and Hannah have relations physical relations and the Lord remembers her. What a blessing The Lord hears her cry for help and he answers her prayer is seen in verse 20 So it came to pass in the process of time Hannah conceived and bore a son and called his name Samuel Saying because I've asked for him from the Lord the Lord answers her prayer. She conceives a male child She names him Samuel, which means heard of God and Ladies indeed God heard her prayer So now that she's got this cute little baby boy Is she gonna be true to her vow? Is she gonna be true? Well, let's consider verse 21 and 22 to see if she's going to be obedient Now the man Al-Qaeda and all his house went up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice and his vow But Hannah didn't go up for she said to her husband not until the child is weaned Then I will take him that he may appear before the Lord and remain there Forever so Al-Qaeda goes this time with Panina and the kids, but Hannah doesn't go She says I want to make sure Samuel is of the weaning age and then I'm gonna be true to the Lord Then I'm gonna be true to my word and I'm gonna give him up her husband agrees. Notice what he says Al-Qaeda says do what seems best to you wait till you've weaned him only let the Lord establish his word So the woman stayed and nursed her son Until she'd weaned him now ladies remember Al-Qaeda could have got her out of this vow He could have said you know what I don't want to give this baby up. This is the cutest little baby. I Don't want to do it. Let's let's not do that thing you did Let's not you know, I know you made a vow, but I can get you out of it according to number 30 So let's not do it But he did not annul her vow You know what he was also willing to give up the child for the Lord and even says may the Lord's word what be established May it happen So Hannah waits till Samuels weaned and in the Jewish world. It was about the age of three We don't normally nurse our children till three years of age But normally that would be the age that a mother would stop nursing her child So it says a verse 24 when she weaned him She took him up with her three bowls and if a flower a skin of wine and brought him to the house of the Lord in Shiloh And the child was young and they slaughtered a bull and brought the child to Eli She weaned him. She takes him to Shiloh and she makes an offering three bowls and if a flower Which is seven and a half gallons. That's a lot a flower a skin of wine Now this is a consecration offering which was accordance to the Levitical law in numbers 15 and they killed the bull And they gave it to Eli the priest and as they do this Hannah has something to say to him. Oh My Lord as your soul lives my Lord I am the woman who stood by you here praying to the Lord for this child I prayed the Lord's granted me my petition which I ask of him Therefore I have lent him to the Lord as long as he lives he will be lent to the Lord and they worshiped the Lord There now maybe some of you think she's being inappropriate By reminding Eli of who she was but there's nothing in the text that condemns what she's doing She spoke respectfully to him three years before that saying I am not drunk and now she's being respectful to him again I am this woman that prayed and here I am with this child. I am the one that poured out my soul to the Lord I am the one you falsely accused But I am now going to be true to my vow and I'm going to leave my child here now Before they leave the child there they worship They worship one last time together as a family Now ladies you might be wondering the same thing. I wondered How in the world could a mother leave her three-year-old child with Eli Whose sons were evil? How could she do that? You know how she could do that She could do that because her heart was heaven focused She was more concerned about obeying the Lord. She was more concerned about keeping her vow and Giving her child to the Lord's service than having her way Her heart was focused on things above and not on things of this earth Now maybe you're wondering is Hannah's life over is Hannah gonna go back to sorrow and weeping and fasting after she leaves three-year-old Samuel there No, not Hannah Her heart is overflowed with joy her little boy is gonna get to serve the Lord and we're gonna see her great prayer here in just a minute Well, let's wrap it up this session Hannah's hurting heart We learned Hannah's heart was hurting cuz she was barren It was a great disgrace for a Jewish woman and because she's badgered by the other wife of her husband What about your heart? What hurts are you going through? Are you childless? Are you single but want to be married? Are you lonely? Are you too busy? Are you being persecuted? Do you have a difficult marriage? Are you jobless? Penelous What has your hurting heart revealed about you? Secondly Hannah's heart is humble her heart is humble evidence by calling God her lord by calling herself is made servant Her heart is humble evidence by pouring out her soul to the one who knows everything Her heart is humble evidence by giving this child back to God What about your recent or current hurts? What have your prayers revealed about your heart? Has it revealed that you have a heart of humility or a heart of pride? Are you yielding to whatever God has for you in your current situation or are you shaking your fist in anger at God Hannah also has a hopeful heart her heart is hopeful is seen by getting up eating her face is no longer sad What about your heart? Is it hopeful? Does your countenance need a facelift? Ladies let the Lord be the lifter of your countenance like Hannah Whatever your heart is hurting about tonight Commit your ways to him Pour out your soul to him leave the complaint at the throne of grace Hannah also has a heavenward heart and his heart was heavenward evidence by the fact that even though she longed as most women Do to have a child she knew the child wasn't hers It was on loan it belonged to somebody else It belonged to God and she was eager to give little Samuel to him Is your heart heavenward? Maybe it's a difficult marriage That is your hurt Are you eagerly looking for how the issues can be resolved in your marriage? Or are you looking for how you can respond? Righteously to your difficult marriage so that God might be glorified in you If it's loneliness tonight if that's what's hurting your heart Are you asking God to bring you a friend or a mate or a ministry or something to fill that void? Or are you willing to be satisfied in God alone? Ladies whatever your hurt is tonight look heavenward. That's where the answer lies, right? Set your affection on things above not on things of this earth your life is hidden with Christ in God Well, Hannah's prayer revealed quite a bit about her heart, right? What do your prayers reveal about your heart? If you don't know the answer to that question Why not take some time this week to pray and examine just what you are asking from the Lord? As John Bunyan once said It is better in prayer. It is better to have a heart without words Then words without a heart Let's pray together Father, I thank you for the beautiful example of Hannah our sister that someday we will meet in heaven. I Thank you that her heart was hopeful. It was heavenward And even though it was hurting Lord, she poured out her soul to you and what an example she leaves for us What a legacy I? Thank you for these great women of faith that are written down in your precious word And when we're going through trials that we can't even Understand we we've seen perplex and confused That we can look to these biblical examples and be encouraged and Lord I pray that whatever is going through the hearts of each of these ladies that are here tonight at this conference That they would pour out their soul to you they would leave their complaint at the throne of grace and Lord They would be more concerned about the glory of God in their prayers Than to have their needs met. I thank you for Hannah. I thank you for example. I thank you for her willingness to give little Samuel to you What a what a great example she is to us Lord is our children are on loan. They're not ours. They are yours So father help us to follow in her steps and even as now we go to the second session and Learn more about her heart And her next prayer in Christ's name. Amen