 Let's open our Bibles to 1 Samuel chapter 2. We're going to be looking this morning at verses 1 through 11 as we have just begun a study here in 1 Samuel. And we'll be looking at Hannah's prayer this morning here in chapter 2 of 1 Samuel. Tonight we have our evening service and we obviously have our midweek on Wednesday and like I was sharing with you last week it would be good if you were to choose a place to come for an evening service if you're able and plug in. And so we do have our evening service, we're in the book of Ruth and then on Wednesday we continue our study in the Gospel of Luke and so I'd love to have you with us if you're able. I might mention the ministry fair, you can see what that is in a couple of weeks. See kinds of ministries that we have here and where you might want to plug yourself in. Super Bowl is coming up in the Super Bowl weekend and so we have our men's breakfast. We're going to have Miles McPherson with us and some of you have been with us as Miles has been out here with us more than once and he's always a blessing and he pastors a church in the San Diego area. They have five Sunday morning services and he has a 3,500 seat sanctuary. The Lord has just used him tremendously and it's always a blessing when Miles comes out and shares with us and so I'd invite you to be part of that fellas when that takes place at the end of the month. And then finally we do have our couple's banquet that's coming up in February on the 13th and that's for dating as well as married couples and if you'd like to be part of that of course we'd love to have you with us. Today we're in chapter 2 here in First Samuel. We'll read verses 1 through 11 as we continue our study that we just began in the book of First Samuel and we're going to be looking at a section that I chose just to call Hannah's prayer. It's going to be obvious as to why I called it that in just a moment because it says in First Samuel chapter 2 verse 1 and Hannah prayed and said, my heart rejoices in the Lord. My horn is exalted in the Lord. I smile at my enemies because I rejoice in your salvation. No one is holy like the Lord. There is none besides you. There is nor is there any rock like our God. Talk no more so very proudly. Let no arrogance come from your mouth. For the Lord is the God of knowledge and by him actions are weighed. The bows of the mighty men are broken and those who stumbled are girded with strength. Those who are full have hired themselves out for bread and the hungry have ceased to hunger. Even the barren has born seven and she who has many children has become feeble. The Lord kills and makes alive. He brings down to the grave and brings up. The Lord makes poor and makes rich. He brings low and lifts up. He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the beggar from the ash heap to set them among princes and make them inherit the throne of glory. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's and he has set the world upon them. He will guard the feet of his saints but the wicked shall be silent in darkness for by strength no man shall prevail. The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken in pieces. From heaven he will thunder against them. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth. He will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed. Then Alcona went to his house at Ramah but the child ministered to the Lord before Eli, the priest. As we have been looking at First Family, we know that Hannah had been barren, married to a man by the name of Alcona. Alcona had a second wife, a woman by the name of Panina. And Panina was able to have children and because Panina was having children and Hannah did not have any, Panina would mock and would cause great pain to Hannah because Panina would let her know that she felt herself to be favored even though Hannah was the one who truly was favored by the husband Alcona. It caused her great pain and so Hannah had taken this request to the Lord. She had actually prayed in bitterness of spirit and had spoken to God and had said to the Lord, God I want you to give me an ability to have a child and in chapter one at verse 11 she had said to him if he was to give her a child I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life and no razor shall come upon his head. She had said Lord if you give me the ability to have this child I will dedicate him to your service for all of his life and so she had gone to the tabernacle. The priest Eli was there and Eli watched her as she was praying and could see her lips were moving but no sound was coming from her mouth and therefore he thought that she was drunk and he approached her and he said to her she should put away her wine. How dare you come into the tabernacle and pollute it in this fashion. She immediately says listen it's not because I'm drunk that I'm here I'm here praying I'm a woman of sorrowful heart because I desire to have a child I'm barren I'm unable to have one. So Eli receiving from the Lord a word says to her you need to just go on home because God has heard your request. So with joy she goes home and as she goes home over a period of time she and Alcona have normal relationship she becomes pregnant conceives this child and is greatly excited about it and so she says to her husband I'm not going to be going up to the tabernacle until I've weaned Samuel and so we know that in the time of Samuel that the mama would continue nursing the baby up to three years and so now after three years have passed she has taken this child to dedicate him to the Lord and so in verse 2028 of chapter one she says there I have lent him to the Lord as long as he lives he shall be lent to the Lord and they worship the Lord there and so he's three years old she's dropping him off at the tabernacle he's about to begin his service to the Lord and she's going to leave him there for the rest of his life and the question has to be asked how does she feel how does she feel about this what's going on in her heart you see she has taken this request and she gave it to the Lord she had prayed to God she had asked him for a son and she said I will offer him to you for service she said he will be a servant he will live a holy life all the days of his life and therefore she came to God the God who was able and she made a request known to him she knew that this God was not like the gods of the pagan she knew that this God was not the God of the heathen this is not a distant and incapable of hearing type God this is a God who's able to minister he is with us he's near to us and all she needs to do is make her request made known to him because she knew that prayer was a conversation that she was having with her God and that's what prayer is it's a conversation that we have with God it's a subject of a lot of Bible I mean when you start in Genesis go to Revelation there are over 350 distinct prayers that are recorded for us in scripture you see that prayer is a heartbeat of a believer and there are times that you speak to the Lord in a variety of ways there are times that you might be praying to God in a way that you're simply giving him thanks for the good things that he's done there are times that you're giving to the Lord in your in your prayer just a lot of praise for the goodness that he has has been to you how good he's been there are times that you're you're lifting up your supplications to God where you're you're making a request known to him something personal something you desire there are times that you're interceding you're speaking for somebody else you're saying God in Jesus name I'm lifting up this person to you there are times that when you're praying you're actually making a complaint to him you're saying Lord I just have to to let you know how I feel about what's going on and then there are other times that you might be simply asking him a series of questions it's prayer it's conversation with God and it's something that Hannah was very familiar with and she would bring these requests to the Lord and she did so because she knew that God would answer you see God actually in Scripture gives to us an invitation to approach him in Jeremiah in chapter 33 verse 3 he said call unto me and I will answer you and and show you great and mighty things which which you know not God actually gives to us an invitation to approach his throne and to bring our request to him he invites us to do that now before I was saved I might pray because people do but I never had a confidence that he was listening and didn't know that he actually is listening to me I always sense that there was some kind of separation there was something that was dividing us and I didn't know what it was but as I got saved I came to realize what it was and what was dividing what was making separation was my sin Isaiah 59 verses 1 and 2 says behold the Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save nor his ear heavy that it cannot hear but your iniquities have separated you from your God your sins have hidden his face from you so that he will not hear there was a sin separation something that was making my conversation with God was blocking it and and when I got saved that that sin separation was dealt with and and because of the Lord Jesus Christ now I can come to him with a full confidence that he's listening to me I can come to the Lord and and speak to him and and know that he listens because I have been forgiven by God Ephesians 2 13 says in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ and so I can now approach him I can come to the Lord and speak to him Hebrews 10 19 says we now have boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus so as Christians we know that God hears this because we know that God loves us access has become ours we can come to him as his children whenever we need to speak to him the psalmist tells us in Psalm 34 15 the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous his ears are open unto their cry and so we can come boldly to the throne of grace obtaining mercy and find help in our time of need because God has made that way available to us we can pray and that's what Hannah is doing now sometimes when you're praying you can have the sense that maybe maybe he's not going to answer maybe there's something that I have to deal with you know I've discovered that sometimes when I pray my prayer may be just an extremely selfish prayer it's just selfish now there's this program that's coming on real soon some of you have seen it others won't admit to it that you've watched it but it's called American Idol American Idol a lot of people watch it especially the beginning programs when you see these people come up who cannot sing and and they they try so hard and and you sit there guiltily kind of laughing saying oh God I feel so guilty but this I can't believe this and so you watch it as this person's out there trying to sing but don't you think that that person before they went up to do their their song don't you think they were praying and saying God I'd like to be an American Idol they are they're saying God help me to win and I've discovered that sometimes the Lord says no you can't sing I gave up praying when I was watching my favorite team play a long time ago because he never answers yes Lord let you see LA beat the Trojans just this one time he says no no no no no doesn't work you know so I gave up a long time ago I don't pray for athletic contests I just watch and suffer there are some things that you can ask for that the Lord is not even going to dignify with an answer sometimes we're asking because we're asking incorrectly it's kind of like what James says in chapter 4 verse 3 when he says you ask and do not receive because you ask a miss that you may spend it on your lust you're asking for the wrong thing you see according to 1st John chapter 5 verses 14 and 15 we should pray according to the will of God and if we know that we're praying according to his will we also know that we have the petitions we've requested of him when you ask according to his will well sometimes we may pray but we don't even expect God to answer we're not expecting him to respond to us at all it's kind of like we just throw the prayer up in the air hoping that somebody up there might be listening but the Bible tells us we're to ask in faith without doubting for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind a double minded man is unstable in all his ways you can't be asking for one thing with no intent to actually receive it you pray with faith but sometimes we don't sometimes the Lord just doesn't give us the answer simply because it doesn't line up with his will for us so so we need to know that God does answer prayer a God will answer yes God may answer no and then sometimes God answers wait but we lift our requests and we ask the Lord if he might move and we do so because we know that God is good and we know that God loves us so that's what had happened with Hannah Hannah had taken her broken heart to the Lord God and she had made her request of him and as she had said as she had made her prayer to him the Lord had stated that he would he would answer through Eli and she was able to go home and so as she's gone home she has received the answer of the Lord she finally brought the baby and dedicated the baby and she's leaving him there with them as it says in verse 28 chapter 1 again I have lent him to the Lord as long as he lives he'll be lent to the Lord and they worship the Lord there and so now Hannah begins to pray and in chapter 2 verse 1 we have a chance to see what she prays is she upset is she discouraged is she sad she's leaving her three-year-old behind she's about to leave and go home without the joy of her heart this is a three-year-old baby that has been everything to her the answer to her prayer and she's going to leave this baby there with Eli and she's going to leave him and go home by herself she's been with them for three years she's been nursing him loving him speaking to him training him devoting herself to him by the time he's three years of age he's already learning prayers he's able to communicate there are things about this three-year-old that must have just grabbed her heart she loves him with everything that's within him within her but what's going to go on how does she respond well notice what she says in verse 1 here Hannah prayed and said my heart rejoices in the Lord my horn is exalted in the Lord I smile at my enemies because I rejoice in your salvation Hannah begins by saying my heart rejoices in the Lord when she says my heart that speaks of her center of moral and spiritual life she says everything within me is rejoicing it's not a time of sadness it's not a sad time of letting go it's a moment of triumphant rejoicing God has answered my prayer I am overjoyed she says my horn is exalted in the Lord I smile at my enemies because I rejoice in your salvation when she says my horn is exalted that word horn in the Old Testament refers to various things it can include my pride it can include military it can include political power normally it speaks of strength because an ox is a very powerful animal and they would use the horn as a symbol of the strength and so she's speaking about the strength that she has and she's saying I have an inner strength that has been given to me it's been produced by God's goodness as he strengthens me and as a result of that I smile at my enemies I smile at them because I rejoice in your salvation your salvation has caused any sorrow that I could have within my heart to be turned to joy and this inner joy that you have given to me causes me to smile that which is on the inside has found a place of expression on the outside my heart is smiling and so is my mouth and I have come to worship you and I've come to give praise to you because you have been good to me I rejoice in your salvation Isaiah 61 verse 3 God promises there to console those who mourn in Zion to give them beauty for ashes the oil of joy for mourning the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness and so she's saying you have given to me the joy of my heart and the great desire of my heart and I smile at those who at one time have been oppressing me she goes on in verse 2 and she says no one is holy like the Lord there's none besides you nor is there any rock like our God this is my joy these are the reasons for my joy I am joyful because you are holy I am joyful because you are without equal in the multitudes of the so-called gods there is only one God and that God is my God there is no rock like our God when she says nor is there any rock like our God a rock is immovable it's enduring it gives a picture of strength and it gives to us an insight that God is there to help us when we're in our times of need she's rejoicing because the Lord of might the God of all strength has heard her cry and he has listened to her he is her God and he is her stability so she speaks now and verse 3 is interesting because she's undoubtedly addressing this really to what she's gone through with Panina talk no more so very proudly let no arrogance come from your mouth for the Lord is the God of knowledge and by him actions are weighed now notice the Lord is the God of knowledge when it says the Lord is the God of knowledge God has every kind of knowledge because God is omniscient God knows everything like the psalmist said in Psalm 4421 he knows the secrets of the heart or Psalm 147.5 greatest our Lord mighty in power his understanding is infinite God knows all things is what she's saying and he's able to judge righteously God has seen what you have done Panina how arrogant and proudful you have been towards me and God has heard my cry God is the only one who is able to righteously judge you know sometimes somebody on the outside you look at him and you'll say man that's a good guy or that sure is a beautiful person there because on the outside they look that way they use good words they can sometimes even speak religiously and you may look at them and all on the outside they look like they're a very righteous person and then there are other people that you see them from the outside and you would think the opposite of them you would think that this is a rough person this is an ungodly person I have met some guys who are huge I mean they're just huge guys who have such gentle and loving hearts they love the Lord and they would give you the shirt off your back so you could make a tent out of it I mean they're so big they're just great guys you know but if you look at them at first you know you're thinking oh this is but it turns out no you know outer appearances can fool you we don't have the ability to judge a person's heart and that's the point she's making she's saying God does God has all knowledge God knows what's inside of them when the hippies were getting saved and we would share our faith with people who were not hippies all they could see was the long hair and the bare feet and they didn't want to hear the gospel they couldn't see our heart all they could see was the outer appearance today when kids get saved and they've got tattoos all the way down to their fingernails and they've got piercings and everything a lot of times all the people can see is the piercings all they can see is the tattoos they don't see the heart they can't see the heart but that heart is right with God and that heart's a good heart towards the things of the Lord but because people have a tendency of judging on the outer appearance well we need to understand that God sees the heart and so that's what she's saying here let no arrogance come from your mouth the Lord is the God of knowledge by him actions are weighed God sees all things she says in verse 4 the bows of the mighty men are broken and those who stumbled are girded with strength so she begins to speak how God works she begins by saying the mighty are weakened but the weak are made mighty the proud can be reduced to a place of humility but the humble are lifted to prominence Proverbs 3.34 says surely he scorns the scornful but gives grace to the humble so God works the humility secondly she says in verse 5 those who are full have hired themselves out for bread and the hungry have ceased to hunger and so she goes on to say those who are rich or full that would speak of the landowners the landowners who are working in their own fields and the servants who are now at rest so she's saying God has a way of taking the powerful and reducing them and the weak and elevating them she says in verse 5 even the barren has born seven and she who has many children has become feeble God has made it made it possible for the barren to be perfectly happy the number seven in scripture is a sign of perfection or completeness and so it's a picture of somebody being perfectly happy and so she's saying even a person who didn't have children can be made perfectly happy in the Lord and even have many children it's interesting how that she had been barren and had Samuel but Samuel's not the only one that she speaks of notice in chapter 2 here verse 21 notice what it says in chapter 2 verse 21 how it says the Lord visited Hannah so that she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters meanwhile the child Samuel grew before the Lord she went on to have six children altogether not just the one that she had but she had five more and so she's saying God has made it possible for me to be perfectly happy in him she goes on in verse 6 to say the Lord kills and makes alive he brings down to the grave and brings up it is the Lord she is saying who gives life only he has the ability to give life and only he is the one who takes it away when you read the book of Job in chapter 1 verse 21 Job said it this way Job said naked I came from my mother's womb naked shall I return there the Lord gave the Lord has taken away blessed be the name of the Lord God is all powerful and he is the God of life she says in verse 7 the Lord makes poor and makes rich he brings low and lifts up and so God has a way of putting into our into our hands and ability to gain riches and sometimes he even removes riches from us our financial situation often rests on our relationship with the Lord and so she says God is able to make someone rich and somebody else poor but it's God who is the one who is in charge of all of that verse 8 he raises a poor from the dust and lifts the beggar from the ash heap to set them among princes and make them inherit the throne of glory God can put you in a place that you have no intrinsic rights or abilities to inhabit God is able to do that when I consider that I think I have a bit of understanding in that one verse there he lifts the beggar from the ash heap to set them among princes God has been extremely good to me and as I look in this room I believe that God has been extremely good to all of us you know God has a way of working things out to put you in a position that you may realize you're not qualified for and yet he places you in that position you may be somebody working in an office or in a warehouse or wherever it may be and you started in a certain position but now you are a supervisor you're overseeing things you may be being moved up into the company ladder and they're giving you more and more and yet you're thinking within yourself I don't deserve this because I didn't graduate from college didn't even go to college and yet you may be saying and yet look where I'm at I'm overseeing responsibility and there are guys here with master's degrees or even doctorates that I have an overseer relationship with and you feel so humbled because you're put in that position because you have some experience you gained you gained it in life perhaps you served in the military gained some experience there but you are now a supervisor in a place that is filled with guys who have upper degrees and yet you don't have that and you look at it and you think Lord you're too much how did you put me in this position how did I get here how did you place me here it's because God has a way of taking you from one place and putting you somewhere else God has a way of doing that God has a way of taking you and elevating you and putting you in a position that he wants you to be regardless of whether or not you feel the ability to do that regardless of whether you have the qualifications or the education God has a way of doing that and he places you in that position and it blows your mind when he does and you see what you are doing and how God has been good to you and it just amazes you at the goodness that God has shown to you I understand that I remember getting an invitation several years ago the first one I received I received more than this but the first one I received I remember getting a call saying you've been invited to come to the White House but you have to send some your driver's license information and all pertinent information that relates to you you have to send it to the FBI they're going to have to screen you to see whether or not they're going to allow you in or not and I remember Marie and I having to jump through all those hoops and finally they sent us an invitation where to meet there in a small meeting with the President of the United States and how that we jumped on a plane flew to DC went to the hotel the next day you know got dressed went you go to this little gate you give them your license you give them your name they run you through they send you through this one gate you go into another room they interview you you go through another gate go through a check see if you're carrying any weapons send you to a little elevator go into the elevator and you go down in this room and you go in and you go and you find seating in this small room with about seats about a hundred people and you're in there and it's not full and you're just sitting there and a few just a few rows from the podium from the platform there in a small small room and then as you're seated there you hear the music and then you hear somebody say ladies and gentlemen the President of the United States and and everybody stands as he walks in and you're you're within ten feet of this man that you see on TV all the time and you know who he is and I turned to Marie and I look at her and I say some of you will understand this some of you may not but I looked at her and I said who would think the first time I was ever there who would think a little Mexican guy from our walk in the same room with the President of the United States I was humbled I was humbled some people though I hate him just the idea of being there just the idea that I was there and I've been invited there more than once you're humbled you're humbled I graduated from high school with a D minus average that scares you huh I cut classes in my senior year for the whole year I showed up only for tests and once in a while just so they had me on the rolls I was never in class if they had me doing the detention that I should have been doing because I used to give you an hour's detention if you cut a class I'd still be making up all the hours 41 years later but God has a way of taking you from the ash heat and putting you among princes He has a way of doing that I was at a wedding two weeks ago and as I was seated at the table a woman approached me and walks up to me and looks at me and she says to me excuse me are you David Davros Hollis I said yes I am who wants to know how much do I owe you no yes I am she goes I went to high school with you really what's your name she gives me her name I knew her from high school 41 years ago I haven't seen her in 41 years and as she's talking to me she goes we went to high school together and I said I remember you of course she says now who did you hang around with I said every troublemaker in high school was my friend I hung around with that group she says like and I started naming all the troublemakers I hung around with I hung around this guy that guy oh yeah oh yeah oh yeah we were we were troublemakers in the school we were the drugies I mean we were the ones who would go to lunch get loaded come walking in with sunglasses on and just sit there and crash for an hour that was us we were the ones who go out drinking during lunch time we were the ones we were the trouble in the school my friends and I caused all the problems we were the ones who made Sierra High School class of 1968 the number one drug school in the Whittier Union High School District it was us and when it was announced that Sierra High School is the number one drug abuse in high school we cheered yeah that was us she remembers me I said all those guys those were my friends and you're a pastor now? I'm amazed I'm amazed at what God has done and I said you need to come and visit us perhaps you will come and visit us she lives in the area come and see what God has done see what the Lord has done I've had people come to church here it's happened twice now where they have two different guys with different friends who have come and they said I knew him from high school he can't have changed like that it's not possible that David's doing this today but I have because of what the Lord has done because God has a way of taking the beggar from the ash heap and sets them among princes God has a way of doing that God has a way of doing amazing things God has a way of transforming your life God has a way of putting you in places you don't deserve to be respected with an amount of respect that you really are not worthy of but God has a way of doing that he does have a way of placing you in places that you couldn't have opened the door but God opened the door God placed you in God said you be seated here because you are somebody I'm delighting in and I am amazed I'm amazed at the goodness that God has shown me I am amazed because I'm married above my pay grade I know that I have four children that I adore and two grand babies that are the heartbeat of my life God has blessed me with friends and family and a church that I love with all of my heart he is a God who gives you such great blessings and grace and benefits and goodness he has a way of taking you and all you need to do is begin to look at where you were and where you are now to see the hand of God what God can do what God can do look at where you were and look at where you are and look what God has done for me 38 years of walking with Jesus Christ and I have seen God do amazing things that I do not deserve and God is the one who does it he has put me in places where I have opportunities you know I've traveled internationally to go to pastors conferences to teach pastors in Austria to speak to them in various countries of the world Mexico and you name it I've had opportunity to go to South America I've had opportunity to go to Israel more times and I can even remember to do ministry in so many places to speak in front of thousands of people like at the Anaheim Men's Conference and men's conferences throughout the nation I have seen God and I am amazed by it and there are times when I just am overwhelmed by it like you I see God's hand on me and what God is doing and I am amazed and you ought to do the same you ought to be looking back and saying God you have been so good to me look at what you've done look how good you've been you have done so much and the thing is he's able to do abundantly above all we could ask or even think and so Hannah's praying and praising God and rejoicing in him the one who was barren has been given seven children in other words she is saying I am perfectly happy because I have seen what you have done God you've taken the humble and placed him in a place where they can be used and those who thought they were to be used you've humbled them look at what you have done you are the God who does this she says in verse 8 the pillars of the earth are the lords he has set the world upon him God you're the one who keeps all things stable you keep this world from crashing in and of itself and upon itself even as Psalm 102-25 says of old you lay the foundation of the earth the heavens are the works of your hands and we know according to Hebrews 1-3 that Jesus upholds all things by the word of his power you are the one who keeps all things together you are the one who keeps things solid he will guard the feet of his saints but the wicked shall be silent in darkness for by strength no man shall prevail God's people follow him and he leads them in security and righteousness he protects them every step of the way even as it says in Psalm 37-23 the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and he delights in his way God takes care of you and he leads you in the path that he would have you to go paths of peace and paths of righteousness but the unrighteous live in darkness and they stumble and ultimately are left in darkness Matthew 25-30 Jesus has cast the unprofitable servant into outer darkness there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth you see because by strength no man shall prevail a man or a woman is made strong when they give up when they yield when they say enough I'm sorry God forgive me by strength I cannot prevail by my own effort by my own power I can never accomplish anything for God it's only what I do by the power of God's Spirit that ever counts for anything I cannot prevail I cannot do I cannot save myself I cannot be victorious in life neither can you but when you walk with the Lord God opens doors no man can close and God places you in positions to be used and because your heart is right with him God is glorified through you but when you're walking outside of the Lord you walk in darkness and ultimately that's where you remain he says in verse 10 she says the adversaries of the Lord shall be broken in pieces from heaven he will thunder against them the Lord will judge the ends of the earth he will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed ultimately the enemies of the Lord the adversaries will be broken this is a prophecy because she's speaking concerning and I want you to see this in the last portion of chapter 2 verse 10 where it says he will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed that word anointed there the horn of his anointed that word anointed is speaks of Messiah the anointed is Messiah in the Hebrew it speaks of Messiah and she's saying ultimately victory is going to come this is a prophetic word ultimately victory comes through Messiah Messiah is bringing victory the adversaries will be crushed and all who oppose Messiah Jesus will be overwhelmed under his anointed all enemies will be vanquished in Psalm 2 verses 6 through 9 the Psalmist said I have set my king on my holy hill in Zion I will declare the decree the Lord has said to me you are my son today I have begotten you ask of me I will give you the nations for your inheritance the ends of the earth for your possession you shall break them with a rod of iron you shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel Jesus Christ ultimately is going to be victorious and she's prophesying concerning you Messiah who ultimately will come and deliver in the nation of Israel as well as all who believe in him and so she's praying she's simply saying this she's saying I came to God with a broken heart I had an adversary by the name of Panina Alkana my husband's second wife she was jealous concerning me because obviously Alkana loved me I couldn't produce children for him so he married a second woman she produced children and used those children as a weapon against me it broke my heart it got me to the point where I was inconsolable but I took my need to the Lord and though seemed like an impossibility I asked God would you please make it possible for me to have a child and God granted my petition but I had said to God I will give this child to you to serve you in holiness all the days of his life and I have come in order that I might dedicate Samuel to service because God has heard my request I don't walk away from this place crying I walk away from this place rejoicing because God has given to me the desire of my heart and I asked him if he would and he did and as he has done so I dedicate this child to service to God and this child shall serve him all the days that he lives and it says in verse 11 then Alkana went to his house at Rama but the child ministered to the Lord before Eli the priest and so she leaves him there at that tabernacle she leaves Samuel there to the work of the Lord and as she leaves she leaves him thinking that he's in a location in a place where he's going to learn things that will make him a more righteous child but the sad fact is that even in that tabernacle even as this child is dedicated to serving God even in this holy environment unholiness is rampant and we're going to be seeing that next time we get together even in the midst of a place that is dedicated to God there is unholiness that is finding places of expression we'll see that next time Father I ask that you would work in us I ask that you would continue to show us Lord your ways that you would work within each one of us as we yield ourselves to you Lord we see that you are a God who answers prayer there have been times that we have prayed Lord and haven't received from you because we have asked to miss desiring to consume it on our own lust we ask for things Lord that really weren't of your will or we ask Lord sometimes not really sincerely expecting you to move at all we know that you answer prayer we know that you answer yes you answer no sometimes you answer wait but you do answer prayer Lord and so we would learn to pray too we would learn to put our concerns and our cares upon you we would learn that you are a God who is holy and just and you are a God who elevates those Lord who humbly walk with you Lord I want to thank you for the goodness you've shown to us to this fellowship to many in this room how you have put us in positions of influence how you have worked in our lives and glorified yourself how you transform people who yield to you and I want to lift up this congregation Lord that we might learn to pray knowing that you are a God of all power and all knowledge you already know our situations and you have the ability Lord to deliver us we would lift our concerns and conditions to you even right now some in this room Lord need a touch because their bodies are breaking down some in this room need a touch from you Lord because they're having difficulty making home payments Lord or because Lord they're in danger of losing their job or they already have some are concerned for children Lord some are concerned for their marriages some are concerned for their parents many are carrying burdens and hurts right now that only you are really fully aware of Lord so we lift these requests to you now Lord and I pray that you would reach down and show them that you are the God who is able you are the God who cares and may they walk out of this room trusting you Lord as they cast their cares on you even now our eyes are closed and our heads are bowed perhaps I have some in this room right now we need prayer you need to get right with the Lord you need to yield to him right now I want to pray for you as our eyes are closed and our heads are bowed would you raise your hand let me pray for you right where you're at just raise it so I can see you please Lord you see these hands you know the reason why they're being raised to you I'm asking that you would reach down now and touch them represents needs Lord these your children have I pray Father that you would bring comfort in that you would cause them even now to know you love them you're concerned for them and you're able to meet these needs Lord and I ask that as they raise their hand to you that you would raise them Lord that they might walk with joy knowing that you are in control and they can trust you even as as Hannah walked away rejoicing may they walk away knowing that they've cast their care on you and you care for them wash them and cleanse them Lord we're needed fill them with your spirit and work within them Lord that they might from this day forward just enjoy you and trust you in all of this and we thank you Lord and bless you thank you you can put your hands down Jesus I ask that you keep moving in all of us that we would learn how to pray and learn who you are as we pray and I ask this now in your name Amen let's all stand we'll close with a song and a word of prayer our father we ask that you work in us and through us and that you use us for your glory we leave this place into the mission field we will serve you and may we be found faithful as we do so draw us back tonight Wednesday whenever that we might continue fellowshiping Lord and growing in you and we ask this in Jesus' name Amen God bless you