Hannah and Samuel: One Mother's Journey from Pain to Peace

1 Samuel 1:10-20
Deeply hurt, Hannah prayed to the LORD and wept with many tears. Making a vow, she pleaded, "LORD of Hosts, if You will take notice of Your servant's affliction, remember and not forget me, and give Your servant a son, I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and his hair will never be cut." While she was praying in the LORD's presence, Eli watched her lips. Hannah was speaking to herself, and although her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. Eli thought she was drunk and scolded her, "How long are you going to be drunk? Get rid of your wine!" "No, my lord," Hannah replied. "I am a woman with a broken heart. I haven't had any wine or beer; I've been pouring out my heart before the LORD.  Don't think of me as a wicked woman; I've been praying from the depth of my anguish and resentment." Eli responded, "Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant the petition you've requested from Him."  "May your servant find favor with you," she replied. Then Hannah went on her way; she ate and no longer appeared downcast. The next morning Elkanah and Hannah got up early to bow and to worship the LORD. Afterwards, they returned home to Ramah. Then Elkanah was intimate with his wife Hannah, and the LORD remembered her. After some time, Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, because she said, "I requested him from the LORD."

Background on this passage:

•               Hannah was married to Elkanah, who was both wealthy and deeply spiritual.
•               Elkanah had a second wife, which was a source of tension between the two ladies.
•               The other wife had children, but Hannah had no children. In that culture, this was considered a negative mark against the barren woman.
•               These verses take place when they made their annual pilgrimage to the tabernacle to worship.

Verse 10 - Deeply hurt, Hannah prayed to the LORD and wept with many tears.
•               Hannah had a strong faith, yet she still had deep hurts.
•               Our faith does not erase our hurts, it gives us strength to endure them.
•               Hannah dealt with her hurt through prayer and tears.
•               Prayer has the power to change our attitudes, our actions and our circumstances.
•               Prayer does change things but does not always remove all our tears.
•               God designed tears to be part of the healing process when we go through difficult times.

The Miracle of Tears
http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v15/i4/tears.asp
•               Biochemist William Frey spent 15 years studying tears and found that stress-induced tears actually remove toxic substances from the body.
•               Crying reduces the body’s manganese level, a mineral which affects mood and is found in 30 times greater concentration in tears than in blood.
•               Crying also reduces the endorphin leucine-enkephalin, which controls pain.
 
Verse 10 - Deeply hurt, Hannah prayed to the LORD and wept with many tears.
•               There is nothing wrong with having a good cry every now and then.
•               But after we have shed our tears, then what do we do?

Verse 11 - Making a vow, she pleaded, LORD of Hosts, if You will take notice of Your servant's affliction . . .

•               Hannah was not content to just wallow in her pain. She made a commitment (vow) to the Lord.
•               Hannah thought of some specific commitments she could make to the Lord and what actions she might take to follow through on those commitments.
•               When we are under stress, sometimes we make bad decisions that only make the situation worse.
•               In painful times we must pray, seek godly counsel and then consider our commitments to the Lord and to those around us.

Verse 11 . . . and give Your servant a son, I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life . . .

•               Hannah focused on a specific problem and made it a matter of focused prayer.
•               She made specific commitments to the Lord about that specific issue.
•               Sometimes when we are under stress we try to deal with too many issues at one time instead of focusing on the most significant issue at that moment.
•               Dealing with too many issues at once often makes both our thinking processes and our prayers too generic and our commitments less clear.
•               Specific prayer and clear commitments keep us focused during difficult times in our lives. 

Verse 12 - While she was praying in the LORD's presence, Eli watched her lips.

•               Eli was watching Hannah, though she probably did not realize it.
•               We may not realize it, but others are watching how we deal with our troubles.
•               They want to know if our faith helps us or not.
•               If our faith does not help us, why would they want to follow the faith either?

Verse 13 - Hannah was speaking to herself, and although her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. Eli thought she was drunk.

•               Eli did not understand Hannah’s spiritual connection with God, which was sad since Eli was a priest.
•               People will not always understand how faith helps us in times of difficulty. Sometimes even our friends at church will not understand.
•               Eli thought she was drunk.
•               Sometimes people will think we are acting like a religious fanatic, or joined a cult or some other odd thing when it comes to how our faith helps us in times of difficulty.

Verse 15 -. . . Hannah replied ‘I am a woman with a broken heart….’

•               Hannah may not have been understood by others, but she understood herself.
•               One of the things prayer does is help us sort our own thoughts and emotions so that we can hear what God is trying to say to us about our situation. 

Verse 15 -. . . Hannah replied . . . I've been pouring out my heart before the LORD.”

•               As a believer, Hannah realized the first person she should share her heart with was the Lord.
•               Hannah needed to get her frustrations off her chest so she shared them with the Lord.
•               God is always happy to listen to our frustrations.
•               We need to learn the importance of pouring out our heart to God FIRST.
•               We tend to pour out of troubles to other people first.
•               Though it is good to have family and friends to share our burdens with, our FIRST response should be to go to the Lord and share it with Him.
•               When we share our hearts with the Lord first, it helps us be more clear when we share it with others. And then they can offer more focused support.
 
Verse 17 - Eli responded, "Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant the petition you've requested from Him."
•               Though at first Eli did not understand Hannah, he finally realized the depth of her pain and the power of her faith.
•               People can seldom understand the depth of our pain unless they have experienced the same thing in their own lives.
•               Eli joined her in prayer and sensed God was going to answer it soon.
•               Having a prayer partner is one key to finding peace in the midst of pain.
•               Therefore, we must not write off those who do not understand our pain the first time we share it.
•               They will eventually realize our deep need and join us in praying through it.

Verse 18 - . . . Then Hannah went on her way; she ate and no longer appeared downcast.

•               Hannah worshipped, she prayed, she poured out her heart and it really helped!
•               Then she had to go on with her life. Though her problem was not “solved” she found peace and strength to keep going.
•               Prayer, worship and sharing our burdens with others in appropriate ways can do the same thing for us. 

Verse 19 - . . . Then Elkanah was intimate with his wife Hannah, and the LORD remembered her.

•               Hannah was loved by her husband, which helped her find a great deal of peace.
•               Having people in our lives who love us is very important for our emotional health.
•               Hannah was also remembered by God.
•               Realizing that God has not forgotten us is also very important for our emotional health. 

Verse 20 - After some time, Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son….

•               It took time for Hannah’s problem to be solved.
•               It takes time to find real solutions to the problems we face in life.
•               God gave Hannah a son, which was an answer to her specific prayer.
•               God will give us answers to our specific prayers if we do not try to jump ahead of God. 

Verse 20 - . . . She named him Samuel, because she said, "I requested him from the LORD."

•               The name Samuel has two interpretations. “God has heard” or “a son of God.”
•               However we want to interpret it, God heard Hannah’s prayer and gave her a son.
•               Hannah gave the glory to God by the name she gave her son.
•               Will we give God the glory when He answers our prayer & meets our need? 

Conclusion:

•               Our faith does not erase all our hurts, but it does give us strength to endure them.
•               Prayer and commitment to God changes our attitudes, our actions and our circumstances.
•               We should talk to God about our problems FIRST, and then find a godly prayer partner.
•               God’s timing is not always our timing, but it is always the right time.
•We should give God the glory in all things.