HANNAH’S FAITH
(Or, faith when prayers go unanswered)
1Samuel 1:1-7

1. 1Sam 1:2 And he had two wives: the name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.
   Comments: That wasn’t how she had planned her life!
   
2. 1Sam 1:5 But to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved Hannah, although the LORD had closed her womb.
   Comments: What’s the Lord’s role in the believer’s status in life? Up or down, God knows best!
   
3. 1Sam 1:8 Then Elkanah her husband said to her, "Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? And why is your heart grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons?"
   Comments: Hannah’s husband was saying to her: “Can’t you adjust to life as it is? Don’t you know you’ve got everything because you’ve got God? Don’t you know the sparrow will not die simply because it does not have the nest of an ostrich? Shed tears only over truly critical things of life!
   
4. 1Sam 1:9 So Hannah arose after they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat by the doorpost of the tabernacle of the LORD.
   Comments: Eating and drinking is fine, but she does not forget she has got a different need!
   
5. 1Sam 1:13, 15 Now Hannah spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she was drunk... And Hannah answered and said, "No, my lord, I am a woman of sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor intoxicating drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD.
   Comments: Telling God as it is, that’s real prayer: putting no gloss on things but speaking from your heart, being completely informal yet respectfully to God. That’s real prayer.
   
6. 1Sam 1:19-20 Then they rose early in the morning and worshiped before the LORD, and returned and came to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her... So it came to pass in the process of time that Hannah conceived and bore a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, "Because I have asked for him from the LORD."
   Comments: They rose early in the morning to worship God. They worship Him for who He is, a good and gracious Father, no matter what they were passing through as a family. They did not measure God’s love by what He has failed to do so far for them as a family. No, they remembered that His choices are always best, even when we do not understand His reasons! And then, the waiting! In the process of time… God proved Himself. He always does, but not many people will give Him the chance or the credit for it!
   
7. 1Sam 1:22 But Hannah did not 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."
   Comments: The child has now arrived – a precious gift from God. Hannah followed her vow, decided to prepare him for a lifelong service in the house of God. When their joy arrives, many people tend to forget the joy-giver; they also tend to forget their vows. It is not unusual to find ingratitude in the heart of those who have been most blessed by God!
   
8. 1Sam 2:1, 21 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... And the LORD visited Hannah, so that she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile the child Samuel grew before the LORD.
   Comments: What a faithful God we serve. As Hannah remembered her vows and handed Samuel over to the LORD’s service, she was remembered before the LORD for further blessings!

What do we learn from Hannah’s faith?

Evaluate your relationship with God – come now let us reason together...

Put on your belt and braces – strengthen yourself in the Lord; if you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small (Proverbs 24:10); the name of the Lord is a strong tower (Proverbs 18:10)

Remember where God met with you – at the crossroads, at the bottom of the valley, at the cliff face, and if He has led you in His mystery to a particular place of worship, a particular ministry, never forget.

Remember why God met with you – you came to the end of yourself in your marriage, in your social life, your career at rock bottom with no one to help!
Isaiah 63:5 I looked, but there was no one to help, And I wondered That there was no one to uphold; Therefore My own arm brought salvation for Me; And My own fury, it sustained Me.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Remember how God met with you – He favoured you, or smiled on you
Jeremiah 31:3 The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying: "Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.

Let it encourage you to remain faithful to Him, no matter what!

Psalm 12:1 Help, LORD, for the godly man ceases! For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.

Psalm 31:23 Oh, love the LORD, all you His saints! For the LORD preserves the faithful, And fully repays the proud person.

Psalm 101:6 My eyes shall be on the faithful of the land, That they may dwell with me; He who walks in a perfect way, He shall serve me.

The Faith of Habakkuk (or, faith when things are not working out) - Habakkuk 3:17-19

The Faith of Jeremiah (or, faith when disaster or tragedy strikes) - Lamentations 3:1-10, 11-18, 19-27

The Perfect Faith (or, the End Faith, the faith that all things will work out in the end because God is in control, and nothing can really go wrong.) - Hebrews 11:1-6

Here is the zenith, where there is plenty of oxygen. The faith shared by Moses, David, and Isaiah. It is the union faith, the marriage faith, the pilgrim’s faith. It is the faith that Christ was always pointing to: Mark 9:23; Mark 11:22-24; Matthew 17:20; 18:18-20; 21:21-22)