Answered! God answers the prayers of those who humbly seek Him.

Transcription

1 Session 1 Answered! God answers the prayers of those who humbly seek Him. 1 SAMUEL 1:10-18, In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly. 11 And she made a vow, saying, Lord Almighty, if you will only look on your servant s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head. 12 As she kept on praying to the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. 13 Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk 14 and said to her, How long are you going to stay drunk? Put away your wine. 15 Not so, my lord, Hannah replied, I am a woman Date of My Bible Study: 11

2 who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the Lord. 16 Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief. 17 Eli answered, Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him. 18 She said, May your servant find favor in your eyes. Then she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast. [...] 26 and she said to him, Pardon me, my lord. As surely as you live, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord. 27 I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. 28 So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord. And he worshiped the Lord there. Note all of Hannah s self-descriptors in the Bible passage. How did she define herself in relation to Eli the priest? In verses 10-16, identify the emotions Hannah experienced. FIRST THOUGHTS Thinking about the subject of prayer can be overwhelming at times. Some say prayer is letting go, while others believe that it is holding on. Should you pray out loud or silently? Can you pray a written prayer, or does it need to be spontaneous? Does God accept prayer even when the one offering it feels despair and resentment? Is a prayer that is prayed in faith guaranteed to get a desired answer, or should it rather be viewed as an encounter with God in which the one praying submits to Him? There are so many questions about prayer. Unfortunately, some people let these unanswered questions keep them from the practice of prayer. 12 Explore the Bible Personal Study Guide

3 If you could ask God any question about prayer, what would it be? Hannah was an Israelite woman who lived during the time of the judges. She was married to a devout man who loved her and provided for her. Yet, she struggled with a sense of incompleteness in her life because of infertility. The first chapter of the Book of 1 Samuel depicts a woman whose humility and sense of desperation led her to a lifechanging encounter with the Lord in prayer. UNDERSTAND THE CONTEXT 1 SAMUEL 1:1 2:11 Change was in the air during the time of the events recorded in 1 Samuel. The priesthood had grown corrupt. Neither Eli nor his sons, Hophni and Phinehas, served the Lord in a way that honored Him. God, therefore, would bring an end to Eli s priestly dynasty (1 Sam. 2:12-36). It also was a time of transition in government from a theocracy (the rule of God) to a monarchy (the rule of a king). Samuel, the child born through God s intervention, would be a stabilizing force during these days of upheaval and transition. He would anoint the first two kings of Israel, but to different outcomes. The first king, Saul, proved unfit for the office. Therefore, God would call out the young shepherd, David, to lead His people. It would be a mistake to assume that everything in Israel rose and fell because of the people in positions of power. In the opening chapter of the book we meet an ordinary woman in great distress who prayed to God. Hannah played a key role in the working out of God s plan and purpose for Israel. She was one of two wives of Elkanah, a man of the tribe of Ephraim, and she was unable to have a child. This is a traumatic situation in any era or culture, but especially so in ancient Israel where children were viewed as evidence of God s blessing and favor. Hannah prayed for a child, and God heard and answered her. The child born to Hannah was Samuel. Out of gratitude, Hannah gave the child back to the Lord because she loved the Giver more than the gift. Her prayer in 2:1-10 is a triumphant celebration of the power of Session 1 : Answered! 13

4 God to overturn human designs and anticipates the emergence of kings in Israel (v. 10). BIBLE SKILL: Compare passages with related themes. Compare 1 Samuel 2:1-10 and Luke 1: At what points are the two songs similar? How are they different? What conclusions can be drawn about God from these two songs? EXPLORE THE TEXT HANNAH S PRAYER (1 SAM. 1:10-11) VERSE In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly. As a part of their normal practice, Hannah and her husband (Elkanah) went to Shiloh, the place of worship in Israel, to offer a sacrifice to the Lord. With the taunts by her rival Peninnah (Elkanah s other wife) about her barrenness ringing in her ears (see v. 7), Hannah went to the Lord s tabernacle where Eli the priest was serving. Only a woman who longs for children but is unable to have them knows the type of sorrow Hannah experienced. No sorrow hurts like that sorrow, especially when the sorrow is compounded by the taunting of a rival. This passage nowhere suggests Hannah s childlessness was related to any spiritual deficit in her or in her husband. While married couples today can find much help in dealing with infertility through the marvels of modern medicine, all believers ultimately should place their confidence in God s sovereignty as the Creator and Giver of life. We thank God for the technical knowledge and skills He has made available to deal with many problems we face in a fallen world. 14 Explore the Bible Personal Study Guide

5 However, we must always trust His sovereign grace in all matters of life, including the birth of children. A literal description of the state of Hannah s heart in verse 10 was bitter of soul. The phrase is repeated in 1 Samuel 22:2 to denote those who, because of desperation in their lives, rallied around David as king. It is also used by Job to describe his own trials (Job 3:20). The purest prayer comes from desperate devotion and a believing heart that can only find relief and help from God alone. The weeping that accompanied Hannah s prayer indicates the deep, heartfelt level from which she prayed. Her prayers remind us of the prayers of another principal character in 1 Samuel. David prayed: Hear my prayer, Lord, listen to my cry for help; do not be deaf to my weeping (Ps. 39:12). On another occasion, David affirmed that God took notice of his grief and captured his tears in a bottle (Ps. 56:8). People collect many things stamps, coins, trading cards but David believed that God collected his tears. In His compassion, the Father takes notice of all our grief and sorrow. Through prayer, Hannah directed her pain toward the Lord. Why is it important to be honest with God about our pains and frustrations? VERSE And she made a vow, saying, Lord Almighty, if you will only look on your servant s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head. As Hannah prayed, she made a vow to the Lord. This raises the question of whether it is advisable to promise God to do a certain thing in response to His answering a prayer. Our relationship to God is based on grace. We cannot earn His favor or benefits. If God responds to our greatest need (the forgiveness of sins) by grace through faith in Christ, should we seek other benefits through a process of deal making? God answers our prayers in ways that fulfill His bigger, redemptive plan. The fact that Hannah prayed such a prayer, and even that God honored it, does not mean that her action is one that should Session 1 : Answered! 15

6 quickly be imitated. Ecclesiastes 5:4-5 contends that vows made to God must be kept, or it would be better to make none at all. In Hannah, we see the heart attitude to which God favorably responds. In the original language, she called herself a servant or slave to the Lord. A deep understanding of the Lord s greatness and our position in relation to Him drives and motivates prayer. Thus prayer is not a means to secure what we want for ourselves, but rather a submission of everything in our lives to His control. In asking the Lord to remember her, Hannah was not seeking to jog the memory of God. Rather, she was asking Him to act in her behalf. A reference to God s remembering is always found in connection with the covenant He made with His people (Gen. 8:1; 19:29). In return, Hannah s promise to God was that her son would be a lifelong Nazirite (Num. 6:1-7). Unlike the Levitical priests who served from age 25 to 50 (Num. 8:23-26), this boy would forever be in the service of the Lord. What role does submission play in prayer? How are humility and submission to God related? ELI S AFFIRMATION (1 SAM. 1:12-18) VERSES As she kept on praying to the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. 13 Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk 14 and said to her, How long are you going to stay drunk? Put away your wine. Though Eli was likely past the age of service for a priest, he was monitoring activity in the tabernacle (1 Sam. 1:9). As he observed Hannah s praying, he mistook fervency in whispered prayer as something irreverent and concluded that she was intoxicated. Perhaps the type of praying demonstrated by Hannah was uncharacteristic of that time. Hannah s passion in prayer may have pricked the conscience of this judge of Israel. Perhaps his knowledge of godliness exceeded his actual practice of it. Eli accused Hannah of being drunk and told her to sober up. Perhaps he had witnessed such abuses in the tabernacle in the past, but he 16 Explore the Bible Personal Study Guide

7 completely misread this woman. He could watch her lips but he could not see into her heart. God knew what was in Hannah s heart. VERSES Not so, my lord, Hannah replied, I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the Lord. 16 Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief. Hannah replied to this rebuke with humility, addressing Eli as my lord. Once more, the humility of Hannah s heart is evident. She was even willing to subject herself to a priest whose discernment could be questioned. Perhaps the greatest test of our servanthood is in relationship to others. Serving the Lord is one thing, but being willing to humble ourselves before other people is something else. Self-identifying as a woman deeply troubled, Hannah defended her sobriety and asserted that she was pouring out her soul. This is a rich metaphor for prayer, used also by the psalmist (Ps. 62:8). To pour out your heart in prayer is to be completely transparent before God and to acknowledge every grief and pain to Him. The image seems fitting for a broken heart, as when water flows out of a broken container. In situations like this, prayer is both agonizing and effortless. Hannah did not want to be thought of as a wicked woman. The original Hebrew phrase literally reads daughter of Belial, translated sometimes as useless or worthless. It was applied to Eli s sons (1 Sam. 2:12); those who opposed Saul (10:27); and David s adversary, Nabal (25:17,25). The phrase came to be associated with evil and even Satan himself (Nah. 1:15; 2 Cor. 6:15). Contrary to wicked worthlessness, Hannah prayed out of deep anguish of soul. Prayer can easily become formal and perfunctory, especially when offered in the presence of others. Her prayer was anything but that. She prayed from a broken and humble heart, confessing her grief over being childless. Eventually, she found release from that bitterness. VERSES Eli answered, Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him. 18 She said, May your servant find Session 1 : Answered! 17

8 favor in your eyes. Then she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast. Eli realized that he had misread Hannah. He blessed and encouraged her with a priestly benediction. Though his description of God (the God of Israel) was not as personal and intimate as hers ( Lord Almighty, v. 11), he nevertheless recognized God was at work in that moment. The point is not that our prayers should impress others to the point where we receive validation from them. We should pray sincerely and trust that God will affirm our petitions, whether through human encouragement or inner confirmation by the Holy Spirit based on His Word. Hannah s response to Eli, May your servant find favor in your eyes, again revealed her humility. The word translated favor also can mean grace (KJV) and describes undeserved favor. This same word represents a short form of Hannah s name. With respect to God, grace is His unmerited favor that He extends to sinners when they repent and believe in His Son Jesus Christ (Eph. 2:8-9). Notice the difference in Hannah s attitude and demeanor as she left the place of prayer. There had been no change in her circumstances, yet after prayer she was transformed. Her face was no longer downcast. Prayer does that for us as well. When we get up off our knees, confident that God has heard us and will act according to His will, we can reengage life with a new attitude and vigor. On what basis can we know that God has heard our prayer? What promises can we claim from Scripture? HANNAH S PRESENTATION (1 SAM. 1:26-28) VERSE and she said to him, Pardon me, my lord. As surely as you live, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord. After her encounter with Eli in the tabernacle, Hannah went home to Ramah with her husband. God answered her prayer, and she bore a 18 Explore the Bible Personal Study Guide

9 son whom she named Samuel, which meant name of God. His name indicated the divine intervention that came through his mother s prayer (1 Sam. 1:19-20). After Samuel was weaned (usually around age three), Hannah took the child to the annual sacrifice to dedicate Samuel to the Lord permanently (vv ). Elkanah had the prerogative under the Law to overrule her vow (Num. 30:10-15), but he did not do so. Instead, Elkanah affirmed her plan, no doubt indicating his own devotion to the Lord (1 Sam. 1:23). Hannah went to the Lord s tabernacle in Shiloh, bringing both an animal to sacrifice and the child to give to the Lord s service. She reminded Eli of their previous encounter in which she prayed to the Lord while standing beside him, lost in communion with God. Perhaps the lesson we can draw here is that the more conscious we are of the Lord, the less aware we are of those around us while we are praying. And surely the opposite of that is true as well. KEY DOCTRINE: Stewardship Christians should recognize all these (their time, talents, and material possessions) as entrusted to them to use for the glory of God and for helping others. VERSES I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. 28 So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord. And he worshiped the Lord there. God gave Hannah a child, and she gave the child back to God. While she would later bear other children with God s help (2:21), Samuel would remain at the tabernacle in service to the Lord. Her generosity and unselfish devotion was a part of her whole lifestyle (1:24; compare Num. 15:8-10). Somewhere in the vicinity were the two sons of Eli, who were exploiting and abusing their position as priests (1 Sam. 2:12-17). Only those who know the Lord through meaningful prayer attain to the deepest commitments. Session 1 : Answered! 19

10 Hannah was a shining example of faith. Eli, though negligent in his own personal piety, apparently was moved by her example. Her example prompted humility and worship in his own heart and life. How does seeing an answered prayer encourage the person who prayed? How does it encourage others who were aware of the prayer? IN MY CONTEXT We can approach God with our frustrations and heartfelt desires, knowing that we can trust Him to do what is best. We encourage others by praying with them in agreement, sympathizing with their heartaches. God should be praised by our recognizing that all we have and are come from Him. Describe your greatest disappointment in life at this moment. Take time to pray about this issue, following the example set by Hannah. Discuss with the group how prayer with others can be a source of encouragement. Identify actions the group can take this week to encourage each other through prayer. Record prayer needs and put into practice the actions identified. List ways God has answered your prayers in the past. With whom can you share this list as an act of worship and thanksgiving to God? MEMORY VERSE Then Hannah prayed and said: My heart rejoices in the Lord; in the Lord my horn is lifted high. My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in your deliverance. 1 Samuel 2:1 20 Explore the Bible Personal Study Guide