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Sunday, May 13
Pastor Oliver R. Blosser, M.Div., Ph.D.
Faith Community Church
Pipestone, MN
And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head. I Samuel 1:11
The Prayerful Mother
The woman, who personifies the ideal in motherhood in the Old Testament, is Hannah, mother of Samuel, the earliest of the great Hebrew prophets after Moses and the last of the judges. Hannah’s story, told in the first two chapters of the first Bible book bearing her son’s name, breathes of her love and care of her firstborn, the worthy son of a worthy woman.
I. Hannah’s
Problem
Hannah’s environment was not conducive to prayer, for the people of Israel had lapsed from the high standards of morality and spirituality set up by Moses. Her husband, Elkanah, was a good but easy-going, undistinguished priest; and in these polygamous times, he and his other wife, Peninnah, had children, while Hannah had none.
But she believed with all her heart that God was the Creator of children and that only God could convert a woman into a mother. Every year she went from her home at Ramah to the tent-tabernacle at Shiloh, and her most ardent prayer was for a child.
Though she was her husband’s favorite wife, these journeys to Shiloh, at the vintage season when fall was folding in over the Palestine hills, were trying ones for Hannah. As she saw parents and children coming together, probably she grieved all the more because she had no part in the coming generation. As her husband made his sacrifices in the tabernacle, he would give portions to his other wife, Peninnah, and to her sons and daughters. Though he gave Hannah a “worthy portion,Ó it was much smaller because she had no children.
Peninnah, jealous because Hannah was the favorite wife, made light of Hannah because the Lord has shut up her womb, I Samuel 1:6. But it is greatly to Hannah’s credit that this bad treatment caused no outward conflict on her part. Though grieved in spirit, we hear no railing or furious revenge on her part.
Each year, though, it became a hard experience emotionally for Hannah to make the journey to Shiloh. Finally, on one trip she wept and would not eat. Her husband, a sensitive man, asked, Why weepest thou? and why eatest thou not? and why is thy heart grieved? am I not better to thee than ten sons? I Samuel 1:8.
II. Hannah’s
Prayer
We have no answer from Hannah, but we do know she arose and went into the tabernacle to pour out her anguish of soul. And the prayer that she prayed has become one of the great petitions of a mother; O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head, I Samuel 1:11.
Her repetition of the word “handmaid” three times expressed her humility, submission, and sense of dependence on God. From such humility Hannah received new strength.
Eli, the priest, seeing her lips move, but not understanding her silence, asked if she were drunk. But Hannah asserted, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD, I Samuel 1:15.
When Eli saw how eager she was for a child, he joined her in prayer, asking that the God of Israel grant her petition. And Hannah went her way firm in her conviction that God would answer her prayer for a son.
III. God’s Answer
When her prayer was answered and there was born to her a son, she named him Samuel, meaning “asked of the Lord,” I Samuel 1:20. In her loving care of Samuel, Hannah becomes the prototype of the good mother everywhere, setting a stirring example of high morality and spirituality, which could bring a new order into the world.
Hannah nursed and tended the little Samuel, bestowing upon him all the love that a devoted mother would have for her first-born. She placed upon motherhood a high obligation and responsibility. Finally, when the child was weaned, Hannah dressed him for his first trip to the tabernacle, where she was to leave him. The atmosphere around this place of worship sometimes became polluted. Eli, the priest, though a good man himself, had sons who were immoral, I Samuel 2:22. But Hannah had no fears for her son. She had placed him in the hands of God, and she believed strongly in her heart that God would answer the prayer she had made before his birth.
Loving him as she did, it was a sacrifice for her to return to Ramah without him. Before she let Samuel in the tabernacle with Eli, however, she prayed to God a triumphant prayer that has been called the fore-runner of Mary’s Magnificat. In it, Hannah exhibited the fervency, depth, and fire of a woman who was happy and who sang her happiness and belief in God. She loved her God, not mainly because He had delivered to her a son, but for what He was to all, a God of knowledge and of power.
One of the remarkable things about Hannah’s second prayer was that she prayed it after she had become the mother of a wonderful son, making us know that she was a woman who prayed in good times and bad, in joy and in affliction.
After a while, the boy Samuel did his work so well in the temple that Eli appointed him to wear the simple linen vest worn by the priests and called an ephod. Hannah made him a coat or robe of blue fabric to wear under the ephod. As Samuel outgrew one coat each year, she would make him another and take it with her when the family went to Shiloh for the yearly sacrifices.
The priest, Eli, witnessing the unselfishness of Hannah, asked that God visit her, and she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. The last of Hannah’s biography confirms that the child Samuel grew before the Lord, I Samuel 2:21.
Life Application
Hannah’s prayers were certainly answered. She approached a prayer-answering God, and He heard and responded to her needs and desired. The answer to her prayer, namely the child Samuel, grew to be an important individual in Old Testament history. God blessed her far beyond her request! He knew what was best, and in what time to answer her prayer. Samuel eventually became the priest to anoint the first king of Israel. He helped to set the spiritual stage for the rise of King David and the establishment of the Davidic royal family.
Because Eli joined Hannah in her prayer, and supported and encouraged her, and wanted her, a stranger, to be blessed, he received the blessing as well, when Samuel came to him. When we pray for one another and share each other’s burdens, we share in the joy and blessing of the answers to our prayers. When we fail to share our prayer needs, we rob each other of the joy and faith-building that comes from answered prayer.
Answered prayer is a blessing! But we do not rejoice in the answer to our prayers, as much as we rejoice in who God is, and that He is a prayer-answering God. Knowing and serving a God who hears us and cares for us is a great honor. We can rejoice in whatever answer he sends, because we know He is a loving God! Hannah had an answer to her deepest prayer, and then rejoiced in God for who and what He was in her life!
Like Hannah, we need to develop a relationship with God. Our prayers should not come only in times of trial and trouble. But our prayer life should be consistent through good times and bad, so that when trouble comes, we are able to approach God freely on the basis of a strong personal relationship with Him.