Hannah’s prayer
First Samuel 1: 9-11
Hannah’s prayer DIG: How many names does God have? What are the six things we should remember about Hannah’s prayer? Why did Hannah offer her first child to God? What was her motive? What did Hannah intend for her son by her vow? What was different about her vow? How was Hannah a good example of dealing with suffering and pain?
REFLECT: When in trouble, pray. Can you discern the purpose for your suffering? If not, pray and ask God to reveal it to you. Difficult situations will bring us close to our Creator. How have you been “set apart” for service to the Lord? How does Hannah’s prayer help us when we pray? How was Hannah a humble servant? How can you emulate that attitude?
ADONAI is a God who hears.
God only has one name, YHVH, but many attributes. And one of the ways in which the Bible teaches us about God is through the various attributes given to Him in the TaNaKh. The most basic attribute for God is Elohim, or El in its shortened form, which refers to God as the great Creator. When God looked with pity on Hagar, Sarah’s slave girl and the mother of Abraham’s son Ishmael, she named Him El-Roi, a God of seeing (Genesis 16:13). After God provided a ram as an offering in the place of his son Isaac, Abraham named that place, ADONAI Yir’eh, or The LORD Will Provide (22:14a). Yet, one of the most majestic attributes of God makes its first appearance in the story of Hannah and the birth of Samuel. We read in First Samuel 1:3 that Elkanah sacrificed to ADONAI-Tzva’ot, or the LORD of heaven’s angelic armies and describes His omnipotent power (see Joshua 5:13-15; Second Kings 19:31; Psalm 24:10; Second Corinthians 6:18). And given her dire predicament, ADONAI-Tzva’ot was exactly the God she needed.
When we left Hannah (to see link click Ai – The Barren Wife), she was weeping in bitterness at the Tabernacle because of her inability to bear a son and because of the vicious mocking of her rival co-wife, Peninnah. Her husband tried to comfort her, but came up woefully short (1:8). But after Elkanah, Pinannah and her children had finished eating, Hannah got up and went to the House of God. Now ‘Eli the priest was sitting on his seat of honor (Hebrew: kisseh, meaning his throne, or the place where a judge would sit) by the doorpost of the Tabernacle of ADONAI (see Ae – The Tabernacle at Shiloh). However, Hannah was not seeking ‘Eli, she was seeking ADONAI in prayer.19 Despite being in deep depression, she prayed to ADONAI and cried out in anguish (1:9-10). It was as if YHVH was waiting for her to pray. She prayed, and God heard. Out of the 37 verses about Hannah in the Bible, 23 describe her in prayer. In his commentary on First Samuel, Richard Phillips reminds us that there are six things we need to remember about Hannah’s prayer.
First, Hannah’s prayer is a model for us, starting with the simple fact that she turned to God in her time of need. This may seem surprising, given that it was ADONAI who had closed her womb, as Hannah knew full well. Many people will turn away from God when feeling His hand of affliction, or else simply resign themselves to their fate. Believers sometimes advise friends in such a situation simply to move on and give thanks to God for the trial. We should be thankful to God for everything, even trials, but that does not mean we would be resigned to our situation! Yeshua’s half-brother James gives better advice: Is anyone of you suffering? Let him pray (James 5:13). Of all the things Hannah might have done – becoming angry or bitter, fretting in tears, or becoming angry at ADONAI – she did the very best thing. She simply went to the LORD in prayer for her need.
Second, having turned to God in prayer, Hannah prayed knowing ADONAI’s character. Then she took a vow (see the commentary on Numbers Fn – The Vows of a Married Woman), saying: O ADONAI-Tzva’ot (1:11a). Hannah honored the LORD by ascribing to Him all the power she needed, the might and power of God’s heavenly army of angels. Then she asked Ha’Shem to look upon Your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget Your servant but will give Your servant a son (1:11b). This was not a random request, but rather one that mirrors what she had learned of YHVH through the greatest of His saving deeds up to that time: the Exodus. Whether or not Hannah had access to the writings of Moshe, she knew the story well enough. Ha’Shem told Moses, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings” (Exodus 3:7 and 4:31; Deuteronomy 26:7). This showed God’s deliverance in the Exodus was an answer to prayer. Now, on a new day of Isra’el’s need, and of her own, Hannah called out to the LORD in a prayer of faith. Hannah begged ADONAI to do for her what He had done for Isra’el in the days of Moshe; she was asking God to do what God had shown to be His characteristic behavior toward His people.20
Third, Hannah prayed knowing who she was. She referred to herself as God’s humble servant (1:11b). She didn’t demand that YHVH do anything, nor was there any evidence that she complained about her sorrowful state of affairs in life. Hannah didn’t demand her rights, but merely came with a humble request. Moreover, she knew what kind of a world she lived in. She knew it wasn’t heaven, but a fallen, sinful place in which everyone would have their own share of personal imperfections and afflictions. It is also important to notice that Hannah didn’t ask God to take revenge on Peninnah. She knew that she was coming to God for mercy, and it would be poor practice to ask Ha’Shem’s justice towards others while seeking mercy for herself. Hannah identified herself as a humble servant of the LORD and brought her requests to Him in humble faith.
Fourth, Hannah knew what she wanted and was not afraid to ask for it. It is true that our prayers should consist of more than a list of things we want to receive from God. We need to worship YHVH in prayer, to give thanks for our many blessings, and to confess our sins to Him. Those things honor our heavenly Father when we do so. Consequently, we need to come to God knowing what we are asking, and then asking for it humbly and clearly. James states a principle that, sadly, explains so much of our spiritual poverty: You do not have, because you do not ask (James 4:2). Notice Hannah’s prayer did not rely on any ritual formula or words, or any technique of prayer. She simply knew the Lord, believed in His promise to care for His people, and prayed to Him for what she needed. This is the benefit of knowing ADONAI-Tzva’ot, including His attributes, His promises, and His saving deeds. Hannah was able to pray confidently, because she knew the God to whom she prayed.
Fifth, Hannah prayed with confidence because she prayed according to God’s will. Hannah knew her motives were aligned with God’s will. James chides us not only for not asking in prayers, but also for having the wrong motives when we do ask: And even when you ask, you don’t receive because your motives are all wrong, you only want what gives you pleasure (James 4:3). So, Hannah prayed with an eye on God’s will.
This was especially true when Hannah made her vow. She said: O ADONAI-Tzva’ot, if You will look upon Your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget Your servant but will give Your servant a son, then I will give him to ADONAI for as long as he lives; and no razor will ever be used on his head (1:11). In other words, she took the Nazarite vow for her future son (see Numbers Ba – The Nazirite Vow). This vow was unusual in two ways. First, a person normally took a Nazarite vow on oneself, not as a proxy for someone else. And secondly, the Nazarite vow was typically limited to a certain period of time. But here, Hannah pledged her future son was to be a Nazirite for life. Of course, the most famous Nazirite was Samson (see the commentary on Judges Bt – The Twelfth Cycle: Samson), the mighty warrior who slew so many Philistines and was the last judge of Isra’el before Samuel.21 But to this simple country woman, desperate for a son, it seemed to her like the appropriate way of demonstrating her gratitude.22
Was Hannah trying to bargain with God? Was she saying, “God, you give me this and I will give you that?” If so, then Hannah wasn’t praying in God’s will. That is the way the pagans approach their gods, seeking to appease them with offers and bribes. But Hannah’s prayer was nothing of the sort. Yes, she wanted to have a child. But beyond that desire, the purposes of ADONAI filled her soul; this put her own desires subordinate to anything she was personally feeling. If the LORD should give her a son, he wouldn’t be hers, but God’s!23
We should consider the sacrifice involved in Hannah’s vow. Bearing a son would have removed her disgrace and perhaps ended her rival’s persecution, but giving up her son was quite another matter. Perhaps it would have been easier for her to go on living in bitterness than to have a son for only three years (the normal length of weaning) and have to give him up forever. I wonder if God had given Hannah an inner conviction that her son would play an important part in the future of the nation.24 She was also forfeiting the status that a son would bring her in society. So her prayer was no bargain in which she offered something to God in return for what she wanted. Rather, what she wanted was to offer her son to the LORD. She wanted to play her role in God’s plan of salvation, and she was zealous to play a most meaningful role: to bear a lifelong Nazirite who would faithfully serve ADONAI. In this, she set an example for believing parents today in that our main desire for our children should be that they would be faithfully committed to the Lord and useful to His Kingdom.
The sixth and last thing to note about Hannah’s prayer is that she frequently opened her heart to ADONAI. As she explained to ‘Eli, “I have been pouring out my soul before ADONAI” (1:15). If we ever think that the righteous of the TaNaKh couldn’t personally communicate with YHVH, we should remember Hannah’s prayer. She didn’t come with a formula to manipulate the LORD or an offer to bribe Ha’Shem, but with a mind that knew God and a heart that poured out in pain and godly desire. For us, on the one hand, we need to realize that emotional passion does not make our prayers any better or more effective, as if we have to push our hearts onto our heavenly Father. Yeshua taught: When you pray, do not keep on babbling like the pagans do, for they think they will be heard because of their many words (Mt 6:7). On the other hand, passions that are in our hearts – our frustration, our grief, even our doubt and anger – can, and should be brought to God in prayer. With such anguish in her heart, Hannah prayed long and hard for the help of God. As David said of his many prayers, “I pour out my complaints before Him and tell Him all my troubles (Psalm 142:2).25
Dear Heavenly Father, praise You and thank You that You are a wonderful and loving Father who enjoys a relationship of love with me, including time spent talking and listening to each other. You are always there when I need to speak to You. Sometimes I just want to walk with You holding Your hand and feeling Your closeness. Occasionally there are problems that need to be laid at Your feet. Every time I pray it holds an opportunity to praise and to thank You for even in trials, Your Sovereign hand is working to bring good in my life (First Peter 1:6-7).
When David was fleeing for his life he prayed often, trusting in God to save him. But know that ADONAI has set apart the godly for His own. ADONAI will hear when I call to Him… Offer righteous sacrifices and put your trust in Adonai. (Psalms 4:3 and 5). Trust in Him at all times, you people. Pour out your heart in His presence. God is our refuge. Selah (Psalms 62:8). Thank You for never being too busy for me. In Yeshua’s holy Name and the power of His Resurrection. Amen
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