Today’s Devotion
Topic: Prayer Of Desperation
(Self Assessment 168)
Part 3
Background: For the past few weeks we have been discussing the very distressing circumstances that led Hannah into prayer on a fateful day. Her prayer and vow was that if God would be kind to her and bless her with A SON, she would dedicate her child for the service of the Lord all of his lifetime.
As she prayed in anguish, Eli the priest, observed her closely and thought she was drunk. He said to her, “How long are you going to stay drunk? Put away your wine.”
“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. Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief.” Eli then answered, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of Him.”
She said, “May your servant find favour in your eyes.” Then she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast.
Let us continue from there to see what transpired after this. Kindly call the family together, IT’S TIME TO STUDY THE WORD OF GOD!
Text: 1 Sam 1: 19- 23
19 Early the next morning they arose and worshiped before the Lord and then went back to their home at Ramah. Elkanah made love to his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her.
20 So in the course of time Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, “Because I asked the Lord for him.”
21 When her husband Elkanah went up with all his family to offer the annual sacrifice to the Lord and to fulfill his vow, 22 Hannah did not go. She said to her husband, “After the boy is weaned, I will take him and present him before the Lord, and he will live there always.”
23 “Do what seems best to you,” her husband Elkanah told her. “Stay here until you have weaned him; only may the Lord make good his word.” So the woman stayed at home and nursed her son until she had weaned him. Amen
Questions:
1. What can you say is significant in verse 19 about these two wonderful things Elkanah and his family did at Shiloh and also when they went home, and what practical lessons can we lean from them:
a) That early in the morning the whole family rose up and worshiped before the Lord before going on their way.
b) That Elkanah made love to his wife after she had gone to pray for a child.
2. What does the Bible mean by saying “and the Lord remembered her”?
3. Kindly read verse 20 again:
a) What does it mean to say, “in the course of time Hannah became pregnant”? What do we learn from this!
b) When Hannah had a son, she named him Samuel because she asked the Lord for him. But since all babies come from the Lord anyway, what can you say will be both the significance and symbolism of such a choice of name? What can we learn from that?
4. Read verses 21 and 22 again:
a) How faithful was Elkanah in his service to God?
b) Was Hannah begining to give excuses because she now had what she prayed for?
c) Hannah was going to present her only child as at then to the Lord and have him live there always. That was the desire of a mother as a demonstration of her gratitude to God. How come most parents in our generation do nothing or little to aid a lasting relationship between their wards and the living God, through Jesus the Son? Why do we leave our children to decide on their own what their faith will be?
5. “Do what seems best to you?” The Bible doesn’t say specifically, but from all we have read so far and in your own opinion, how come Elkanah seemed so understanding of Hannah’s decision? Even the decision in verse 22 that the boy would be presented before the Lord and he would live there always. What is the lesson in here for the married?
6. On the whole, what will you say you have learnt from today’s discussion?
Kindly reply through this same social media platform (Facebook & WhatsApp). We learn a great deal from the answers you share with us.
Make a date with us next week for Part 4 of this all-important study.
(www.yonghana.org; Like our Facebook page: Y OUTREACH NETWORK)
