Lessons from Hannah

Well, there are many wonderful examples of individuals in the Bible who set a powerful role model for us today. When you think of someone in the Bible who is a shining example for us, who are some of the individuals that come to mind?

Probably Noah, Abraham, perhaps Joseph, Moses. There are so many individuals that probably come to mind. And most of them seem to be men. But this morning I thought it would take a little bit of time to talk about a mother. Talk about an individual who was mother to one of the greatest prophets of Israel. Because in her example, I think it applies in so many ways for each of us today. That mother can be found in the book of 1 Samuel right at the very beginning of that book. We find the mother of Samuel is Hannah. And her story is found just in these first two chapters of 1 Samuel.

It's a real-life story. It's not just a metaphor. It's not just an analogy for us. But this is an actual individual who set an amazing example. And I think, one, that we can learn quite a few lessons from. Because through her life, she lived a life that points to a way for God's people to live. Whether you're a man or a woman, that's not the point. But the fact that she lived her life and with the challenges that she faced, she set a very powerful example. If you'll turn over to 1 Samuel, we'll pick up her story right here at the very beginning of 1 Samuel.

1 Samuel 1, right away at the beginning of verse 1, we'll find her example. Let's notice it. It says, There was a certain man of Ramathaim Zophim of the mountains of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Gerohim, the son of Elihu, the son of Tofu. No, not Tofu. Tohu. I thought he was a Chinese guy for a second there. But no, he's not. Tohu, the son of Zuf, and Ephraimite. I guess that's saying this guy was pretty important. He had a lot of relatives, an important man, man of Rama.

Rama, that's what seems to be this Ramathaim. And it says he had two wives. The name of the one was Hannah, the name of the other, Penanah. Penanah had children, but Hannah had no children. So one wife has children, the other wife has no children. The man went up from the city yearly to worship and sacrifice to the Lord of Hosts in Shiloh. That's where the tabernacle was in Shiloh at this time. So he went up yearly. It may have been at the Feast of Tabernacles. It says, also, the two sons of Eli, Haphni and Phineas, the priests of the Lord, were there. They would, of course, be there at the tabernacle.

And whenever the time came for Elkanah to make an offering, he would give portions to Penanah, his wife, and to all her sons and daughters. But to Hannah, he would give a double portion, for he loved Hannah, although the Lord had closed her womb.

So we see right away at the beginning of the story, there's a problem. The problem is Hannah cannot have children. Of course, that's a major problem, especially in this day and age. Where was a woman's identity, especially at this time? It was in being a wife and being a mother. It was passing on the heritage. And so for a woman not to have children was certainly devastating to her.

And then to add on top of that, you have a rival wife, which God didn't approve of this. This was something they took upon themselves. We know that in the beginning it was not so. It wasn't intended to be that way. But be that as it may, Elkanah has another wife, and she was just a wonderful person who lived up to her name. Well, no, she wasn't. Her name Penanah means jewel. It means jewel, but she wasn't a jewel as a personality. We notice a description of her, verse 6.

It says, Hannah's rival also provoked her severely to make her miserable because the Lord had closed her womb. So because she couldn't have children, this Penanah makes fun of her. Now, this is not just like a little minor irritation. This is a major problem. This is putting Hannah in agony. She's miserable. This is someone that is an adversary to her. It's her rival. So they're not getting along here at all because of Penanah's attitude. And so she's making her miserable. And so I think it begins to point us to something that is an important lesson from Hannah. I think the first thing we begin to see is that God's people have problems.

God's people have real-life problems. Because we're God's people, can we expect that everything will be perfect? Everything will be wonderful? We won't ever have any issues in our life? Things will never be complicated? We don't want to assume that at all. I think Hannah and her life points this out very clearly, that as God's people, there's going to be an expectation that we're going to have to endure real problems, real difficulties. This wasn't just a minor irritation for Hannah. She was not able to pass on the heritage.

She wasn't fulfilling her duties as a wife, and to make it worse, here's this other woman just really trying to give it to her at every possible opportunity. In fact, there's several examples in the Bible of individuals who are like this. The life of Abraham and Sarah, this is one that comes to mind to me.

It was like that for Sarah. Hagar, when she had her son Ishmael, was doing as much as she could to annoy Sarah. You can look that up in Genesis if you want to, to see how that same difficulty, that same ridicule was a part of that relationship as well.

For you and I, it may not be this agony or difficulty or having an adversary that's opposing us in this way, but I think it's a lesson that we are going to have problems, and we are going to suffer. There are going to be difficulties in our life. A good example of that, if you hold your place here in 1 Samuel, go over to 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians 1, verse 3 is a reminder of that even in our lives today, there are going to be challenges. There's going to be difficulties. There's going to be times when we are going to be faced with things that aren't just an irritation, that aren't just a minor inconvenience.

But there are going to be times in our life that we will suffer, and we will suffer mightily. We'll have times in our life when it seems there's not a way out. 2 Corinthians 1, verse 3, points us to that.

At the beginning of the letter to the Corinthians, the second letter, Paul writes, So when we are going through difficulties, this is a great verse to remember, because God is a comforter in all ways. He's the God of all comfort. He's the source of mercy. He's the source of comfort for us. He can encourage us. He can guide us. In fact, he goes on and he says he comforts us in all our tribulations.

Sometimes the difficulties can be overwhelming, that we're going to have to step back, and we're going to have to see, how is he comforting me, even in this terrible circumstance? And yet here Paul writes that we are able to be comforted in our tribulation. Look at the middle of verse 4.

So when we're in trouble, he says, we then can be comforted by God, and then it should lead us to do something. He says, with the comfort that we've experienced ourselves, he says we should be able to comfort others.

So when we suffer, the comfort that we have from God should be passed on, is what he's saying. So when we're weighed down, when we have difficulties, when we have challenges, he says we can comfort others because we're comforted by God. Verse 5, So no matter what happens, the more we suffer, the more difficulties, the more challenges, problems, agony, the more adversaries that we face, the rivals that would come against us, he says the more we suffer in a godly manner. When we're suffering for righteousness' sake, he's saying, what's God going to do? God's going to pour out His comfort through Jesus Christ. He's going to give us encouragement. And so when we're weighted down, when we have those difficulties, he even says we can benefit from those things.

I'm sure that Hannah did not feel like she was going to benefit from this. Here's this other woman who has a whole slew of children, and what's she doing? She's saying, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah. She's rubbing it in. She's saying, what's wrong with you? Look how good I am. Look how bad you are. Look at my status. Look how much God loves me because I have a multitude of blessings and you have nothing.

So you can just imagine what those conversations must have been like, what the ridicule she had to suffer with. And yet, what Paul tells us here in Corinthians, he says, even when we have difficulties, even when we have job problems, even when we have problems in our relationships, even though we have difficulties in our life, he says here, God can see us through and use those difficulties as a benefit. That's what he says here in verse 6. If we're afflicted, it's for your consolation and salvation. He says, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we're comforted, it's for your consolation and salvation. You see, God can turn those difficulties. He can turn the agony into salvation, into saving us. When we patiently endure these things, he says, we're going to be able to share in God's comfort and ultimately in the ultimate comfort. The ultimate comfort, the ultimate encouragement is being in the Kingdom of God, being a part of His family, being a full-fledged family member.

And so he says, that's ultimately what we can look forward to. And so many times it's hard to see through the difficulty. It's hard to see through the storm. I mean, who would have guessed if you were driving last night at 7 o'clock through this blizzard that was going on outside last night, it would be tough to think that today it's going to be a beautiful, sun-shining day.

And yet, doesn't God promise the same things to those who patiently wait? Those who look for His comfort and His encouragement? That is what He promises. That is what He promises.

I was reminded of this the other day. We had gone back to see my parents for Thanksgiving, and they live in an area that there's a lot of cranberry bogs. And if you've never seen these cranberry bogs, it's kind of an interesting kind of a landscape. They take the swampy land and they kind of fashion it out, dig it out a little bit, and plant these cranberry bushes. They plant them in these bogs in these really wet areas.

They like a lot of water. But one of the things they do at harvest time is they flood the bogs. And so they totally fill it up with water. And you know what happens? Once they fill up those bogs with water, all the cranberries fall off the plants, and they kind of rise to the top of the water. They have this really kind of crazy-looking machine that goes through almost like a little steamboat engine or something you might see a paddle boat going down the Mississippi or something.

It has this wheel, and it collects all these cranberries. So these beautiful red berries, who initially it looks like they're just all going to die because they flooded these bogs, because of this big flood, the berries rise, and then they can collect them and harvest them, and they gather them together so that they can make the craisins or the cranberry juice or whatever it is they're going to do with it. And so you wouldn't think that a flood would bring on some kind of a benefit.

But that's exactly what happens in these cranberry bogs. In order to get the benefits of the harvest, there had to be a flood to begin with. And so I think that's maybe what Paul's talking about here as well, that sometimes in order to have the harvest, in order to have the goodness of the blessings, there has to be some challenges and difficulties that come first. So when the trials come for us, when they came for Hannah, how do we react? When the floods come, when the trials come, when they sweep in, when the blizzards come, not weather-wise, but in our lives, what is the result?

Are we like those cranberries that what's the result is that the godly fruit is released? You see, that's what God has in mind. That's what Paul is talking about here. When we're faced with those challenges, the godly fruit should come out, and it can come out if we allow it to. And Paul's a wonderful example of that, pointing out, who knows, maybe he even had Hannah in mind when he wrote that. Because I think it's an important lesson for us when we think about the problems and challenges and difficulties we'll have in life.

Expect them. Expect them. Because it's wintertime in Cincinnati, and if you don't like the weather, stick around, it'll change pretty quickly. Same thing is in life. Life brings different challenges, and we can expect those to happen. And just because we follow God doesn't mean there won't be those challenges.

The righteous suffer often. How many times in the Bible do we find examples of that? They're all over the place. I think there's also another aspect to this challenge that we face in life is that we can't allow others to deter us. You see, if you look back to 1 Samuel, flip back there again, one of the challenges with Hannah, it wasn't just the fact she was suffering because she couldn't have kids. The other reason she was suffering is because somebody else was on her all the time.

Somebody else was that goat that was poking at her and picking at her all the time. Yet did she allow that to deter her trust in God? Just because she was going through difficulties and others were criticizing her. You know, they were probably saying what? Hannah, you must be displeasing to God. You must be doing something or otherwise you'd have kids.

You're having these problems because you must not be righteous enough. You see, people will say things like that. They'll think things like that. And yet that was not the case at all. And Hannah could have faced that difficulty. She could have used that as an excuse, couldn't she? But it's interesting to see what did she do. Remember verse 6. This is 1 Samuel 1 verse 6. Her rival provoked her severely. She's picking and she's poking. She's making her miserable. And Hannah could have said, well, forget it then. God must hate me. He must not like me. And so it's not worth it. Yet her reaction was just the opposite.

Instead of letting others deter her from God, look at verse 7. So it was, year by year, when she went up to the house of the Lord, that she provoked her, therefore she wept and didn't eat. So what happened? The woman wouldn't relent. This penanah kept trying to poke and pick and proud her over and over again and discourage her. And yet, what did Hannah do? Year after year after year, she still went to the tabernacle.

She still served God. She still put God first. That's a pretty good example for us, isn't it? She didn't let it get in the way. And I think that's an important lesson for us. Don't let others get in our way of having a right relationship with God.

The problems and the difficulties we face, we can't let that deter us from following God. There's a wonderful psalm. We sing parts of this psalm in our hymn book once in a while. It's over in Psalm 42. Psalm 42, we'll pick it up in verse 5. So hold your place here in Samuel. We'll flip over to Psalm 42 for just a moment. In Psalm 42, verse 5, we sing the beginning of this song. It's many of yours favorite song.

It's, As the Deer, As the Deer Pants for the Waterbrook, So My Soul Pants for You. That's how this particular song starts. Well, in a later verse, it's interesting what David writes about here. It says, Why are you cast down? Why are you cast down?

Verse 5. Why are you cast down, O my soul? In other words, why am I discouraged? Why am I so sad? What should be our reaction? What was Hannah's reaction when she was discouraged, when she was down, when she was put down? Well, it says, Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance.

When I'm faced with difficulties, when I'm faced with challenges, I'll put my hope in God. I'll praise Him again. I will praise Him over and over again. Even though, verse 6, my soul is cast down within me, even though I am so disheartened and discouraged, I'll remember God. I'll remember Your kindness. He says, I'll remember You from the land of Jordan, from the heights of Hermon, from the hill of Mizar.

Remember all the wonderful things God has done. I will remember Your kindness. So the reaction, even when life's challenges might cause us to mistrust God, or others would push us and try to hinder us, it should cause us to grow closer to God, to draw closer to Him, to praise Him, to notice the blessings. Even though there are difficulties that discourage us, don't let that deter you.

That shouldn't deter us, even though the outlook might be just absolutely terrible. We can't allow that to get in the way of our relationship with God. I was reminded of this a while back when our kids used to play baseball. If your kids ever played tee ball, when they first start learning how to play and all those sort of things, remember hearing about a circumstance where there's the score, I got to the game late, what's the score? It's like 18-0. And the kids were just really excited. It's like, well, how can you be so excited when they're just whipping you 18-0? So we're not discouraged. We haven't got up to bat yet. And so that's kind of part of the deal. I think we always have to remember that, you know, that, okay, the score might look pretty out of hand here, but who's on our side? Who's going to help bring us to bat? God's going to bring us to bat. We haven't really had our turn yet. With God on our side, it doesn't matter what the score might appear to be. It doesn't really matter. With God on our side, we can handle the adversary, especially the big adversary that we face, who's out to get us, who wants to deter us from a right relationship with God.

Okay, maybe we can go back to 1 Samuel for a moment. 1 Samuel, we can find another lesson from Hannah. Here she is going up to the feast, more than likely, year by year. She's been provoked and prodded by this apposer, by this rival, by her adversary. Verse 8, Elkanah, her husband said to Hannah, Hannah, why do you weep? And why don't you eat? Okay, like a normal husband. He's clueless, I guess.

Oh no, not really. He says, why is your heart grieved? Am I not better to you than 10 sons?

That's kind of an interesting little side point there. What was it, that Pena had 10 sons? Maybe. Maybe she had 10 sons. Hannah has none.

She also had a bunch of daughters, it seems like. So that, oh, can you imagine what that would weigh on you? She's got 10, and I've got none. And the husband says, I'm better than 10 sons, aren't I? So what did Hannah do? It says, she arose. She arose after they finished eating and drinking in Shiloh. That's where the tabernacle was. Eli the priest was sitting on the seat by the doorpost of the tabernacle of the Lord. So here she is at the tabernacle. She was in bitterness of soul and whined and complained about her problems. No, she didn't. It says, she was in bitterness of soul. So she was down and discouraged, and she took those discouragements to God. She prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish. I mean, this was a major issue. This was a life-changing problem, to be a woman in Israel with no children. And so some of the translation says, she wept in bitterness of soul or in anguish. She took it to God.

She took her real problems straight to God, to the one who could make a difference. Verse 11, she made a vow and said, O Lord of Hosts, if you'll hear, indeed look on the affliction of your maidservant and remember me. Some translations say, and hear me, and not forget your maidservant, but we'll give your maidservant a male child, then I'll give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no raiser shall come upon his head.

So she offers a very solemn vow, a promise before God. And it wasn't even No Shave November. That's not what she's talking about there. She's talking about dedicating him to God as a Nazarite for life, it seems. And so she was going to dedicate him to God. And sure enough, it says, as it happened, she continued praying before the Lord that Eli watched her mouth. So she continued to pray. She was persistent in her prayer. In fact, she was so persistent, she was oblivious, it seems, to what was going on around her. So the priest is watching her, sees her mouth moving, and it says, Hannah spoke in her heart, only her lips moved, but her voice wasn't heard. Therefore, Eli thought she was drunk. Perhaps, you know, you've prayed like that before, too, where your mouth are moving kind of with what you're thinking. Now, she wasn't drunk, but she was praying, it says, with all her heart. She's praying with everything that's deep inside of her, praying with her heart. That doesn't mean that she's only thinking of it. You've got both things combined here. You've got your logic, the thinking part, but you've also got her heart, her emotional side of things. God connects with all of us as an entire whole being. Logic and emotion come together. God understands our thoughts and our emotions as well. So here she is praying with her heart, weeping and bitterness of soul. She's persistently praying. In fact, she's praying with her all. Eli says, how long will you be drunk? Put your wine away. But wait a second. Hannah answered and said, no, my Lord, I'm a woman of sorrowful spirit. I've drunk neither wine nor intoxicating drink, but I've poured out my soul before the Lord. She's just laid it all out with her all. She's been praying. And she has faith that God will fulfill His promises. In fact, that's what she begins to notice here. And so here we have an amazing example. Instead of being so discouraged that she gives up on a relationship with God, she does exactly the opposite. She pours out her problems in her life before God. And so she sets this wonderful example of powerful prayer. I think that's a lesson for all of us to take to heart, that God's people pray powerfully. She prays a powerful prayer and a persistent prayer, a prayer that is a fervent prayer. She puts her heart and her soul into it. There's an example of this that Paul writes to the Colossians. If you hold your place here in Samuel, we'll come back. Colossians 4, verse 2. Notice what Paul wrote to the Colossians as he tells us and tells them about this fervent prayer that we should all pray to God. Let's notice it over in Colossians 4, verse 2. Here Paul just got done giving instructions to families as he talks to husbands and wives and children and fathers and even to the slaves. He gets to the masters here at the beginning of chapter 4. But then to all, he says, verse 2, continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving. Meanwhile praying also for us that God would open to us a door for the Word to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chain. I think the NRSV says, devote yourselves to prayer. When we look back at the example of Hannah, was she devoted in prayer? Did she continue earnestly in prayer? Well, she certainly wasn't deterred. She certainly wasn't set off track just because of the circumstances and the difficulties that she was facing.

She put her heart into it. And this word for continuing earnestly is an interesting word. Some of the translations say, be instant in prayer. Continuing earnestly is almost like sticking to it. Stick to prayer. The word can actually mean to adhere, which is, you know, kind of be stuck. Be stuck to something.

So we're stuck on prayer. We should always adhere to prayer. Or some translations say, persevere. Persevere. Be constantly devoting ourselves to prayer with thanksgiving. And that's what Hannah was doing, wasn't she? She was thankful that God was her God. That even though her circumstances looked dire, that there was no solution to it, she knew God had a solution. God had a way out. And if she would adhere to prayer, that God would show her the way. Either the way out or the way through it. Because sometimes God will remove situations and there will be miraculous circumstances that God will take away a trial. And miraculously, it will be gone. But other times, He miraculously gives us the strength to go right through the eye of the storm. And either way, God promises to be there. And so we are to continue steadfastly to pray fervently and steadfastly. In fact, Paul also wrote a similar thought to the Romans. Look over at Romans 12.

Verse 9. This powerful, persistent, fervent prayer is something he can encourage all of us to be sure is a part of our relationship with God. Romans 12. And verse 9. Romans 12. Verse 9. He says, Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what's evil. He's giving a number of things that we have to make a part of our life as God's people. And he goes on, Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another, not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer, distributing to the needs of the saints given to hospitality. Now you can do a sermon probably on any one of those instructions right there, as he's making this list of Christian characteristics we need to have. But the one that fits here with Hannah and for our lesson today is that we are to be praying powerfully to God. Be praying persistently. Don't let anything deter us from prayer, from our relationship with God. Be instant in prayer. Devote ourselves to prayer. Adhere to prayer no matter what. Sometimes the most challenging prayers are those when everything's great. Everything's fine. Well, why do I need to pray? I don't really need God that much right now because everything's going pretty good. Well, we've got to be stuck to prayer. We've got to be stuck on our relationship with God. And we've got to continue to devote ourselves to it no matter what the circumstances and have that faithful prayer that Hannah exhibited. Because there's no doubt God or Hannah expected God to answer her prayers. She faithfully prayed and she believed that God would hear her. And of course, we know that to be the case as well. God promises to hear us. He promises to listen to us. That faithful prayer, He definitely hears. James 5 talks about the prayer of the faithful. Remember James 5 says, Are you suffering? Are you cheerful? Are you sick? What should be our reaction to any of those circumstances? You know, if you're suffering, pray. Are you cheerful? Pray. If you're sick, call on the elders and you pray. You pray. Be steadfast. Devote yourselves to prayer. I was thinking one other passage that's, I think, an important one in this aspect is over in 1 John.

1 John 5, verse 14, speaks to the fact that God's people pray powerfully. They don't let anything get in the way of their relationship with God to talking to Him and hearing what He has to say as well. Here we find that same aspect at the very end of John's first letter, in this general letter that he wrote. He says, this is the confidence that we have in Him. What confidence do we have in God? What assurance do we have because we have a relationship with the Father and with Jesus Christ? What is our confidence that we have? Well, he says, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

Well, that's a nice thought. At least God hears us. Was that all the further it goes, though, that God just listens? Or is there more to the story? Well, verse 15, if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

Or in other words, He's going to answer us. He's going to answer those prayers. In fact, it's an interesting word that he uses here for the confidence. We have confidence in Him. This confidence has a connection to speaking. How can we speak before God? How can we pray before God?

Well, in America, we pride ourselves on the Constitution, and it says we have the freedom of speech. And this word kind of relates to that, not to the Constitution, but the concept of freedom of speech. We are free to speak our mind before God. We are free to lay it all before our great God. And that word confidence relates to free speech, to freely tell God everything, to lay it all before our God. And we can have that confidence in that free speech that when He hears us, which is always, He always hears us, that when we pray and things are according to His will—of course His will is that He loves us, He cares for us, He wants the best for us— that He will hear that prayer, and He will answer that prayer.

He will answer that prayer. And so God notices and takes note of those prayers and promises to answer those prayers. Now, it might not be in the way that we expect. It might not be in the way that we want. But God will answer us in the way that He knows is best. So we can take heart in that fact. We can have confidence in that fact. In fact, that's what Hannah took to heart, that God would answer her.

So let's flip back to 1 Samuel for a moment. Let's notice another example in Hannah's life as a result of her relationship with God, as a result of her praying according to God's will.

God wanted to bless her. And sure enough, we see what happens. Eli says, Go in peace in verse 17. Let the God of Israel grant your petition which you've asked. She said, Let your maidservant find favor in your sight. So the woman went her way eight, and her face was no longer sad. Verse 19, They arose early in the morning, they worshipped before the Lord.

She continued to praise and honor God despite the fact nothing had changed by this point. She returned and came to their house at Ramah. So she goes back home. Elkanah knew Hannah, his wife, and the Lord remembered her. The Lord remembered her. Came to pass in the process of time Hannah conceived and bore a son. So she has a child and called his name Samuel because I have asked for him from the Lord.

So God answers her prayer. God gave her a son. She actually names him, asked of God. The word Samuel means that or heard of God. That God listened and I've received what I asked for. Of course, you've heard that old saying, Be careful what you ask for. You know, you might get it. But wait a second. She asked for something really good.

Something according to God's will and He blessed her. And she called his name, asked of God. She asked for Samuel and God blessed her. And so I think that tells us that God's people can expect God's blessings. We can expect blessings. God's people experience blessings. God provides blessings, doesn't He? God provides us with amazing blessings. There's an interesting little poem I think that helps maybe set the perspective that we should have. You can find this on homeward.com. It's said to be an anonymous little poem. You may have heard it before. I think the title is Count It All Joy, which kind of ties back to what James talked about.

But it goes like this. It says, count your blessings instead of your crosses. Count your gains instead of your losses. Count your joys instead of your woes. Count your friends instead of your foes. Count your smiles instead of tears. Count your courage instead of your fears. Count your full years instead of your lean. Count your kind deeds instead of your mean. Count your health instead of your wealth.

And lastly, count on God instead of yourself. I think that kind of summarizes exactly Hannah's perspective that we can learn so much from. We can learn to have that kind of perspective. Can we count the blessings in spite of all the challenges and the difficulties? Because we see here, you know, there are times that God's going to give us what we want. He's going to give us what we want.

And of course, according to His will, He says He'll do exactly that. Of course, we've got to follow Him and ask Him according to His will. And I think if we do that, oftentimes He will give us what we want. That's a little bit different than giving us what we need. We can't ask selfishly. I think James says you don't receive because you don't ask, or you ask amiss.

You ask amiss wanting to spend it on your own pleasures. I think that's James 4. He tells us that. That kind of prayer is not going to be answered. But God does promise to fulfill our needs, doesn't He? Will we be lacking for what we need in life? Does God promise us that He's going to meet our needs? Yeah, I think so.

Hold your place here. Go over to Matthew 6. Let's remind ourselves. God will always provide what we need. God will provide blessings. He will. He promises to do just that. Look at Matthew 6, verse 31. A very familiar section of Scripture talks about being over-anxious. Today we'd say having an anxiety attack. It says don't have anxiety attacks. It says don't worry, saying what are we going to eat? What are we going to drink? What are we going to wear? You know, those kinds of things, He says the Gentiles seek. Those that don't even know God.

Those that don't have a relationship with God. He goes on at the end of verse 32 that says, Your heavenly Father knows you need all these things. God knows what we need. Verse 33, seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Put first things first. Priority number one, develop a relationship with God. Seek Him first. He says, and these things shall be added to you. There's no doubt about it. There's no ifs, ands, buts, nothing else. It says all these things shall be added.

Put God first. Seek Him. Seek His righteousness. And He says, no worries. We don't have to have anxiety. Verse 34, therefore don't worry about tomorrow. He says, tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. God's going to see us through. He's going to watch over us. And no matter the circumstances, ultimately, will He meet our needs?

Will He be there for us? You can write down Romans 8, 28. We love God. We put Him first. We seek first. Like it says here in verse 33, the kingdom. Romans 8, 28 says, it's going to work for good. We love God. We put Him first. There's no doubt. It's going to work for good. It will work for good. So what's our perspective on things? Do we have a Hannah-like perspective? Do we recognize the blessings? Or do we only see the difficulties? For year after year after year, Hannah had to keep those blessings of God in the forefront of her mind.

She had to recognize the fact that if she never had children, God would be sufficient. God would make up the difference in her life. She had to have that perspective because He might have answered that prayer in a different way. And so she chose to look at life differently. But that's tough to do, isn't it? Because my car broke down and it cost me 800 bucks that I don't have. Why me? God, why do I have to go? I'm at least as good as other people. I might not be any better, but at least I'm good.

I'm trying to be good. Why couldn't happen to somebody else? Why did that happen to me? Why are you punishing me this way, God? See, sometimes we get in that kind of frame of mind. Or my dishwasher's broke, or the washing machine won't work, the TV's on the blink, or the cable went out. And we focus on those difficulties and we say, why?

Why do I have to go through these challenges? Or maybe today it's like, well, I've got all these financial problems, and at my age I shouldn't be having these kind of problems. It should have all been, you know, all nice lined up, all in a row, and I shouldn't be having these problems. My finances are in a mess, but God, why are You putting me through this? I should be set financially like others. You know, I love You. I care about You. I try to put You first, and yet here I am in this terrible mess.

Why haven't You given me the opportunities for a little bit of fortune? Why couldn't I have some of the blessings in that? You see, sometimes we find ourselves doing just that, don't we? It's easy to think that way sometimes, but it's harder to turn that around, isn't it? I have a really easy time thinking of all those things. They come to mind of all the challenges and the difficulties that are broke and what's not working right in my life, and thinking that God should have blessed me with a new car or a house or whatever.

But wait a second. Can we turn it around? Can we have a Hannah-like perception in our lives? How about thanking God instead? Can we turn that around and say, God, You blessed me with a car in the first place, and I thank You for that? I thank You for the clothes dryer, especially on a day like today when the clothes would freeze if I hung them outside. I thank You for that. Can we turn that around and see the blessings that God has given us and not just see all the challenges that lay before us?

Can we count the blessings? Can we do that? Can we count the gains instead of the losses? Can we count the blessings of, Wow! We live in America. That in itself is an unbelievable blessing. God allowed me to be born here in rich America. And we have opportunities that, having a car or a clothes dryer or a microwave or a computer, it would be unheard of in other areas of the world. Have I ever turned it around that way? Do I ever thank God?

God, I've got pretty good health. What a blessing that is. I thank You for that. I know there are others my age that have been crippled by heart attacks or difficulties or car accidents or disease. And You have blessed me not to have to have gone through some of those things. What a blessing for me to have my parents still alive.

What an awesome blessing that is. There are many others who have lost loved ones. Can I look at that and thank God for that instead of all the challenges and the difficulties that surround me? And I can think of all the ways that God has blessed me. And you know, I don't deserve it. And yet, He still blesses me. And yet, I find all the things to complain about. So if I could learn to have a Hannah perspective and recognize that I have experienced blessings, God has blessed me. And God certainly blessed Hannah. And I think that lesson from her life in this sense is that God provides blessings even among the challenges that we face in our life.

I think that's the kind of God we have. And in fact, what's our response to those blessings? Hannah set an amazing example in that way. If you flip back to Hannah's story in 1 Samuel 1, let's notice what her perspective was after this wonderful son was born, this asked of the Lord was born. We see in verse 21 of chapter 1 of 1 Samuel, Now the man Elkanah and all his house went up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice and his vow. But Hannah didn't go up, for she said to her husband, Not until the child is weaned, then I'll take him, That he may appear before the Lord and remain there for ever.

So what was Hannah's response? I've got this son and I'm keeping him. Well, that wasn't her response. Her response was, I'm going to keep my promise. I'm going to do what I told God I would do. And I think that's a powerful lesson for us. We keep our promises. She carries out what she promised. We see that in verse 23 and 4. Elkanah, her husband, said, Do what seems best, only let the Lord establish His word.

So she stayed and nursed her son until she'd weaned him. Now when he was weaned, she took him up with her, With three bulls and eath half a flower, a skin of wine, Brought him to the house of the Lord in Shiloh, and the child was young. And so she brought him to the priest. She brought him to dedicate him his entire life to God.

So she carried out her promise. She carried out her promise. And it's an amazing example. She says in verse 27, This child I prayed, and the Lord granted me my petition, of which I asked of him. Therefore I have also lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he shall be lent to the Lord. So they worshiped the Lord there. So she brings him. And this son who she asked for, she's giving back. In fact, she's lending him, or borrowed. In fact, that word lent here connects to Samuel's name. She asked of God.

So I've asked him of the Lord, and as long as he lives, he will be asked of. She'll be borrowed from God, and he will serve God. And of course, God's going to use Samuel for many things, and God will ask him for many ways of service. So it's an interesting connection here that she kept her promise.

And as God's people, we're to do exactly the same thing. We have to keep our promise. If we claim to be God's people, we have to keep the promises that we make. Amazing passage in Ecclesiastes 4, verse 5. Ecclesiastes 4. Let's flip that and turn it around a little bit here. Ecclesiastes 5, verse 4. There it is the other way around. Ecclesiastes 5, verse 4. It says, when you make a vow to God, when you make a promise, of course God hears every word, we make a promise to God, don't delay to pay it.

He has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vowed. Better not to vow and not pay. So we keep our promises. We made a vow to God at baptism. That is our baptism covenant. We made an agreement with God. It says, you make a vow, don't delay to pay for it. Now is the time to continue to grow in grace and knowledge. Better not to vow than to vow and not pay. So pay up. We make a commitment to a husband or a wife. We better keep that vow. It has to be kept.

If we claim to be people of God, if we are His people, we keep our word. We're striving to be like God. God promises to keep His word. And He has made us so many wonderful promises. So we're to let our yes be yes and our no be no. Sound familiar? Well, that's what Christ said over in Matthew 5. Let's notice Matthew 5.33. Matthew 5.33, it's not just making a promise, saying, I vow before God, which we really shouldn't do unless it's at baptism or for our wedding.

But Christ talks about even those casual things that we might promise. We've got to follow through with those things. Matthew 5.33, here Christ said, Again, you have heard it was said of those of old, You shall not swear falsely, but perform your oaths to the Lord. But I say to you, do not swear at all, neither by heaven, for it's God's throne, nor by earth it's His footstool, nor by Jerusalem, for it's city of the great King, nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black.

But instead, what does He say? Be people of your word. Let your yes be yes, and your no be no, for whatever is more than these is from the evil one. So that's the goal. We've got to let our yes.

So when we say, I will be there, be there. Follow through with what you say you're going to do. If it's no, then it's no. I think James says the same thing. Let your yes be yes, and your no be no. So we keep our word.

We keep our vows. Our yes means yes. We don't say yes, and then don't follow through at all. Hannah kept her promise. Can you imagine how difficult that would have been? How difficult would it have been for year after year after year?

And then the ridicule that she received, no guarantee she's going to have any more kids. So she gives the son away. You think the ridicule stopped? You think she quit making fun of her? Probably just gave her more reason to criticize her. Hannah followed through with her promise, no matter what. No matter what. And so we do too. In fact, I was reminded of the story of the young guy got a job at a store.

The owner hired him, and he was telling him about the business a little bit. And he said, you know, I want you to follow through. I want you to keep your promises to a customer. If you promise a customer something, you better make sure that promise happens even if we lose money. Even if we lose money. And he said, is that really what I'm supposed to do?

He said, yeah, but you better have wisdom. And the new employee said, well, what is having wisdom? He said, not making stupid promises. And that's what it's all about. You follow through on what you promise. And of course, our promise is to God first and foremost. And we've got to follow through. We've got to make sure we keep those promises. And we're even told we can't do it begrudgingly.

We can't do it begrudgingly because we see Anna, she followed through. No indication here that she was unwilling to follow through with her promise. And so we're to do the same thing. And in all of that, it's amazing what her perspective was. Because if you go back one last time to 1 Samuel, one last time to 1 Samuel, we see what her mindset was.

I mean, what an amazing perspective this lady had. At the end of chapter 1, what did they do? They worshiped the Lord. Chapter 2 begins with Hannah's prayer. And Hannah says, My heart rejoices in the Lord. My horn is exalted in the Lord. I smile at my enemies because I rejoice in your salvation. Even though she's giving her son back, even though, boy, she'll miss out on certain things in his life. Yeah, she's living close by and can come and visit. It's not like she's abandoning him or something. He's probably only five, ten miles away. Yeah, she'll see him often, but wow, still giving him up. She still sees the wonderful blessings in it all. She's rejoicing. She's praising God. She says, verse 2, No one's holy like the Lord. There's none beside you, nor is there any rock like our God. And so what an amazing thing. Verse 3, she says, Talk no more so very proudly. Let no arrogance come from your mouth. Maybe she's saying this to Pena now or thinking that in her mind. I don't think you're so great. I've got God who's on my side. The Lord is the God of knowledge. By Him actions are weighed. And so it says, verse 6, The Lord kills and makes alive. He brings down to the grave and brings up. The Lord makes poor and makes rich. He brings low and lifts up. He raises the poor from the dust. He lifts the beggar from the ash heap to set them among princes and make them inherit the throne of glory. So she's got the big picture here. She's not just talking about her own little life. She's talking about the plan of God. God has awesome things in store. She rejoiced in those blessings, and sets an amazing example for us. What was she doing? She's worshiping God. She's praising God. We, as God's people, must praise and worship Him. And so we have a whole chapter just about that shows how she praises and worships God and puts Him first. She does it with great joy. She honors Him and praises Him and worships Him. And so she does this. Some think that this whole section from the beginning of the chapter all the way up to verse 10 might even be in the form of a song. That she wrote this beautiful song that honors and praises and worships God. And so we should do the same. We need to do the same. We're going to be in a relationship with God, a strong relationship. It involves praise. It involves worship. It involves honor. And it involves joy. It involves joy here. And so we're told so many times throughout Scripture that should be our perspective. Look over to 1 Thessalonians 5. 1 Thessalonians 5. Verse 16. Here as Paul is ending this first letter to the Thessalonians, he's writing some concluding remarks.

He says that there to warn those that are unruly, comfort the faint-hearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all. And then in verse 16, he says, Rejoice always and pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. And I couldn't help thinking of Hannah when I read that particular verse because she did pray without ceasing, even when it didn't seem that things were going to work out, year after year after year. Even among the ridicule, even among the condemnation, in everything, what did she do? She continued to give thanks. She continued to give thanks. And so we as God's people continue to give thanks and continue to worship Him.

We make thanksgiving, not just Thursday and November. We make thanksgiving an everyday thing. We remember and thank God every day. I often think of that, the Psalm. I think it's 144, somewhere near the beginning. 144 or 5, maybe you have to check me out. But it talks about, happy are the people whose God is the Lord.

And that's just an awesome thought. Happy are the people whose God is the Lord. Well, if God's our God, that should help set our mind. What is our mindset? Hannah, despite the challenges, could have that type of perspective. And sometimes that's a challenge. Even among the blessings. You ever find yourself in that situation? You've been blessed, and then you look back, and you weren't really all that thankful for it?

There's that example that Christ gave about those that were blessed, and of the ten that went away, that were healed. How many turned back to thank Him? Only a tenth of them, right? One. Not very many. And so when we're blessed, what better time to thank God? Hannah managed to thank God even when the blessings weren't there. But in our blessings, we remember to thank God. I remember hearing a story about a lady who was very, very poor. She was about to go get some groceries, and one of these slick salesmen came in, saw her money on the table, and stole it as they ran out the door. It took $150 from this lady. It runs out the door. She wrote a letter to God. She didn't know what to do with it, so she just addressed it to God. She wrote the letter to God and said, God, this guy stole my $150, and now I'm lost. I have nothing. I have no money for food. Well, there happened to be a guy at the post office that saw this letter kind of crunched up, addressed to God. So he thought, well, maybe I'll open it. So he opened it, and he read it, and here's this lady. We got her $150 stolen. So he went around the post office asking if people would like to contribute. And had her return address on there. So he went around and ended up collecting $125 just from the few little workers in this little post office. And so he sent it to the woman, and so she gets this letter, and she writes another letter to God. And so she writes this letter. The post worker noticed this letter written to God. And so he thought, well, it's the same lady. I guess I'll open it. So he opened the letter, and she said, Well, God, this is really amazing. I received $125 that you sent me, but some lousy worker at the post office stole $25. That's the challenge, isn't it? Even in our blessings, do we really see the blessings sometimes? Sometimes we only see the shortcomings that are involved in those things. And it's a good reminder, you don't trust those thieving workers at the post office, right? It is a challenge, though, isn't it? It's a challenge because we have so much. Sometimes we overlook the real blessings that we have. And I think it's a good thing to thank God for the things we have received, the things that we do have. Boy, does David do that over and over and over and over again in the Psalms? Boy, he sure does. Psalm 18 was one of those that came to my mind. Psalm 18, verse 47 is where we could pick it up. And boy, if you ever want lessons in thankfulness and lessons in how to praise and worship God, no matter the circumstances, boy, read through the Psalms. Here's David running, running, running all the time in so many difficult situations. And yet, he keeps a perspective that no matter what his circumstances are, he's going to praise God. He's going to worship God, and he's going to petition God on his behalf. And so here's David in Psalm 18. And of course, we sing part of this song oftentimes at church, The will I love, O Lord. We sing that oftentimes. Well, later down in the Psalm, look at verse 47. He says, It is God who avenges me and subdues the peoples under me. I'm sure Hannah could identify with that. He says, He delivers me from my enemies. He says, You also lift me up above those who rise against me. You've delivered me from the violent man. Therefore, I'll give thanks to you, O Lord, among the Gentiles, and sing praises to your name.

And so this spiritual sacrifice is offered. And David recognizes those blessings. And despite the fact he ran around in the wilderness for all those years from Saul, he still worshiped God. He still praised God, year after year after year, just like Hannah did. Just like we as God's people, no matter the circumstances, we'll continue to praise and honor and worship Him. So the real-life story of Hannah, I think, is a good reminder of points for the people of God, that I will have problems. I'm going to have problems. I will endure some difficulties in my life. But you know, I must pray. I must pray powerfully and persistently. And I will experience the blessings. Despite what the circumstances look like now, God has blessed me and will provide and will continue to provide for me. And I must keep my promises. And I've made the utmost promise to God, and I must be about His business. And no matter the circumstances, I will worship Him. I will honor Him. I will glorify Him. I will praise Him. And if I do those things, like Hannah, there will be blessings. Maybe not the blessings that we foresee, but God promises that there will be blessings. Even though we face difficulties, if we're willing to pray and obey, remain true to our commitment, and have God as the ultimate authority over our life, I think that we will be like Hannah. In fact, we can say like Hannah, My heart rejoices in the Lord. Oh, how the Lord has blessed me!