There's something about the story of Hannah, a story of a lady who was barren that I'd like to share with you. A woman who knew what sacrifice meant. In 1 Samuel Chapter 1 it says the Lord had closed her womb. She was not able to bear any children. This problem caused her alot of heartache and in verse 10 it says she was greatly distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly.
There are things to think about when reading this story:
1) He will give you the desires of your heart.
Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.
2) He knows your thoughts
Psalm 139:2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
Proverbs 16:3 (Amplified) Roll your works upon the Lord [commit and trust them wholly to Him; He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and] so shall your plans be established and succeed.
Okay so in 1 Samuel 1:13 it says she was speaking in her heart, only her lips were moving but her voice was not heard.
Have you ever prayed to God about something and wondered if He heard you? Note to you: don’t ever doubt or wonder if God hears you…if He can hear from a woman that no words came out he can hear from you too!
Hannah wanted to have a baby so bad that she was willing on sacrificing it to the Lord if he would allow her to give birth.
Stop and think about it....Before she even had the baby she was willing on sacrificing it!
Ask yourself, what is it in your life that you are willing on sacrificing to the Lord to have one of your desires of your heart or dreams become a reality?
Something else I wanted you to see…
In 1Samuel 1:24 the bible talks about how she weaned the child before she took him to be sacrificed. I believe not only did she wean him, but she wean herself! If you have given birth to a baby you know how hard it is to go back to work when your child is small, or little alone when they go to preschool or kindergarten for the first time! ( I cried more than she did!) It wasn’t something that Hannah was able to do right away, it took her sometime. I believe she had to wean herself and him!
And I think that speaks to certain people, maybe you’re having a hard time to stop drinking or smoking but you want to sacrifice it for the Lord, who knows maybe your addicted to something else. Maybe you know God wants you to deal with this anger you have, before you can move to the next level.
Don’t get discourage! You can do it! Wean yourself! Delight yourself in the Lord!
The next thing I wanted you to see was that not only did she take up her son as a sacrifice, she aslo took up a 3year old bull and one enaph of flour and a jug of wine. (One ephah of flour = Seven gallons and a half.) imagine that!
I believe because she knew that it was God that had allowed her to conceive, that she was not just going to to give what she had promised but because she was so happy, and so grateful for what God had done for her that she would give even more!
You see we have to be different from the normal person, because a normal person would just give what they said they would sacrifice but someone who knows and can truly see that what you have is not yours and what you have is because of the Lord….then that is when you should give even more!
Hannah in 1Samuel 2:21 she understood this…and because of her sacrificing she was able to give birth to three sons and two daughters and meanwhile her son Samuel grew before the Lord. and not only that but in 2Samuel 2:26 it says that Samuel was growing in stature and in favor both with the Lord and with men.
In closing I'd like to share with you that Samuel means “God has heard” or "God heard"
What is the Samuel in your life? Let’s post a comment on that... what would you want to sacrifice to God, and let’s agree to keep eachother in prayer, that just as God heard Hannah with the words not even coming out of her voice that He would hear us too! I believe God wants to do something incredible in your life and I pray you believe that too! Be blessed today and know that God is listening...
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