Leading The Way

Dr. Michael Youssef: Hello friends, before we begin today's program, Leading the Way, please, I want you to help me and help our team to be good stewards of God's provision by mentioning how you connect with Leading the Way. When you order a product, give a generous gift, or connect online, let us know the call letters of this station. Thank you and God bless.

Guest (Male): Thank you for making time in your day for Leading the Way with international Bible teacher, Dr. Michael Youssef. Up next, dive deeper right into the life and prayer of Hannah. Her passionate prayer moved God, and it's touched the lives of Christ followers throughout generations.

You've joined Dr. Michael Youssef for another episode in his series called Ancient Women Speaking to Our Generation on Leading the Way Audio. Inspirational glimpses right into the lives of several Old Testament women, women whose experiences and examples speak right through the generations of women and men today. So let's listen together as Dr. Youssef begins his message called Living a Life of Surrender.

Dr. Michael Youssef: In the last message, we left our study of seeing how persistence in prayer wins spiritual battles. No battle has ever been won by giving in and surrendering and giving up on prayer. And we continue today to look at the persistence in prayer by a gracious woman, and that's actually what her name means: Hannah, gracious.

And so I'm going to ask you to turn with me, please, to 1 Samuel chapter 2. We looked at chapter 1 in the last message. I want to look at chapter 2. Now the Bible doesn't break this prayer down, but I will. This is not presumption, this is not taking liberty, but this is to help you follow with me.

Five ingredients of this prayer. Five ingredients to me, at least, they're very instructive and they're truly inspiring. Again, to make it easier for you, I've broken them down in letters that all start with the letter S, just to make it easier for you to remember: surrender, sorrow, supplication, song, and sacrifice. Let's look at these very closely and very quickly.

In the last message, I told you that surrender is the opposite of persistence. But today, I'm talking about a different kind of surrender from the one I was talking about in the last message. Today I'm talking about a different kind of surrender. It is not the surrender of giving up or giving in. It is not the surrender of hopelessness. It is not the surrender of despair. But rather, it's surrender to God as we persist in prayer.

Hannah refused to surrender to despair, instead, surrendered everything to the Lord. Hear me right, please. Her surrender to the Lord was unconditional. Her surrender was in total worship of her life to the Lord. She held nothing back from the Lord. She gave God the deeds to her own life. She gave God even the baby that she prayed for in her brokenness.

I wonder how many of us have reached such a state of maturity? I think I'm safe to say that most of us, including your pastor, were willing to surrender a portion of our life, or all of life's blessings. We're willing to surrender a portion. We're willing to surrender to God that which does not interfere with our comfort. We're willing to surrender that which does not interfere with our rights to live the way we want to live. Or we may surrender certain compartments of our lives, but not all of them. We're happy to surrender the leftover, but certainly not the best.

Here is the thing that I have been learning in the last seven decades: that when we surrender everything, everything, everything to the Lord, he responds by blessing us. And when Hannah surrendered all to God and when she gave him everything, the one thing that she loved the most in this whole world, the child of the prayer of her brokenness, when she surrendered what was to her as everything to God, he blessed her in a mind-boggling way.

There are unconditional promises, but there are conditional promises. And now when we hear the word God's blessing, we always think of material things. I mean, these prosperity gospel preachers just really ruined it for all of us. And we just think of the material things.

But in reality is, listen, please, God's blessings truly surpass all of the material stuff of the world. God's favor, God's grace, God's power, God's answer to prayer, salvation of family members, fruitfulness in ministry, and the list goes on and on and on, and the endless blessings, a million other blessings that can come as a result of surrender, not just material things. Surrender.

Secondly, sorrow. Our Bible is very realistic. Even though Hannah surrendered, and yet her sorrow continued. Her thorn in the flesh, as Paul would call it, Peninnah's sharp tongue continued to wound her. She had a house but not a home. She had a house but not a haven of rest. She had a house and a devoted husband, but a mean-spirited companion. She described herself to Eli the priest as a woman who is deeply troubled (verse 15 of chapter 1). Another translation puts it this way: I am a woman of sorrowful spirit.

And yet, even in the midst of her sorrow, Hannah trusted the Lord. Even though her womb was shut, and yet her heart was open to the Lord. Though her anguish is unbearable, but she leaned on God. Some of you know what I'm talking about. Some of you have been there. Some of you may be going through there right now, and some of you might be getting ready to get into one.

And you've experienced what Hannah has experienced. You may have been struggling with a family member, or a boss, or a co-worker, or a neighbor, or even a fellow church member. Someone for some reason or another is cruel to you, is deeply wounding to you, is abandoning you, someone who is berating you. And you feel your spirit is oppressed. Remember this, nothing, nothing, nothing is hidden from God's view. He is watching, and he will act.

On the surface, her trials seem to be unending. On the surface, your prayers may not have been answered and you wanted to be, as sorrow is mounting. Here is the great news, here is the most fantastic news of all: her sorrow did not last forever. Neither will yours. God is about to bring joy into your life. All you need to do is surrender.

Thirdly, supplication. Now supplication is the act of asking for something from the hand of God in an earnest and in a humble spirit. In Hannah's prayer, she did not presume on God. She did not presume on the grace of God. She did not demand anything from God. It's the most amazing thing to me. She did not feel entitled as our 21st-century Christians do. She did not feel that God owed her something as we do. She came to him in humility, pleading for undeserved mercy and grace from the hand of the Lord.

Don't miss this, please. In her sorrow, Hannah refused to give in to bitterness. She was mentally hurt, but her soul was healed. She was emotionally battered, but her commitment was unsinkable. She was physically exhausted by daily aggravation of Peninnah, but her spirit was strong. She had every reason to give in and give up, and yet she persevered in prayer. What did she pray for? What was her supplication all about? It was nothing short of a plea that God would intervene in the laws of nature and open her womb.

You and I know right now we're experiencing vicious attack on the Christian faith. This is not a secret anymore. The godless forces now are out in the open, and they're seeking nothing short than destroying the next generation. This is the time to cry out to God as Hannah did. This is the time for supplication for God's supernatural intervention. This is the time of a total consecration in humility and supplication.

First there was surrender, secondly sorrow, thirdly supplication. Fourthly, there is a song. After the young boy Samuel was weaned, it was time for Hannah to give him over to the Lord in keeping with her vow. That's what she vowed.

Now, of course, there's a debate among historians and scholars, what would that age be supposed to be? Some said five, others have said 12 like when they're bar mitzvahed. Really that's not the issue, it doesn't matter. That's not the issue. I told you in the last message that this surrendering of her son gets to me in a big way.

I just cannot imagine Hannah being a human being like all of us. She tried to keep her son as long as she could, probably putting off his weaning as long as she possibly could. But eventually, she realized that Samuel is safer and better guarded under God's protection than hers. Give God glory.

And so she and her husband Elkanah took the boy along with animal sacrifice as prescribed in the law of Moses. Followed the law of Moses, they brought him to the high priest. You know what? I would love to have been a fly on the wall when Hannah reintroduced herself to Eli the priest. "Remember me? I'm the one you thought I was drunk." But she was gracious.

Then Hannah uttered a word of prayer in a form of a song of praise. After singing the song to the Lord, she returned home to Ramah, but the boy Samuel remained in Shiloh. There in Shiloh, Samuel was being trained by Eli the priest of how to minister to the Lord in his tabernacle.

Now, most of our praise songs, and modern songs, they're basically all written to thank God for his blessings, right? We thank him for what he's done for us, and rightly so. But Hannah reminds the 21st-century Christians, the 21st-century believers, of something that our generation has forgotten, and that is how to praise God for his attributes. How to praise God for his holiness.

Listen to me, it takes a hundred percent surrendered soul to sing of the holiness of God. I often say it takes standing on much higher plains to praise God for his holiness. She said, "There is no one holy like the Lord. There is no one besides you. There is no rock like our God." And the rock in the Bible is a place of security, the fortress and the stronghold that keeps us in times of trouble and conflict.

And Hannah's brokenness taught her that her only security is in the one whose stability is unshakable, the one whose comfort is incomparable, the one whose power is unconquerable, the one whose compassion is inexhaustible, the one whose shield is impermutable, the one whose peace is indescribable, and the one whose love is unchanging.

Verse 1, she said, "My heart rejoices in the Lord, the Lord, my horn is lifted high." Now in the Bible, the horn speak for strength, for power. The imagery comes from the ox. See, the ox strength is not in his legs and muscles or whatever. No, no, the strength of the ox is in his horns, and that is why they always talk about the horn of salvation.

And she is saying that my only power, that my only pride is in the Lord alone. I have none of my own. I have nothing to boast about in myself, but everything to boast about in the Lord. In my own strength, I can do nothing, I can accomplish nothing, I can succeed in nothing. I could not bear a child by my own strength, but I gave birth to a child by the power of God.

Listen to me, God's song of praise is a power to the powerless. God's song of praise is a strength to the weak. God's song of praise is a joy to the joyless. It is healing to the wounded soul, it is a victory to the defeated. And that is why the Bible in Hebrews 13:15 talks about the sacrifice of praise.

Finally, sacrifice. Hannah made the selfless sacrificial vow to the Lord. She told the Lord that if he gives her a son, she will dedicate him to him. And what an amazing gift she gave God. Samuel grew up to be one of the greatest spiritual leaders in Israel.

You see, every time I read of this amazing commitment of Hannah in the Bible, I find myself asking two questions. What is the one thing that I want from the hand of God? I pray for a lot of you, I pray for a lot of things, I pray for the ministry, I pray for a lot of things. But what's the one thing, the overarching thing, that I'm asking the Lord? What is the one thing that I want God to grant me more than anything in life? Everyone of us should ask that question. Some of you are already aware of what it is, others might not be. Now, I can assure you probably there will be as many different answers as there are people and those even watching around the world. Many answers.

But once you answer that first question, you need to go and ask the second question. And this is the hard one. But I do it. If the Lord answers my prayer and gives me the desire of my heart, am I willing, am I willing, am I willing—I emphasize willing—to give it back to him? You notice I kept saying willing? I know both are hard questions, but particularly the second one.

I have no doubt that Hannah went to Shiloh every religious festival, every celebration, I mean, every time the church door opened, she was there, visiting her son, checking on him, seeing him every chance she got. But it wasn't the same as having him home. It's not the same as tucking him in bed at night. It's not the same as going for walks with him. All of these things Hannah placed at the altar as a living sacrifice.

Question: Why do we need to be willing to sacrifice everything that we cherish the most? Why? God doesn't need anything, right? He doesn't need it. He cannot enrich God or make him richer because we're giving him something, whatever it is. Ah, but our willingness to sacrifice reveals the state of our heart. I believe with all my heart God wants us to hold all of his blessings, all of his blessings, loosely and with open hands. I know of what I'm talking about.

God does not want us to cling onto things or even people. He wants us to cling to him. One of the many amazing things about this woman Hannah is that she did not wait until Samuel became a man and she said, "Son, I dedicated you to the Lord, now you go and do it." She did not try to change the rules. That's something we do. She did not try to redefine what giving back means. That's what we like to do: redefine everything.

She did not try to rationalize her vow and say, "Well, I will keep Samuel with me, I'll train him myself. After all, the boy needs his mother, right?" Sure I made a vow, but God understands if I alter the terms of the vow just a little bit, just a little bit.

This is something our internet generation have become experts in doing, or tempted to do. Please listen to me, what Hannah ultimately sacrificed—are you ready to hear that? Do you want to hear what she ultimately sacrificed?—her own mother's happiness. "Oh, God wants me to be happy." She put her happiness on the altar.

As Samuel grew up to manhood, he blessed not only his mother, the entire generation, but millions of people yet unborn. Samuel changed history. Samuel turned the people's hearts back to the Lord. Samuel anointed King David, the physical ancestor of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Ah, but that's not the end of the story. That would have been fantastic, that would have been just great. God responded to Hannah's faithfulness and surrender and sacrifice by giving her six other children. The Bible said seven, but she's not counting Samuel, you see. Six others. Seven including Samuel.

I'm sure many of you have heard me quote this scripture many times. Please don't get tired of it. God is no man's debtor. Say it with me: God is no man's debtor. He will not be beholding to us. He will not be beholding to any of us. We cannot out-give God.

When Hannah kept her vow to the Lord, she had no idea that she is going to receive not only Samuel but six more. Oh, my beloved friends, this is our God. This is our God. But if we truly understand God's economy, we come to the conclusion that our sacrifices are no sacrifice at all, at all.

Why? Because he always blesses us and blesses the surrendered sacrifice. God always answers the prayer of brokenness and surrender. He will not be a debtor to any of us. He'll always repay our sacrifice with untold blessings.

Guest (Male): Thank you for taking time in your day to listen to Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef's inspiring message, Living a Life of Surrender, on Leading the Way. There is so much more to Leading the Way than the daily audio messages from Dr. Youssef. Experience the expansive worldwide ministry of Dr. Youssef and Leading the Way by subscribing to the monthly magazine, My Journal. You can get your free subscription started online at LTW.org, or you can call us, speak with a ministry representative, 866-626-4356.

LTW.org is also the place where you can experience Dr. Youssef's journey of immigrating to the United States from Egypt by way of Australia. And how God opened doors for lifelong ministry that's now impacted millions of people with the gospel. You'll see how young Michael was living in Egypt at a time when politics were destroying the region.

Called to ministry, Michael traveled to Lebanon with only a small amount of money in his pocket, ultimately settling in Australia where he attended Bible school, met his wife Elizabeth, and grew as a young father and minister of the gospel. He then traveled to California where he continued his seminary education, and then ultimately moved his growing family to Atlanta, Georgia.

After working as a popular teacher of evangelism and church leadership, a calling was placed on Dr. Youssef to start a local church. From the very beginning, the mission of Dr. Youssef and the church was to reach the lost, to equip the saints, using all tools available. So as the church grew, Leading the Way was born. This media ministry has now grown to touch lives with the gospel across six continents and in 28 of the world's most spoken and understood languages.

And as a listener-supported ministry, Leading the Way relies on your prayers and on your obedient generosity to continue service around the world. So please consider partnering with Leading the Way today. Give us a call, 866-626-4356, or you can visit us at LTW.org. This program is furnished by Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef.