Somebody Loves You

Raul Ries: Am I going to get bitter with God because He hasn't answered my prayer? People do. They get bitter. But if a real Christian knows God, a real person knows Christ, you read the Bible, you pray, you attend church like this morning because you want to learn, you want to be fed by the word of God, then God is going to speak to you.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Somebody Loves You Radio, the Bible teaching ministry of Raul Ries in Diamond Bar, California. It is great to have you with us today for our continued focus on life and faith as a Christian mother. Considering the example of a woman named Hannah, Raul will encourage you to pray for your kids with hope and persistence.

No matter what season you're in as a mother, whether you struggle to get pregnant as Hannah did or you're navigating life with a teen, you'll see that constant prayer is crucial. In 1 Samuel chapter one, here's Raul Ries with our study, "A Mother's Request in Ungodly Days."

Raul Ries: It's incredible how Samuel was brought forth to be a prophet and a servant of God. So we have a problem here. There's a husband who is married to two wives. One of the wives has ten children, ten boys. And the other wife has no family, no children. She's been praying and praying and praying for years and nothing has happened.

Now this woman that has ten kids begins to make fun of this woman by the name of Hannah. Hannah was an incredible woman, but she was hurting. No children. And this other woman that had ten kids was always making fun of her. And she had been praying and fasting, asking God, "God, when are you going to give me a child?"

Well, God knew that He had a problem. The problem was with the nation of Israel. They needed not only a person to lead them, but also to exhort them and to chasten them. And God was going to be the one that would choose that person. It would take time, because God was not only preparing this woman by the name of Hannah to become not only the mother of Samuel, but it had to happen in God's perfect time as you'll see in the story. We begin in chapter one, beginning with verse one.

It says, "Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim, of the mountains of Ephraim. His name was Elkanah the Levite, son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, and an Ephraimite. And he had two wives. The name of one was Hannah," which means the grace of God, "and the name of the other was Peninnah," which means ruby. He says she had children, but Hannah had no children.

There's something about a woman not having children. Being married, can't have children. They pray, "Lord, can I just have one child?" I've seen it, I've counseled with many of them. And then they come up with the idea, "Hey, why don't we go and ask if we can adopt them?" But a lot of times people don't like to adopt because it's not personally their child. But there are a lot of people that love to adopt children and it becomes just like their own child.

I don't know if you find yourself in that situation today. You've been praying for a child, no child has been given to you. Don't get angry with God. Recognize that God knows that you can't have children. Give Him the glory, give Him the honor, and wait upon the Lord as He speaks to you. And if you can't have children, then you can adopt. But don't get angry with God.

God knows what He's doing with each one of our lives, especially with Hannah here, He knows what He's doing. Verse two: "And he had two wives, one by the name of Hannah and the name of the other was Peninnah, and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children." Verse three: "This man went up from his city clearly to worship and sacrifice to the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies, in Shiloh."

Sixteen miles away was a place called Shiloh, where the temple was built, and there they went to worship every year. He says to worship and sacrifice to the Lord of Hosts in Shiloh. Also, in Shiloh also had two sons, Eli, Hophni, Phinehas, and the priests of the Lord were there. So Eli was the high priest. He had two sons.

If you were here last time when we studied Samuel, these two sons were stealing money from the church, they were laying with women in the church, they were doing everything you could ever imagine as evil people. And yet their father was a priest. A lot of times you may be a Christian, you're a father, you have children that are not right with God.

They're taking drugs, they're drinking, they're committing fornication, and they're watching your life as a father and as a mother. And if you're living the life of Christ, you pray for them and you pray for them. You don't force yourself upon them, but you ask God, "God, I have these children that I love, and I don't want to see them go to hell." So you pray.

So here is Hannah. She can't have babies. And here her husband and the other woman have ten babies, ten children, ten boys. He goes on, notice verse three: "And this man went up from the city yearly to worship and sacrifice the Lord of Hosts in Shiloh, and also two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the Lord were there." They were not walking with God.

"And whenever the time came for Elkanah to make an offering, he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and all her sons and daughters." So he would come and give them an offering to make to the Lord. But verse five: "But Hannah, he would give a double portion, for he loved Hannah, although the Lord had closed her womb." There is a situation. Who's in charge? The Lord.

The Lord closed her womb. She could not have kids. It wasn't God's timing yet. She would have a child by the name of Samuel, we'll see in a moment. And maybe you're here today not just having a child, maybe something is going on in your life that you thought God was going to answer your prayer, but He hasn't answered your prayer. Because He knows better than you.

Hannah waited on the Lord. She knew she couldn't have children from a long time, going back and forth to Shiloh, offering her sacrifices. She would go there not having a child, would come back without a child over and over, and she came to that place of brokenness, brokenness in the Kingdom of God. Verse four: "And whenever the time came for Elkanah to make an offering, would give a portion to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters. But Hannah, he would give a double portion, for he loved Hannah, although He had closed her womb."

So God is in control. Verse six: "And her rival also provoked her severely." She was always making fun of Hannah. Can you imagine how Hannah felt? That here she has ten kids, she has nobody, and she's constantly harassed by this woman. "To make her miserable, because the Lord had closed her womb." You notice what it says here? "The Lord had closed her womb."

God is in control of her life, as God is in control of your life. I don't care what you do. God is in control of your life. Whatever you do in life, business, whatever it is, God is in control of your life. What God wants of your life is a full commitment in your life to Him. That's what God wants. Hannah had a full commitment to the lordship of Christ, to the Lord.

But every day she would go into the presence of the Lord and pray. You're going to see that in a moment. Always praying and God not answering. But she recognized that God's in control of my life. Am I going to get bitter with God because He hasn't answered my prayer? People do. They get bitter.

But if a real Christian knows God, a real person knows Christ, you read the Bible, you pray, you attend church like this morning because you want to learn, you want to be fed by the word of God, then God is going to speak to you. How? Through the word of God. As God will speak to Hannah. I don't know what you need this morning or this afternoon, what you're facing.

But if you're facing something in your life where you're asking God to show you, then give God time to show you. It's according to His time, not according to your time. That's what the Bible teaches. She goes on. Here we see, and this is important because in verse seven, he goes on to declare again, "So it was, year by year, when she went up to the house of the Lord, that she provoked her; therefore she wept and did not eat."

You see, she was being harassed by this other woman. She was hurting, and as she was hurting concerning not having a child, she began to be not only in a place where she was giving up. "Lord, what shall I do?" Verse eight: "And then Elkanah her husband said to her, 'Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? And why is your heart grieved? Am I not better than,' notice, 'ten sons? Don't you think I'm better?'"

And she probably said, "No, you're not." You wives know better than that. But imagine, here's her husband, loves her. He doesn't get it yet. He says, "Why do you weep? Why do you not eat? And why is your heart grieved?" Her heart was grieved. "Am I not better to you than ten sons?"

Verse nine: "So Hannah got up after they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh." So they're in Shiloh by the temple. "And now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat of the doorpost of the tabernacle of the Lord." So here they are, paying respect to God. They're in the tabernacle, they're paying respect, and the priest is outside Levi, kind of sitting down.

Guest (Male): You're listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. Visit somebodylovesyou.com to browse our full array of scripture-rich resources. You can also download our free app for convenient access to digital Bible teaching and digital studies to help direct you in your personal devotions. Let's continue now with more of our study from Raul Ries.

Verse ten: "And she was in bitterness of soul and prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish." So as he's sitting there, she comes out, she stands there by the temple, and man, she is weeping. And notice that word bitterness of soul there, it means distress. She's in distress. She's hurting. She's trying to say, "Lord, when are you going to help me?"

And then she made a vow and said, "O Lord of Hosts, God of the armies, if You will indeed look on my affliction of your maidservant and remember me." I stop right there. "Remember me." God remembers us, believe it or not. God never forgets about us. We are in His mind, we are in His heart all the time. The problem is when people, they forget the Lord.

We forget what God has done in the past, what He's doing in the present, and what He's going to do in the future with your lives. But you've got to be honest with God. If you're not honest with God, then He has to chasten you. Hebrews chapter twelve, remember? Because you're a child. If you're a parent, what do you do? You let your children do whatever they want to do? No, you spank them. You discipline them, because you want them to be decent when they grow up.

And here she is standing before the Lord without a child and she's saying, "O Lord of Hosts, if you will indeed look on my affliction of your maidservant, remember me and not forget your servant, but will give your maidservant a male child, then I will give him back to You. If you give me a son, I'll give him back to you." She wasn't keeping that son to herself.

"Lord, I've been waiting, but you are more important than me and if you give me a child, a male child, I will give him back to you." And at that time, Israel needed a male child because of what Israel was going through today. Where we're going through, we need a real leader. "Remember me and not forget your servant, but will give your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, no razor shall come upon his head."

Remember Samson? They cut his hair, what happened to him? He fell. Here the whole situation is she is saying, "If you give me a child, I want him to be a leader, I won't keep him for myself, Lord, I'll give him back to you because I know that he'll serve you the rest of his life." And as a mother, caring for her child.

Verse twelve: "And then it happened as she continued praying." Notice, she's a prayer warrior. "Before the Lord, that Eli watched her mouth." So she comes outside, she's standing there, he's sitting over here, and she's kind of mumbling a little bit. You see her mouth. And now Hannah spoke in her heart, she was speaking to herself. Only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. She wasn't speaking.

Therefore Eli thought that she was drunk. And so Eli said to her, "How long will you be drunk? Put your wine away from you." And Hannah answered and said, "No, my lord, I am a woman of sorrow spirit. I'm not drunk, I'm hurting. I'm hurting deep within me. I have drunk neither wine nor intoxicating drink, but have poured out of my soul before the Lord."

There is the key, pouring out my soul before the Lord. There might be some people here that like to drink. If you drink, you take drugs, you commit adultery, then how can God speak to you? He can't. He'll never speak to you. He only speaks to people that repent. People that really have made a commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

You may go to church, you may sit and hear the word of God, but if you don't live by the word of God, you're never going to hear from God. He's going to allow you to do whatever you want and then He's going to judge you. God gives us opportunities right now, He's giving us an opportunity to hear the truth.

And like he says here, and Hannah answered and said, "No, my lord, I am a woman sorrow spirit, I have drunk no wine, no intoxicating drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord." I pray that you pour your soul out to the Lord, whatever it may be. Lord, here I am. Lord, I'm hurting.

Verse sixteen: "Do not consider your maidservant a wicked woman, for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief I have spoken even until now. Lord, I'm hurting. I'm hurting, Lord, and I want you to hear my prayer." Then Eli answered and said, "Go in peace, the God of Israel grant your petition which you have asked of Him."

All of a sudden he sees that God not only sees her heart, but God is going to answer her prayer. So, she leaves, goes home, and then the next year comes along. Verse eighteen: "And she said, 'Let your maidservant find favor in your sight.' So the woman went her way, ate, and her face was no longer sad." There was joy in her life because now God is going to answer her prayer.

Verse nineteen: "And then they rose up in the morning early and worshipped before the Lord, and returned and came to their house of Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah." They went to bed together, she got pregnant, notice, "and the Lord remembered her." God's promises. And so it came to pass in the process of time that Hannah conceived, bore a son, and called his name Samuel, "Asked of God".

"I prayed, I asked, and God gave me what I needed because I have asked him from the Lord, God has answered my prayer." And now the man Elkanah and all his house went up to offer to the Lord the year-by-year sacrifice and his vow. But Hannah did not go up. She has a baby, she's not going up this year.

For she said to her husband, "Not until the child is weaned, then I will take him, that he may appear before the Lord and remain there forever." Wait a minute. You're going to present him, leave him, and then come back without him? Yes. She had the baby and she gave him over to the Lord to be used by the Lord. We can do the same. They don't have to go to the temple.

When you have a baby, offer them to the Lord to protect and to watch over. You already have grown-up children, pray for them. Present them unto the Lord. "Lord, they're already married, they're going through this or that, Lord, I give them over to You, work on their lives and use their lives to bring glory and honor to Your name." Never, never stop praying, ever. I don't care where you are, I don't care what's happened in your life.

He goes on. But Hannah did not go up. She said to her husband, "Not until the child is weaned, then I will take him, and he will appear before the Lord." That means that she's going to present him. On Sunday morning, you see us up here presenting children, that's where it comes from. He says, "Not until the child is weaned, then I will take him," notice, "that he may appear before the Lord and remain there forever."

And then Elkanah her husband said to her, "Do what seems the best to you." He trusts her. "Wait until you have weaned him, and only let the Lord establish His word." So the woman stayed and nursed the child until she was able to wean him. And here it comes, verse twenty-four: "And now when she had weaned him, she took Samuel up with her, with three bulls and ephah of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the Lord in Shiloh, and the child was young."

So here she comes and now she says, "Lord, here he is, he is all yours, to dedicate him." Verse twenty-five: "And then they slaughtered a bull and brought the child to Eli. And she said, 'O my lord, as your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood by you here praying to the Lord.' Remember last year? I was here, you saw me outside, you thought I was drunk, and then you saw my lips move, I am that same woman and you told me to go home, everything would be cool. Well, here he is. God's word came to pass."

"For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition which I have asked of Him. Therefore I also have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he shall be lent to the Lord." So they worshipped the Lord there. So they began to worship the Lord. Prayer, worship, and faith in the Lord.

Guest (Male): As parents, there's nothing we hold more dear in the world than our children, and today's lesson shows us just how important it is to pray for them with wholehearted faith in God's plans for their lives. You're listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries.

If you'd like to get a copy of today's teaching with much more content, we'll be happy to send an unedited version to you for a donation of five dollars or more. Just call us at 800-634-9165 and mention today's study, "A Mother's Request in Ungodly Days." Now to further support you on the path of parenthood, we'd like to offer you Raul's special series for mothers. This six-lesson study is conveniently available on either CD or USB.

Exploring the key responsibilities that God has appointed to Christian moms, each message will spur you on in fulfilling the often thankless but always blessed role of guardian and guide to your kids. Visit somebodylovesyou.com or call 800-634-9165 to purchase Raul's six-part mother's series. We'll send you the CD collection for a gift of twenty dollars or the flash drive for just twelve dollars.

Our phone number again is 800-634-9165. Or write to Somebody Loves You Radio, PO Box 4440, Diamond Bar, California 91765. We're a listener-supported ministry and we're thankful for your partnership. Every tax-deductible gift keeps us strong and growing as we share the good news of the gospel. Join us next time as we return to the word of God in the book of Proverbs to examine the characteristics of a virtuous woman. Now here's Raul once again to lead us in prayer.

Raul Ries: Father, I pray in your name Jesus, that your Holy Spirit would be with us, Lord. Lord, I pray for these wonderful people, Lord. Lord, I ask you for them Jesus. Whatever they're facing, whatever they're going through, Lord God, please be with them Jesus.

Lord, touch, heal, bless all these wonderful people that are sitting here, Lord God. And Lord, lead them when they leave here, Lord God. Throughout the week, Lord God, be with them Jesus. And Lord, if we have sinned, forgive us. Lord, forgive us. And Lord, we love you, we praise you. In Jesus' name we pray.