Somebody Loves You

Raul Ries: Sometimes whatever our situation, our problem may be even tonight, God has it in your life to draw you to your knees before Him in bitterness of soul so that you can pray to the Lord and weep before Him. He wants to hear you. He doesn't want to hear from the president or the government; he wants to hear from you.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Somebody Loves You Radio, the Bible teaching ministry of Raul Ries in Diamond Bar, California. Today as Raul resumes our series focused on Christian mothers, he'll encourage you to stay transparent with the Lord in prayer. Your mother's heart may be filled with worry, confusion, or even anguish for a child, but you can pour it all out to God with hope and surrender. Keep listening for reassurance from a biblical mom named Hannah. Here's Raul Ries.

Raul Ries: 1 Samuel Chapter 1. What a book. And here we see that Hannah is very unhappy at the beginning of Chapter 1. Why? Because Hannah was childless. No children. And in God's perfect time, God would answer her prayer as she would come before the Lord and God would give her a baby boy. If women were not pregnant, then they would be not only discouraged but they would be like a castoff, accursed. And her husband would have to have another wife to bear her children.

As you'll see in a moment, polygamy in the Old Testament at this particular time. They had it because Hannah could not have babies. I think that it's really important that as we hear her praying, she's praying according to the will of God and she, in her praying, we see that God, as we pray, God listens. God hears when we pray because how many times when we're praying we feel like God is not listening to us?

There's a silence, there's a stillness, and yet God is aware and in control of all things as you will see in the story tonight. Let's begin by looking at the book Chapter 1 beginning with verse 1. He says that there was a certain man in Ramathaim-Zophim in the mountains of Ephraim and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, and Ephraimite.

At the beginning of 1 Samuel, we have just a little bit of genealogies here because we're directing ourselves and he's speaking concerning this man Elkanah that is going to play a major part in Chapter 1 with Hannah. This is literally her husband. And as you begin to see the introduction to the family tree here, it's really important that we understand that Elkanah, he was a direct descendant of Levi, a descendant of the priesthood.

And then in verse 2 it says, "And he had two wives and the name of the one was Hannah and the name of the other was Peninnah." Hannah means grace and Peninnah means pearl. Grace and pearl. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children at all. Interesting here. That here as Hannah is childless and Peninnah is with children, that there's already a conflict in the marriage between Hannah and Peninnah where Peninnah is literally making fun of Hannah because she can't get pregnant. She can't have children.

It's really important that we understand that here God is in full control of Hannah's life. In that culture, remember, if you couldn't have babies, this is probably why the second wife came into being because she could have children, she could be fertile, so he marries another woman to have his children. Why? Because he needs to bear the name of the family. But here we see that Elkanah has a little problem in his hands too.

Hannah is his first wife and Peninnah is his second wife. Verse 3: "And this man went up from his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts in Shiloh, and also the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the Lord were there." He says this man went up from the city yearly to worship and sacrifice to the Lord of hosts in Shiloh. Shiloh was the place of worship. This is where the Tabernacle was at this time. They had a tent; they didn't have a building.

They had a tent and the Tabernacle was set up there, 50 miles north of Ramah, where Joshua had located the Tabernacle in Joshua 18:1. And they came every year to the yearly feast and they would come with their whole families to worship the Lord. And so he's on his way now with his family to worship the Lord. Verse 4: "And whenever the time came for Elkanah to make an offering, he would give portions to Peninnah, his second wife, and then to all her sons and daughters." Notice that.

Here what he's doing is he's giving them portions of meat so they can really not only go before the Lord but to demonstrate God's blessing on him for having children, for giving him children. Children are a blessing of the Lord. The Bible says that. When God gives you a child, be blessed. And notice what else it says here. Verse 5: "But Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved Hannah although the Lord had closed her womb." Notice what it says.

But yet here it tells us that God is in control of our lives. God's in control of my life, God's in control of your life. If you're married and you can't have children, maybe the Lord has for a season closed your womb just like He did with her. But then the other problem was there as she knew she could not bear children. It says in verse 6: "And her rival also provoked her severely to make her miserable because the Lord had closed her womb." She was provoking her.

But yet God's in control. God was using all these situations, circumstances with Hannah to mold and to shape Hannah, to get her to the place where she would get on her face before the Lord. Verse 7: "And so it was that year by year when she went up to the house of the Lord to Shiloh that she provoked her; therefore she wept and did not eat." So here is Hannah and what's happening here is that Hannah is really hurt emotionally because she knows that when the year is up, I've got to go back to Shiloh and I've got to go with my husband and I've got to go with his second wife and what's going to happen? I'm going to be provoked. But maybe this year God will hear my prayer. Maybe this will be the year.

Verse 8: "And then Elkanah her husband said to her, 'Hannah, grace, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? Why is your heart grieved?'" Does that sound like your husband? "And then, 'Am I not better to you than 10 sons? Hey, you've got me, baby, what else do you need? That's better than everything else.'" I would say he's a little egotistical here. But I mean, Hannah is hurting.

Look at verse 9: "And Hannah rose up after they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh and now Eli the priest was sitting on a seat by the doorpost of the tabernacle of the Lord." Eli is now the high priest. And Eli, you'll see in a moment, will be the one where he's actually the last priest in his generation because his sons are in apostasy. You'll see later on in the book of Samuel. The priesthood was all messed up.

And God here was aligning Himself and His will for such a time as this that God needed a man. God needed a man, a boy, that would become the leader of Israel and would lead the people back to God. I find that so amazing, so intriguing, that today if God really needs a man, God will raise up a man in the church or outside of the church. But we have to be desperate in our situation for God to hear our prayer.

So many times when we come to God we're not passionate, we're not desperate, we just come nonchalantly and say, "Oh God, thank You for this food, I thank You so much, bless it once again, in Jesus' name, Amen." Well, I mean, that's kind of a prayer but that's not cool enough. There's no passion behind it when there are people in other countries that don't even have a sandwich to eat. They have to pray for the sandwich to come and for that water to drink.

And here she is going up to Shiloh like every year. And look what happens. This is interesting again. Verse 9: "And Hannah rose up after they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh and now Eli the priest was sitting by the seat of the doorpost of the tabernacle of the Lord." You notice the Lord is capital L-O-R-D, Jehovah there. Verse 10: "And she was in bitterness of soul and prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish."

It doesn't say that she was bitter towards the Lord; she was bitter in soul. Her soul was bitter. She felt bad that she couldn't be a mother. She felt bad that she was married and yet her husband had to take another wife to bear his children. You see? And she had no children. No children at all. And in that culture, she was looked down upon. And yet this very thing that was a thorn in her side is what drew her to her knees and to the heart of God.

Interesting. That sometimes whatever our situation, our problem may be even tonight, God has it in your life to draw you to your knees before Him in bitterness of soul so that you can pray to the Lord and weep before Him. He wants to hear you. He wants to hear you. He doesn't want to hear from the president or the government; he wants to hear from you. From you personally as you come before the Lord with your problem and your situation, your sickness, whatever it may be.

Here Hannah comes before the Lord. Verse 11: "And then she made a vow and said, 'O Lord of hosts,'" there is the name again second time, "O Lord of hosts, God of the armies, 'if You will indeed look on the affliction of your maidservant and remember me and not forget your maidservant, but will give your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life and no razor shall come upon his head.'" Whoa, I mean, that's a heavy prayer.

You see, here we have for the first time now Hannah aligning herself with the purposes of God. I love that. Aligning herself with the purposes of God. Before, she wanted a child for herself; now she wants a child to give him back to the Lord. What a difference in prayer. You see? A difference in prayer here. It's not for myself; it's for the Lord. Sometimes we don't have not because we don't ask; it's because He can't really trust you with it.

You see? Here now God sees the attitude, sees the heart, sees the motive. And what does she say? She said, "And not forget your maidservant but will give your maidservant a male child," that's what God was looking for, "and then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life and no razor shall come upon his head." What was she saying? "I'll give You, Lord, this child and he'll be a Nazirite for the rest of his life."

The Nazirite vow. The same right and vow that Samson took upon himself of consecration and separation to God. Parents, we need to do that. And with our grandchildren. We need to put them on the altar before the Lord. God has only loaned them to us as little treasures. Like little chinaware to mold and to shape and to train and to send them into a dark world where they're going to be discouraged and they're going to be battles where they're going to be fighting for themselves as we pray for them.

Here is a woman now that God calls and God uses and draws her through prayer to make a vow and consecration of her son to the Lord. Verse 12: "And it happened as she continued praying before the Lord that Eli the priest watched her mouth." So you see that she's praying and Eli sneaks up behind her and Eli thinks that she's drunk because he sees her mouth moving but doesn't hear what she's saying.

Verse 13: "And now Hannah spoke in her heart, only her lips moved but her voice was not heard and therefore Eli thought that she was drunk." How many times when we see someone as Christians we're so critical and then we misjudge people? Just like the priest is misjudging Hannah, that she's been drinking when she's really praying and pouring her spirit and her heart out to the Lord. Because look what it says in verse 14.

So Eli said to her, "How long will you be drunk? Put your wine away from you." He rebukes her. Notice that. And Hannah answered and said, "No, my lord, I am a woman of sorrowful spirit; I have not drunk wine neither intoxicating drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord." I love that. We need to come desperate to hear from God. Oh, may God help us to pour out our souls to God.

We need to pray from our hearts and not from our heads. From our hearts, not from our heads when we pray to God. We need to come before the Lord in all sincerity and truth as we worship the Lord even as we have this great example from Hannah here as she's approaching the Lord and she's coming in great need. "Oh no, my lord, I'm not a little bit tipsy, I haven't been drinking, I'm pouring out my heart before the Lord."

When was the last time you poured out your soul before the Lord? To really pour out your soul. You say, "Well, what do you mean by that?" Well, read Romans Chapter 8 verse 28 when you go home. With groanings we come to the Lord. How many times you've come to the Lord you have no words but yet you groan, you know, "Oh, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord." That's praying. Anguish of spirit, the soul. You see? You really mean it when you come to the Lord. You have respect. You're in the holiest of holies before the Lord.

Notice verse 14 again. And Eli said to her, "How long will you be drunk? Put away your wine from you." And Hannah answered and said, "No, my lord, I am a woman of sorrowful spirit, I have not drunk neither wine nor intoxicating drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord." And this is so cool how God does this whole thing here. Verse 16: "Do not consider your maidservant a woman of Belial, for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief," notice, "I have spoken even until now."

You see? All within me I have poured out to the Lord. I came to the Lord completely. And then Eli answered and said, "Go in peace, my daughter, and the God of Israel grant your petition which you have asked of Him." Notice that, blesses her. And then she said, "Let your maidservant find favor in your sight." So the woman went her way, she ate, and her face was no longer sad. Why? Because she knew that God had answered her prayer.

Verse 19: "And then they arose early in the morning and what's the first thing they did? They worshipped before the Lord." Isn't that interesting that when you get up in the morning, you don't go to work, you don't do anything before you worship before the Lord? Interesting. That's all the way through the Bible. Spending time with God. And then what happened? And then they returned and came to their house at Ramah.

And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife. What happened? They became intimate. And what happened? And the Lord remembered her, not Hannah, notice, not Elkanah, the Lord remembered her and did what? Got her pregnant through her husband. Interesting. Verse 20: "And so it came to pass in the process of time," nine months, "that Hannah conceived and bore a son and called his name," check this out, "Samuel." Asked of God. "I prayed and He answered. I prayed and He answered."

Grace prayed and was answered. Samuel. Saying, "Because I have asked for him from the Lord. I didn't ask it from my husband; I asked it from the Lord." And now the man Elkanah and all his house, notice, went up again to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifices of his vow. Leviticus 27:1-8, Numbers 30:1-8, you can read all about that. And then verse 22: "But Hannah did not go this time."

So she said to her husband, "No, I will not go up until the child is weaned, then I will take him and that he may appear before the Lord and remain there forever." Interesting. "I'm not going this year, I'm not going next year, I'm not going the following year, but in three years I will go and I will take Samuel and he will never return with me; he will stay in the house of the Lord." Interesting.

You say, "Where do you get three years?" In 2 Maccabees 7:27, the Apocrypha book says three years according to the Jewish writings of history. And what's really amazing is that here God gives her this boy for three months and she is willing to give him up for the rest of her life. Rest of her life. "I asked and God answered me and I gave it back to the Lord." You see? It's a loan from the Lord.

Watch verse 23: "And Elkanah her husband said to her, 'Do what seems best to you, wait until you have weaned him, only let the Lord establish His word.'" So the woman stayed and nursed her son until she had weaned him. And now when she had weaned him, she took him up with her with three bulls, one ephah of flour, a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the Lord in Shiloh and the child was young.

Notice that she brought the child to the house of the Lord to be presented to the Lord. That's why we dedicate babies here, Calvary Chapel. We dedicate them to the Lord. Here she follows the law; she brings the sacrifices, she brings the child to leave him in the house of the Lord. Verse 25: "And then they slaughtered a bull and brought the child to Eli. And she said, 'Oh, my lord, as your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood by you here praying to the Lord.'"

"Remember three years ago? Here I am and here he is. Confirmation. God heard my prayer." He says, "For this child I prayed and the Lord has granted me my petition which I ask of him." You should underline that scripture and pray by that scripture. Good example here. "The child I prayed for and the Lord granted me my petition and I asked for him."

And check this out: "And therefore I also have lent him to the Lord. How long? As long as he lives, he shall be lent to the Lord." So they worshipped there before the Lord. Mothers, fathers, grandparents, bring your children to the Lord and give them to the Lord.

Guest (Male): Whether you're waiting for a baby, tackling kids' needs at home, or navigating parenthood with an adult son or daughter, we urge you to persevere before God's throne, trusting that He hears every prayer. You're listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. Today's study with Raul was titled, "A Prayerful Woman." If you'd like to get an unedited version, we'll be happy to send one to you for a donation of five dollars or more. All you have to do is call us at 800-634-9165.

And we'd like to tell you about Raul's six-lesson series for mothers, which is available on either CD or USB. Underscoring the strength and wisdom that come from personal time with the Lord, this resource will spur you on in supporting your kids through all of life's ups and downs. You'll get a challenge to surrender your children to the Lord as Hannah did, putting your faith in His perfect plans. Visit somebodylovesyou.com or call 800-634-9165 to order Raul's six-part study for mothers.

We'll send you the CD set for twenty dollars or the thumb drive for just twelve dollars. That's 800-634-9165. Our mailing address if you'd like to order by writing us is Somebody Loves You Radio, PO Box 4440, Diamond Bar, California 91765. Make the Somebody Loves You worldwide YouTube channel your go-to for Bible-based teaching. Raul's Straight Talk streams on the channel every Tuesday at 10:00 AM West Coast time.

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