Hannah: The Power of One Praying by A.J. Higgins

Hannah stands at a critical point in Israel’s history, when every man was doing what was right in his own eyes, the priesthood was corrupt, idolatry was rampant, and God was getting little from His people. Her personal sorrow mirrors that larger condition. The Lord had shut up her womb, and Peninnah’s daily provocation made her feel the shame and grief of barrenness year after year. Yet Hannah’s barrenness was not merely a private trial. God was impressing upon her heart something of His own sorrow over a barren nation, a nation from which He was receiving neither worship nor fruit.

Peninnah’s rivalry also pictures the rivalries God endured through the idols of Israel. Elkanah’s well-meant but insensitive question, “Am not I better to thee than ten sons?” could not meet the burden of Hannah’s soul. God was bringing her to find everything in Himself, because even the best spouse is only a poor replica of what God alone can be. Her trial had no date on the calendar. It stretched out through “two full years of days,” through hours, moments, and repeated seasons of disappointment.

Hannah’s submission shines especially in her response to Eli. Eli mistakes deep prayer for drunkenness, although his own sons were marked by drunkenness and immorality. Hannah neither retaliates nor exposes his failure. Her quiet answer reveals a woman more discerning and spiritual than the high priest, yet still respectful of his position. Her character would leave its mark upon Samuel: a praying mother produces a praying son, and Elkanah’s yearly consistency would be seen again in Samuel’s consistent life.

Hannah’s supplication is short, specific, selfless, and sincere. Her burden is not simply that she might have a child to answer Peninnah, but that God might have a child for His own glory and for the good of His people. She does not merely analyze Israel’s barrenness. She prays. She pours out her heart before the Lord and vows to give her son back as a Nazarite from the womb.

Hannah’s sacrifice reveals that she gives her best with joy. Yet her burnt offering confesses that even her best is deficient, and that God must ultimately receive what Christ alone has given Him perfectly. Her song rises beyond her own blessing to the holiness, majesty, and greatness of God. Her prayer ends with “His anointed,” the Messiah. Her sorrow therefore leads her beyond herself to the coming Redeemer, and one woman’s prayer becomes part of God’s way of raising Samuel, restoring the nation, bringing in David, and advancing the line that leads to Christ.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Barrenness can reveal God’s sorrow Hannah’s closed womb became a painful picture of Israel’s spiritual barrenness. Her trial taught her not only to feel her own grief, but to enter into something of God’s grief over a people giving Him nothing. Trials can deepen spiritual sight when they move the heart beyond private pain toward God’s honor. [09:57]
• 2. God alone meets every deepest need Elkanah loved Hannah, but his love could not answer the longing in her soul. Human love is precious, yet no spouse, friend, or leader can carry the weight that belongs to God alone. Hannah’s disappointment pressed her to find in God what no human relationship could supply. [10:44]
• 3. Prayer must become more than analysis Hannah did not merely speak about Israel’s need, the blight on the altar, or the blindness of its leaders. Her burden drove her into God’s presence, where she poured out her heart with sincerity and spiritual purpose. A burden for God’s work becomes fruitful when it is carried to God rather than simply repeated among people. [19:20]
• 4. The best sacrifice is offered joyfully Hannah gave back the very son for whom she had prayed, and she did not do so begrudgingly. Her offering shows that God deserves the best time, strength, labor, and years a life can give. Yet her burnt offering also confesses that even the best human gift falls short of Christ, who gave God everything perfectly. [21:35]
• 5. Sorrow should lead to the Messiah Hannah’s song ends with God’s anointed, the Messiah. Her long trial did not leave her absorbed with her injury or even with her answered prayer, but brought her into worship of God’s saving purpose. Every difficulty finds its proper end when it gives a deeper appreciation of all Christ is and all Christ has done.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [00:36] - Hannah, Elkanah, and Shiloh
• [01:45] - Hannah’s Vow and Samuel’s Dedication
• [03:50] - Hannah’s Song and the First Messiah Reference
• [04:52] - One Woman Praying at a Crisis Point
• [06:59] - Israel’s Barrenness and Corrupt Priesthood
• [08:04] - Hannah’s Personal Sorrow
• [09:31] - Learning Something of God’s Grief
• [10:21] - Finding Everything in God Alone
• [11:47] - Trials That Continue Year by Year
• [13:00] - Hannah’s Submissive Spirit Before Eli
• [16:08] - A Prayer for God’s Honor
• [18:17] - Short, Specific, Selfless Prayer
• [20:37] - Giving the Best to God With Joy
• [22:37] - Worship Centered on God’s Greatness
• [24:25] - Hannah’s Song Leads to the Messiah
• [25:25] - The Value of a Mother’s Prayer

Bible Reading

1 Samuel 1:1–2:10

1 Samuel 1:1. There was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephrathite. [00:42]

1 Samuel 1:2. He had two wives. The name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other, Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. [00:50]

1 Samuel 1:3. This man used to go up year by year from his city to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the Lord. [00:58]

1 Samuel 1:4–5. On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters. But to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb. [01:08]

1 Samuel 1:6–7. And her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb. So it went on year after year. As often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. [01:21]

1 Samuel 1:8. And Elkanah, her husband, said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?” [01:32]

1 Samuel 1:9–11. After they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh, Hannah rose. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the Lord. She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly. And she vowed a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.” [01:40]

1 Samuel 1:12–14. As she continued praying before the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman. And Eli said to her, “How long will you go on being drunk? Put your wine away from you.” [02:20]

1 Samuel 1:15–16. But Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord. Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation.” [02:30]

1 Samuel 1:17–18. Then Eli answered, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to him.” And she said, “Let your servant find favor in your eyes.” Then the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad. [02:36]

1 Samuel 1:19–20. They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord; then they went back to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her. And in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, “I have asked for him from the Lord.” [02:45]

1 Samuel 1:21–23. The man Elkanah and all his house went up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice and to pay his vow. But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, so that he may appear in the presence of the Lord and dwell there forever.” Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems best to you; wait until you have weaned him; only, may the Lord establish his word.” So the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him. [03:04]

1 Samuel 1:24–28. And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and she brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh. And the child was young. Then they slaughtered the bull, and they brought the child to Eli. And she said, “Oh, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the Lord. For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him. Therefore I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord.” And he worshiped the Lord there. [03:20]

1 Samuel 2:1–3. And Hannah prayed and said, “My heart exults in the Lord; my horn is exalted in the Lord. My mouth derides my enemies, because I rejoice in your salvation. There is none holy like the Lord: for there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God. Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.” [03:58]

1 Samuel 2:4–5. The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble bind on strength. Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger. The barren has borne seven, but she who has many children is forlorn. [04:11]

1 Samuel 2:6–8. The Lord kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up. The Lord makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and he exalts. He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and on them he has set the world. [04:11]

1 Samuel 2:9–10. He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness, for not by might shall a man prevail. The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces; against them he will thunder in heaven. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth; he will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed. [04:17]

Judges 21:25

In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. [07:01]

1 Samuel 2:12–17

1 Samuel 2:12. Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the Lord. [07:25]

1 Samuel 2:13–14. The custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come, while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand, and he would thrust it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot. All that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is what they did at Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. [07:30]

1 Samuel 2:15–16. Moreover, before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give meat for the priest to roast, for he will not accept boiled meat from you but only raw.” And if the man said to him, “Let them burn the fat first, and then take as much as you wish,” he would say, “No, you must give it now, and if not, I will take it by force.” [07:37]

1 Samuel 2:17. Thus the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the Lord, for the men treated the offering of the Lord with contempt. [07:49]

Ephesians 5:2

And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. [21:48]

Observation questions

1. What details in 1 Samuel 1 show that Hannah’s grief was not a brief disappointment, but a burden she carried repeatedly over time? [11:46]
2. What does Hannah actually ask God for in her vow, and what does she promise to do if God gives her a son?
3. When Eli wrongly assumes that Hannah is drunk, what words and tone does Hannah use in her response? What does she deliberately not bring up about Eli or his sons? [13:31]
4. In Hannah’s song, what truths about God receive more attention than her own personal blessing? [22:52]

Interpretation questions

1. Judges describes a nation where everyone did what was right in his own eyes, while 1 Samuel describes corrupt priests at Shiloh. How does Hannah’s prayer show a different response to spiritual decline than merely criticizing leaders or society? [19:23]
2. Hannah wanted a son, but she vowed to give that son back to the Lord. What does this reveal about the difference between seeking God merely to solve a personal pain and seeking God’s glory through that pain? [12:42]
3. Elkanah loved Hannah, yet his words could not remove the deep sorrow in her heart. What does this teach about the good but limited place of spouses, family members, and friends in meeting a person’s deepest needs? [10:58]
4. Hannah brought her best to God, but she also brought a sacrifice. How does Ephesians 5:2 explain why even a believer’s best offering must rest on Christ’s perfect offering to God? [21:25]

Application questions

1. Is there a long-standing burden in your life that has begun to feel like it will never change? How might you bring that burden honestly to God rather than becoming hardened, isolated, or consumed by it? [12:03]
2. Hannah’s sorrow helped her feel something of God’s sorrow over a barren nation. Where do you see spiritual need in your family, church, workplace, or community, and how could that concern become a specific matter of prayer this week? [16:41]
3. It is easy to analyze spiritual problems, discuss them with others, or complain about what is missing. What is one concern you have been talking about more than praying about, and what would a short, specific prayer for it sound like? [19:23]
4. When someone misunderstands, dismisses, or speaks unfairly to you, what is your usual response? How can Hannah’s calm and respectful answer shape the way you speak in a difficult conversation? [14:00]
5. Are you looking to a spouse, parent, child, friend, leader, or another person to carry a weight that God alone can carry? What would it look like to receive their love gratefully while looking to the Lord as your deepest help? [11:10]
6. Hannah gave to God the son for whom she had prayed, and she gave with joy. What “best” gift of time, strength, ability, resources, or future plans might God be inviting you to hold more openly before Him? [22:29]
7. Hannah’s song moved beyond her own answered prayer to the greatness of God and finally to His Anointed One. In the present difficulty you are facing, how can you turn your attention toward Christ—who He is and what He has done—rather than staying fixed only on the problem? [24:47]