TEXT:
‘We are sure of this that he will listen to us whenever we ask him for anything in line with his will. And if we really know he is listening when we talk to him and make our requests, then we can be sure that he will answer us’ – 1 John 5:14-15 TLB
THOUGHT:
I did not intend to send out another teaching on this subject but the day before I flew to Rwanda I was reading about Hannah (1 Samuel Chapter 1). Years of waiting ended when she changed how she was praying and this is the theme of Today’s Teaching. I pray that it will help someone to get a similar breakthrough.
- The Problem – ‘Hannah had no children’ – 1 Samuel 1:2
Hannah was loved and well-treated by her husband Elkanah, although her barrenness appears to have caused him to take a second wife, Peninnah. She did have children and constantly provoked Hannah about her barrenness. Getting older also became another barrier to conception. Every year the family went to the house of the Lord in Shiloh to worship but such occasions only intensified her misery. Overcome by grief, she could not even eat with the others, but found a place to pour out her heart to God in prayer (1 Samuel 1:7).
- The Promise
There were two things that gave her hope to continue praying for children.
1) God’s promise
God’s first promise to Adam and Eve was, ‘Be fruitful and multiply’ – Genesis 1:28. Moses received other promises from God, ‘No one shall suffer miscarriage or be barren in your land’ – Exodus 23:26 and ‘He will love you and bless you and multiply you, He will also bless the fruit of your womb’ – Deuteronomy 7:13.
2) History
Hannah’s ancestors and founders of the nation had all struggled with barrenness – Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachel. They all had a breakthrough even when it appeared to be impossible. God does not change His mind, so she could believe that what He had done for others, He would do for her. However, the longer the promise went unfulfilled, the more likely it would weaken her faith in God’s willingness to answer her prayer.
- The Prayer
Something happened in the midst of her despair that caused her to pray a different prayer. Desperation turned her from wanting to receive into willing to give. ‘If You will give me a male child, I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life’ – 1 Samuel 1:11.
God intended to answer Hannah’s prayer the very first day she prayed it, but not in the way she wanted. It was only when she changed her prayer that faith arose and said, “I have got it!” Eli, the priest said, ‘Go in peace and the God of Israel grant your petition’ – 1 Samuel 1:17. Immediately sadness was replaced by the deep joy of expectation.
The Bible says, ‘If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us’ – 1 John 5:14. It was Hannah’s willingness to let go of the thing she so desperately wanted that finally allowed God to say “Yes!”
After weaning Samuel, Hannah presented him to Eli in fulfilment of her promise. He became a godly influence on the nation, unlike Eli’s sons who were wicked. God does not just take from us. Eli prophesied, ‘The Lord give you descendants from this woman for the loan that was given to the Lord’ – 1 Samuel 2:20. The Bible says, ‘Give and it shall be given unto you, good measure’ – Luke 6:38. God blessed Elkanah and Hannah with another three sons and two daughters (1 Samuel 2:21). How thankful she was to have changed the way she prayed.
Do you really want the prayer you are praying to be answered? Do you have a clear promise from God in the Bible? If it still remains unanswered, perhaps now is the time to change your prayer.
The Bible says, ‘The Holy Spirit helps us with our daily problems and in our praying. For we don’t even know what we should pray for nor how to pray as we should, but the Holy Spirit prays for us with such feeling that it cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows, of course, what the Spirit is saying as he pleads for us in harmony with God’s own will. And we know that all that happens to us is working for our good if we love God and are fitting into his plans’ – Romans 8:26-28 TLB.
Let the Holy Spirit guide you as you seek the answer. Be willing to let go of what you really want and see if that change of heart does not bring about the break-through you are longing for. You will not be the loser in the end.
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