Grace Meets a Crying Heart, and God Answers
Brethren, hear this with fresh fire. God sees the tears you think no one notices. He weighs the ache you cannot explain. He remembers prayers you barely had strength to whisper.
Hannah’s story is your story. It is the story of grace meeting great need, of prayer meeting power, of surrender meeting sovereignty. She poured out her soul, and the Lord answered from heaven.
She vowed, obeyed, and worshiped, and God turned barrenness into blessing, sorrow into song, waiting into witness. Friends, what God did for Hannah, He can do for you. “For there is none holy as the LORD… neither is there any rock like our God” (1 Samuel 2:2, KJV). Praise be to God.
Hannah: A Name, A Need, A New Song
Praise the Lord. The very name Hannah means grace or favor, and her life showcases what grace does when it collides with human helplessness. She appears in 1 Samuel 1–2, during the days before Israel had a king.
She is loved by Elkanah, yet “the LORD had shut up her womb” (1 Samuel 1:5). Pain is real. The taunts are real. Peninnah provokes her year by year. Have you felt that sting?
Hannah goes to Shiloh and does what the faithful do. She prays. She weeps “in bitterness of soul” and vows, “O LORD of hosts, if Thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of Thine handmaid… and wilt give unto Thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life” (1 Samuel 1:10–11). Friends, have you ever prayed like that, when words falter and only tears speak?
Eli misunderstands her silent lips, but Hannah answers with dignity. She is not drunk. She is pouring out her soul before the LORD. Eli sends her with a blessing. Then the text says something beautiful. She went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad (see 1 Samuel 1). Faith hands the burden over. Faith gets up and eats. Thank You Lord.
In due time, “the LORD remembered her”, and she bore a son. She called him Samuel, “Because I have asked him of the LORD” (1 Samuel 1). Every time she said his name, she preached a sermon. God hears.
Prayer That Will Not Quit
Friends, listen. God is not wearied by honest tears. Scripture teaches us to cast all your care upon Him because He careth for you (1 Peter 5:7). It calls us to bring everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving and make our requests known unto God (Philippians 4:6).
Jesus said that men ought always to pray, and not to faint (Luke 18:1). Paul wrote, pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Hannah lived that.
Have you noticed how her prayer mirrors Romans 8:26. “The Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” Her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Heaven heard. Praise be to God.
And when the priest said, “Go in peace,” she walked in peace before the pregnancy test, before the external change. That is faith. That is what we are invited into. Will you pray on when mockers jeer and months stretch on? Will you trust the God who counts your tears?
From Barrenness to Blessing
Brethren, take courage. God writes hope into hard chapters. Hannah’s empty arms became a cradle of promise. Later, God visited Hannah, and she bore three sons and two daughters more. She asked for one. God gave abundantly. He “is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20).
This is the pattern of Scripture. He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children (Psalm 113:9). He turns mourning into music. He lifts the lowly. He reverses what looks permanent.
Friends, what seems shut in your life? A door. A heart. A future. Wait on the LORD. “They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength” (Isaiah 40:31). Delay is not denial. God is working when you cannot see it.
A Vow Kept, A Life Given Back
Praise the Lord for holy obedience. Many make promises in crisis. Few keep them in comfort. Hannah did. She told Elkanah, “I will bring him, that he may appear before the LORD, and there abide for ever” (1 Samuel 1:22). And she did.
She brought the child to Eli and said, “For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition… Therefore also I have lent him to the LORD” (1 Samuel 1:26–28).
This is Romans 12:1 in real time. Present your bodies a living sacrifice. This is integrity that honors Ecclesiastes 5:4–5. When you vow, pay what you vowed. This is allegiance that honors Matthew 10:37.
Love God more than the dearest gifts He gives. And see the tenderness. Each year Hannah brought Samuel a little coat. Dedication is not abandonment. It is stewardship drenched in prayer.
Friends, what have you promised God? Your time. Your gifts. Your home. Your child. Hold every blessing with an open hand. The Giver is worthy.
Hannah’s Song: Praise that Prophesies
When the vow was fulfilled, worship exploded. “My heart rejoiceth in the LORD… there is none holy as the LORD” (1 Samuel 2:1–10, 2:2). Hear the thunder of her theology.
- God humbles the proud and exalts the humble. “Talk no more so exceeding proudly… by Him actions are weighed.” Bows of the mighty break. Those who stumbled are girded with strength.
- God reverses fortunes. The hungry are filled. The barren bears seven. The one with many grows feeble. The LORD killeth, and maketh alive. He brings low. He lifts up.
- God enthrones the lowly. He sets the poor among princes. Why. Because the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s.
- God will judge the ends of the earth and keep the feet of His saints.
Then this blazing line. “He shall give strength unto His king, and exalt the horn of His anointed.” King. Anointed. Messiah. Israel had no king yet, but the Spirit put prophecy on Hannah’s lips. Her song reaches toward David, then further to Christ.
No surprise that Mary sings the same music. “My soul doth magnify the Lord” (Luke 1:46–55). The proud scattered. The lowly lifted. The hungry filled. The rich sent empty. Mary calls herself the handmaid of the Lord (Luke 1:38), the very title Hannah used.
And at the Temple stands Anna the prophetess, another Hannah, who served with fastings and prayers and praised God when she saw the child Jesus (Luke 2:36–38). Praise be to God.
Do you see it. Samuel’s birth resets Israel’s story. From Samuel comes David’s anointing. From David’s line comes Jesus, the true Anointed One. And God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son (John 3:16). Hannah gave her only son to the Lord’s service. The Father gave His Son for our salvation. Thank You Lord.
Lessons That Land Like Arrows
Friends, here is where we decide. Truth that does not shape us was never truly heard.
1) Pray honestly, persistently, expectantly
Ask. Seek. Knock. “Ask, and it shall be given you” (Matthew 7:7). Pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Pour your soul out. Cast your care (1 Peter 5:7). Bring everything with prayer and supplication with thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6). Trust the Spirit to help your weakness with groanings (Romans 8:26). Then rise from your knees and live like God heard you.
2) Trust, then act like you trust
Hannah ate. Her face changed. Before the answer. This is faith’s posture. Isaiah 40:31 belongs here again. Wait. Renew. Run. Walk.
3) Keep your word to God
Ecclesiastes 5:4–5 presses us. Do not make light promises. If you vow, pay. Integrity is worship.
4) Offer the gift back to the Giver
Romans 12:1 calls us to the altar. Your body. Your gifts. Your family. Your future. Lay them down. God will never waste what you surrender.
5) Praise like you mean it
“What shall I render unto the LORD for all His benefits toward me” (Psalm 116:12). Render thanksgiving. Render testimony. Render obedience. Praise the Lord.
6) Walk humbly and receive grace
“God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble” (James 4:6). Hannah’s humility made her a channel of mercy. Yours will too.
Warnings, Invitations, Decisions
Brethren, hear the warning. Pride boasts. God weighs. Delay tempts us to quit. God calls us to continue. Gifts tempt us to cling. God calls us to release. Rivals provoke. God calls us to pray.
Friends, receive the invitation. Pray like Hannah. Wait like Hannah. Obey like Hannah. Worship like Hannah. Then watch God reverse the irreversible. Watch Him lift the lowly. Watch Him write you into His larger story, just as He wrote Hannah into the line that points to Christ.
Praise be to God who hears, who remembers, who answers, who saves.
A Prayer for Those Who Stand at the Crossroads
Lord, our Rock, there is none beside Thee (1 Samuel 2:2). We bring You our long sorrows and our quiet vows. Teach us to pray with persistence. Teach us to trust before we see.
Teach us to keep our word and lay our gifts upon Your altar. Keep our feet, O Lord, as You promised. Lift the humble. Scatter pride. Exalt the horn of Your Anointed, Jesus our King. Fill the hungry with good things. Turn barrenness into blessing for Your glory. We ask in the name of Jesus, the Son You gave for us (John 3:16). Amen.
Call to Response
Will you ask. Will you trust. Will you surrender. Will you praise.
Walk the Hannah path today. Lift your voice. Keep your vow. And when the Lord answers, let your life sing, “There is none holy as the LORD” (1 Samuel 2:2).
Call to Action: The Question That Demands an AnswerIn Acts 2:37 Peter and the Apostles were asked the question – What Shall We do? And in Acts 2:38 Peter answered, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. Do you understand this? After hearing the gospel and believing, they asked what should would do. The answer hasn’t changed friend, Peter clearly gave the answer. The question for you today is, Have you receieved the Holy Spirit Since you believed? If you’re ready to take that step, or you want to learn more about what it means to be born again of water and Spirit, visit: Come, and let the Spirit make you new. |
