God Hears

Bible Passage: 1 Samuel 1

The story of the prophet Samuel begins in a similar way to the story of Jesus: with a young girl, a miraculous pregnancy and a song of celebration. In the case of Hannah, we have a backdrop that includes both personal pain and national corruption (see 1 Sam 2:12-36). Hannah is one of two wives of Elkanah (itself an abuse of power and breaking of God’s creation order), and whilst the other wife had borne children, Hannah had been unable to do so. This passage tells the story of Hannah’s pain, her prayer and the Lord’s provision for her, and through it we see how God hears the prayer of even those who are overlooked and hurting like Hannah.

Hannah’s Pain: At the heart of Hannah’s pain is something that many people wrestle with: she wants children but is unable to have any. Preaching this point needs sensitivity, as there may well be those in the congregation who are in exactly the same situation, and the pain is acute. And when we consider pain more broadly, then more will be able to identify with Hannah too. Whether sickness, grief, infertility, unemployment, relation breakdown or anything else, life can be hard and we can be faced with circumstances that are difficult and not what we would choose for ourselves. In this chapter, we see Hannah’s pain compounded by two further factors: firstly, she sees somebody close to her enjoying the thing she wants and can’t have. As Peninnah is given children, this could make Hannah ask questions like ‘why me’, and the blessing received by somebody else can sometimes sharpen the pain of our own loss. In this case, Peninnah also deliberately rubbed in the difference in their situation to score points against Hannah and make her feel inferior. The second compounding factor is that Hannah’s husband did not understand how she felt. When she showed emotion, he would ask her what was up but did not truly listen to her answer or empathise. Going through pain can be especially difficult when we feel like nobody gets it and we are going through it alone.

Hannah’s Prayer: Hannah’s response to her painful circumstance was one of faith. She would go up to the house of the Lord and bring her pain to God. In Hannah’s prayer we learn some lessons about how we can bring our hard times to God. Firstly we see there is persistence to her prayer. We are told about her going to the house of the Lord and participating in the sacrifices ‘year after year’. Hannah’s pain was something she had carried for a long time, and even when it seemed like she wasn’t getting any response to her prayer, this did not stop her bringing her needs to God. Secondly we see deep emotion in Hannah’s prayer. We are told how she was weeping bitterly in her deep anguish. This is in stark contrast to the ‘polite’ prayer that we can sometimes see in religious circles. Hannah is raw in prayer, bearing her soul and letting the depth of emotion out before God. Finally, and linked to this point, we see Hannah does not care what others think of her as she prays. We are told that the High Priest thought she was drunk because of how she was praying. In other words, just like the disciples on the day of Pentecost, her prayer was so unrestrained that it created this kind of impression. From Hannah we learn how to bring our pain before God in ways that are persistent, emotional and unrestrained.

God’s Answer: At the heart of the passage we see that God hears the prayer and answers it by giving her a child. This is important to reflect on, because sometimes when we are going through a long term pain like Hannah does we can feel like our prayers are hitting the ceiling and God doesn’t hear. Every prayer we pray from the place of pain and heartache reaches the ears of the Lord, and he loves to attend to the prayers of the lowly who seek him. In Hannah’s case, we know that God’s answer was to grant her request. As we think about how to apply this, we should take care to neither over-apply nor under-apply the passage. We know that not everybody who prays for a child or a healing will be given one, and it would be pastorally harmful to promise this. On the other hand, we should not suggest that desperate prayers aren’t heard. We can and should reassure people that every prayer is heard and answered, even if that answer might not look like granting the request, and that whatever the answer, God’s response is one of kindness and blessing. We should also assure people that prayer is powerful and does change things, and that bringing our deepest needs, hopes and pains to God is a powerful and meaningful thing to do.

Potential Applications:

• Speaking about the pain we endure will meet some people at a sensitive point. It would be good to offer prayer ministry in response, and do so in a thoughtful way that isn’t pressuring but invites people too be prayed for if that’s something they would like.
• Challenge people about who we engage with the pains of those around us. Rather than making fun (like Peninnah) or dismissing (like Elkanah) can we show the kind of empathy that Jesus had for the pains of those around him?