https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/HannahsPrayer.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\tby Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Text: I Samuel 1:9-18<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I. I Thessalonians 5:17<\/p>\n A. It is a short passage, but it isn’t short on meaning. What is meant “without\nceasing?” \n B. Paul isn’t talking about a 24-hour a day, non-stop prayer. There are other things\nwhich must be accomplished in life.\n
C. He is talking about prayer where you don’t give up.<\/p>\n
D. Such prayers are illustrated by a woman named Hannah – I Samuel 1:9-18<\/p>\n
II. She prayed because of her anguish – I Samuel 1:10<\/p>\n A. Her husband had taken a second wife. She was able to have children, but Hannah\ncould not. And she rubbed into Hannah’s face – I Samuel 1:6-7\n 1. While the incident recorded here happened one year, we see that Hannah\nprayed in a similar fashion year after year.\n
B. God is the One we come to in times of trouble – Psalm 46:1-3<\/p>\n
1. He invites us to bring our trouble to Him – Psalm 50:15<\/p>\n
2. And He will answer – Psalm 91:14-16<\/p>\n C. It isn’t that we only run to our Father when we are troubled, but it is a comfort to\nknow that He is there when we need him – I Peter 5:6-7\n D. When you pray, do you just pray a few times and the answer doesn’t come shrug\nand go on about your business? How badly do you really need help from God?\n
III. She offered a vow – I Samuel 1:11<\/p>\n A. Don’t look at this as a vain attempt to bribe God. Hannah wanted to demonstrate\nthe lengths she would go if her prayer was answer.\n
1. What she vowed was within her ability to keep – Ecclesiastes 5:1-5<\/p>\n B. But notice that in asking for aid from God, Hannah stated she would do what she\ncould. She wasn’t asking God to do everything while she sat back and enjoyed the\nbenefits. She had something she could offer back to God.\n 1. When you pray for something, how far are you willing to go if He answers\nyou?\n
2. What will you do that is truly within your ability to give back to God?<\/p>\n a. When you pray for strength and growth in the church, are you\nwilling to work for it? – Ephesians 4:15-16\n b. When you pray for strength to resist temptation, do you make effort\nto minimize your exposure? – Romans 13:14\n c. When you pray for an opportunity to teach, do you go seeking\nthose opportunities? – Colossians 4:2-4\n
IV. She continued to pray – I Samuel 1:12<\/p>\n
A. Does repeating a prayer show a lack of faith or dedication to a cause?<\/p>\n
1. Jesus prayed three times in the garden – Matthew 26:39, 42, 44<\/p>\n
2. Paul prayed three times – II Corinthians 12:7-8<\/p>\n
B. God desires a persistency in prayer – Luke 18:1-8<\/p>\n C. When you pray, how badly do you want an answer to your prayer? What are you\nwilling to do to show it?\n
V. She sincerely prayed – I Samuel 1:13<\/p>\n A. Hannah’s prayers were not done to impress others. Her deepest desires were\nspoken between her and God – Matthew 6:5-6\n
B. It was sincerely prayed, much like Paul’s personal prayer – Romans 10:1<\/p>\n
1. And like Hannah’s prayer, it came from his grief – Romans 9:1-3<\/p>\n
C. Are you praying what you really want to happen? <\/p>\n
1. Or are you praying what you think other people want you to say?<\/p>\n
D. Psalm 20<\/p>\n
VI. She was confident she would be answered – I Samuel 1:17-18<\/p>\n A. Eli wasn’t speaking from inspiration. He didn’t know God would answer her\nprayer. He didn’t even know what she was praying about. He just offered his hope\nthat God would answer her prayer.\n 1. His assurance bolstered her – someone else believed God was listening\nand would answer\n B. But more importantly, Hannah left and began acting as if her prayer was already\nanswered.\n
C. Here was a prayer of faith, without any doubts – James 1:5-8<\/p>\n 1. She didn’t know the answer God would give, but she was confident that\nGod cared\n
D. God knows our needs better than we do ourselves – Matthew 6:8<\/p>\n E. Ultimately, what we know is that God’s purpose will be done and that it is His\nwill that good results from our lives – Romans 8:28\n
1. It probably won’t happen the way I expect<\/p>\n 2. But the answer will be beyond my wildest dreams being better than I had\ndared to hope – Ephesians 3:20\n F. When you pray, are you confident that there will be an answer and no matter how\nit is answered, it will be better than you planned? – I Timothy 2:8; Mark 11:24\n
VII. Hannah received her heart’s desire – I Samuel 1:20<\/p>\n A. She got more than she could have expected. Her son became a priest before God,\na judge of Israel, a mighty prophet, and the establisher of the kings of Israel\n
B. Hannah’s story is recorded for us for a reason – Romans 15:4<\/p>\n
C. Let’s all pray in faith as Hannah did.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Samuel 1:9-18 I. I Thessalonians 5:17 A. It is a short passage, but it isn’t short on meaning. What is meant “without ceasing?” B. Paul isn’t talking about a 24-hour a day, non-stop prayer. There are other things which must be accomplished in life. C. He is talking about prayer where you…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[1242,1315,1510],"class_list":["post-62679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-character","tag-hannah","tag-prayers"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":40904,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-sinners-prayer-not-found\/","url_meta":{"origin":62679,"position":0},"title":"The Sinner’s Prayer – Not Found","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 19, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Warfel","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":46192,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-need-for-prayer\/","url_meta":{"origin":62679,"position":1},"title":"The Need for Prayer","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 29, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"by Brace Rutledge 2015 Fall Meeting","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":50283,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/oneness-jesus-ardent-prayer\/","url_meta":{"origin":62679,"position":2},"title":"Oneness – Jesus’ Ardent Prayer","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 31, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Frederic Gray Life Lessons from the Lord","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29036,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-authority-do-we-have-to-lead-a-prayer\/","url_meta":{"origin":62679,"position":3},"title":"What authority do we have to lead a prayer?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 20, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What authority do we have to lead a prayer? Where in the Bible does it talk about this practice? Answer: I Corinthians 14:26-33 tells us the importance of church services being orderly. People are not to be talking at the same time. In that same discussion, there is mention\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":38053,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/preaching-and-prayer\/","url_meta":{"origin":62679,"position":4},"title":"Preaching and Prayer","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 20, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Dennis Allan Christianity Magazine March 1989 Considering the role of prayer in the life and work of New Testament preachers will challenge us to greater devotion and closer communion with God. The significance of prayer among early saints can be traced to Jesus, where we will focus our attention\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":56948,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-holy-spirits-intercessory-prayer\/","url_meta":{"origin":62679,"position":5},"title":"The Holy Spirit’s Intercessory Prayer","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 16, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Tanner Campbell In this article, we will put Romans 8:26 under a full investigation. The text explains that \"the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62679"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62679\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}