1 Samuel

1 Samuel 1: The LORD hears Hannah’s prayer

Begin in prayer

Before we sit beside Hannah at Shiloh and hear how the LORD answered her weeping, let us come to Him together. Ask Him to still our hearts, to hear our own prayers, and to show us Jesus.

Pour out your heart before him.

Psalm 62:8

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Show us that You hear the prayers of Your people and answer them in love, and help us to trust Jesus. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

Elkanah took his family up to Shiloh each year to worship the LORD of Armies, but his wife Hannah had no children. Her rival Peninnah provoked her again and again, so Hannah wept and would not eat. At the house of the LORD she prayed from a bitter soul and vowed to give her son to the LORD all his days. Eli thought she was drunk, but she told him her grief, and he prayed that God would grant her request. The LORD remembered Hannah, and she bore a son whom she named Samuel, because she had asked the LORD for him. After Samuel was weaned, Hannah brought him to Shiloh and gave him to the LORD, as she had promised.

As you read 1 Samuel 1, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

The LORD hears Hannah’s weeping prayer, and He gives her a son.

Each year Elkanah took his family up to Shiloh, in the hill country of Ephraim, to worship the LORD (verses 1 to 3). Hannah had no children, and Peninnah, the other wife, provoked her again and again. Elkanah had two wives, which was never God’s plan for marriage (Genesis 2 verse 24), and the home was full of grief. Hannah went into the LORD's house and poured out her soul to Him. Her lips moved and no sound came, so Eli the priest thought she was drunk. The text tells us the LORD had shut her womb, so only He could open it. When the text says He remembered her, it means He acted on her prayer. Hannah named him Samuel, because she had asked him of the LORD (verse 20). The God who hears the cry of the weak is the God who hears sinners who turn to Him.

How does 1 Samuel 1 show us that the LORD hears Hannah’s weeping prayer, and gives her a son?

Hannah pours out her grief to the LORD.

Peninnah provoked Hannah year after year, until she wept and would not eat (verses 6 and 7). Elkanah loved her, yet his kind words did not lift her grief (verse 8). So she went to the LORD's house and prayed in bitterness of soul (verses 9 and 10). She told Eli she had been pouring out her soul before the LORD, and had drunk no wine (verse 15).

The LORD remembers Hannah and gives her a son.

Hannah vowed that if the LORD gave her a boy, she would give him to the LORD all his days (verse 11). Eli prayed that God would grant her request, and she went away, ate, and was sad no more (verses 17 and 18). The text says the LORD remembered her, and a son was born (verses 19 and 20). She named him Samuel, because she had asked him of the LORD.

Hannah gives Samuel back to the LORD for his whole life.

After Samuel was weaned, Hannah took him to Shiloh with three bulls, meal and wine (verse 24). She told Eli she was the woman who had stood there praying (verse 26). She had asked and the LORD had given, so she gave him back for life (verses 27 and 28). The Father gave His own Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish (John 3 verse 16).

Memorise

I prayed for this child; and Yahweh has given me my petition which I asked of him.

1 Samuel 1:27

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, what do I need from God that I have not yet brought to Jesus?

Hannah said at Shiloh, “I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit.” She poured out her soul before the LORD, and the LORD remembered her. Hannah wept and was heard. Jesus prayed to the Father with strong crying and tears, and He was heard (Hebrews 5 verse 7).

We weep over many things, but our deepest need is our sin. It separates us from a holy God, and no tears of ours can wash it away. Jesus carried the sin of His people to the cross and bore the wrath of God against it. Three days later He rose alive from the grave. All that was needed has been done, and the Father has received His Son's work.

Do not carry your sorrow and your sin alone. Turn from your sin, trust Jesus, and bring your prayers to the Father in His name. He hears every sinner who cries to Him in faith, and He gives forgiveness to all who believe.

Parent's note

Tell your children that God hears the cries of the weak, and that Jesus is the One who brings us to Him. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God that He heard Hannah’s weeping prayer, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.

He will fulfill the desire of those who fear him. He also will hear their cry, and will save them.

Psalm 145:19

Father, thank You that You hear the prayers of Your people. Thank You for Jesus, who lives to pray for His people, so that we can come to You with our sorrow. Turn each one of us from our sin, and help us to trust Him. Teach us to bring every need to You this week. Amen.