by Aaron Lawrence
The Restoration Herald - Jun 2026
Hannah wanted a child but was childless. Peninnah pestered her about this sad condition. Therefore, Hannah prayed, and in her prayer, she made a vow to God: “O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life.”
Hannah was willing to totally devote this child to God and His service all the days of his life. Parents, are you convinced by this? How committed are we to devoting our children to the Lord’s service? Has God not provided them to us? Sadly, we all know Christian parents who have totally devoted their children to sports. But what about God? Isn’t He supposed to be first? We should seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness for our children (and grandchildren). Hannah did.
When Hannah prayed, she moved her lips but remained silent, and Eli mistakenly thought she was drunk. However, she was not drunk; she was “a woman of sorrowful spirit,” pouring out her soul before the Lord. When Eli realized his error and saw Hannah’s devotion to God, he blessed her, saying, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition which you have asked of Him.”
Here, we see a change in her attitude. The end of verse 18 says, “So the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.” Hannah is apparently at peace, but what has changed? Does she have the son that she asked for and wants so badly? No. Did Eli’s blessing guarantee her a son? No. Then why is she at peace? Because she has left her problems in God’s hands, she has made her petition to Him and is trusting His process. When we pray, we need to pray like Jesus in the garden—that the Lord’s will be done and have faith that it will be. We may not receive all that we ask for, because sometimes what we pray for does not line up with God’s will.
Next, there are three points to be made in verse 19:
1) “They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord.” They worshiped the Lord even when they had not gotten what they wanted. 2) “And Elkanah knew Hannah, his wife.” They kept trying even after an extended time with no success. Here is where I see many fail: they pray a prayer like Hannah and then sit back waiting for God to answer. It does not work like that; we must do our part. In fact, praying like this should motivate us to do all that we can to accomplish what we ask for, especially when we believe it is, or could be, God’s will. That is like praying for your neighbors to come to the Lord but never going to talk to them about Him. Elkanah and Hannah went home and kept trying for a child. 3) “And the Lord remembered her.” What did He remember? He remembered her prayer asking for a son. He remembered her vow, her faith, her sorrow, and her peace after she prayed. He also remembered her worshipping Him, even without what she wanted. God remembered her, and she conceived and bore a son. They called him Samuel, “Because I have asked for him from the Lord.”
Once Samuel was weaned, Hannah took him to Eli at the Tabernacle. Notice what they took with them. The Septuagint says a “three-year-old bull, one ephah of flour, and a skin of wine.” They appear to have brought the sacrifice required in Numbers 15 to fulfill a vow. Then, starting in verse 25, it says, “they slaughtered a bull, and brought the child to Eli. And she said, ‘O my lord! As your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood by you here, praying to the Lord. For this child, I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition, which I asked of Him. Therefore, I also have lent him to the Lord; as long as he lives, he shall be lent to the Lord.’ So they worshiped the Lord there.”
There are two points left for me to make: 1) When we pray to God for a specific thing, and He answers our prayer, we should be like Hannah and tell people what God has done; 2) They worshiped the Lord. At the beginning, we saw them coming to the Tabernacle to worship. Then, we see they “rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord.” Finally, the chapter ends with these six words, “So they worshiped the Lord there.”
Pray to God, be specific in your prayer, trust in His will to be done, do what you can to make it happen, and worship Him all along the way, Amen.
I think I will attempt to answer the question in three parts: 1. I should not go out of my way to be unnecessarily offensive. 2. I should not be afraid of being offensive when necessary. And 3. I should get busy doing practical good deeds that, in general, people will find it hard to object to.
In his 2015 book, “Extreme Ownership,” author Jocko Willink defines the title concept as follows: “On any team, in any organization, all responsibility for success and failure rests with the leader. The leader must own everything in his or her world. There is no one else to blame. The leader must acknowledge mistakes & admit failures, take ownership of them, and develop a plan to win.”
A few years ago, I was blessed with the opportunity to become a part of the Board of Directors of International Disaster Emergency Service (IDES). I’ve been exposed to IDES and their incredible ministry for as long as I can remember and have, on several occasions, had the joy of sharing in its work. From participating in work trips to a storm-ravaged Pearlington, Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina, to helping with shed building projects after a tornado ripped through our neighboring region in 2012, to volunteering with numerous “God Always Provides” (G.A.P.) food packing events, IDES has always been a familiar and beloved mission to me.
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