Prayer A Story of Hannah’s Heartfelt Prayer June 4, 2006

 In the Old Testament, there was a man named Elkanah who had two wives.  Perinnah, the first wife, had children and was very happy.  Hannah, the second wife, didn’t have any children. She was very depressed because of this.  (Why would she be depressed?)

 Perinnah despised Hannah and Hannah was very bitter towards Perinnah  There was a lot of tension between the two women in the house but…  Elkanah was a very kind-hearted man and didn’t want there to be any problems  So he would try to comfort Hannah all the time

 On the days that there was a feast, everyone would be so happy.  The children would be running around and playing and the adults would talk to each other and everyone had a great time. But…

 Hannah was always sad and would just cry and weep all day  She would go to the Temple and just lift her heart to God and asked for His comfort.  Hannah was often too sad to speak so she just cried to God.

 Eli, the priest of the Temple, noticed her and how much she cried and thought that she was drunk or something!!  And he asked her why she was crying so much and she told him because she wanted children  Eli laughed and told Hannah that she was soon going to have a SON!!

 Hannah rejoiced immediately and the whole town noticed a change in her  Many days went by and she finally gave birth to a son and named him Samuel.  On the next feast day, she took Samuel to the Temple and he grew up to be a great prophet AND part of the lineage of Jesus Christ.

 What was it about Hannah’s prayer that is so important?  Does prayer always have to be the same thing over and over?  How should we pray?  Is there only one way?

 Prayer comes in many different forms…  But the one thing that should be the same for all prayers is that they should all come from the HEART.  We can’t be afraid to be vulnerable in front of God.  And we have to be very honest with ourselves and with God during our prayer.

 The Lord gave Hannah what she desired because she prayed with a sincere heart and strong faith that the Lord would provide her with a son.  DOES THIS MEAN THAT GOD WILL GIVE US EVERYTHING WE PRAY FOR SINCERELY???

Memory Verse “She prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish, then she made a vow.” - 1 Samuel 1:10-11