Bible Questions Answered:
“Was it right for Hannah to challenge
God?”
Natalie/ Sacramento, California U.S.A.
Bible Answer:
Bible Text:
I Samuel 1:9-19 NLT (Hannah
prays for a son.)
9 Once after a sacrificial meal at
Shiloh, Hannah got up and went to pray. Eli the priest was sitting at
his customary place beside the entrance of the Tabernacle.
10 Hannah was in deep anguish,
crying bitterly as she prayed to The Lord.
11 And she made this vow:
“O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, if you will look upon my sorrow and
answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you.
He will be yours for his entire lifetime, and as a sign that he has
been dedicated to The Lord, his hair will never be cut.”
12 As she was praying to the Lord,
Eli watched her.
13 Seeing her lips moving but
hearing no sound, he thought she had been drinking.
14 “Must you come here drunk?”
he demanded. “Throw away your wine!”
15 “Oh no, sir!” she replied. “I
haven’t been drinking wine or anything stronger. But I am very
discouraged, and I was pouring out my heart to The Lord.
16 Don’t think I am a wicked
woman! For I have been praying out of great anguish and sorrow.”
17 “In that case,” Eli said, “go
in peace! May The God Of Israel grant the request you have asked of
Him.”
18 “Oh, thank you, sir!” she
exclaimed. Then she went back and began to eat again, and she was no
longer sad.
19 The entire family got up early
the next morning and went to worship The Lord once more. Then they
returned home to Ramah. When Elkanah slept with Hannah, The Lord
remembered her plea,
20 and in due time she gave birth to
a son. She named him Samuel, for she said, “I asked
The Lord for him.”
This was not so
much a challenge, as it was a covenant, with The Lord.
Covenant: A
binding and solemn agreement to do or keep from doing a specified
thing; compact.
(New World
Dictionary of American English)
Hannah was never
demanding or disrespectful, but humbly asked a petition of God.
She had faith:
- That God, would hear,
- That God, could and would answer.
No doubt she had
fasted and prayed before she went up to the tabernacle.
I Samuel 1:7 NLT
“...Hannah would be reduced to
tears and would not even eat.
The Word:
Philippians 4:6
KJV
Be careful for nothing (Don’t
worry about anything;NLT) but in every thing by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto
God.
Hebrews 11:6 KJV
But without faith it is impossible
to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and
that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.
I Peter 5:7 KJV
Casting all your care upon Him; for
He careth for you.
And God, heard her
request and answered it.
I Samuel 1:19,20
NLT
19 The entire family got up early
the next morning and went to worship The Lord once more. Then they
returned home to Ramah. When Elkanah slept with Hannah, The Lord
remembered her plea,
20 and in due time she gave birth to
a son. She named him Samuel, for she said, “I asked
The Lord for him.”
Here is an
interesting thought. Hannah determined the sex of her yet unborn
child, and she did so by asking The Lord for a son.
I Samuel 1:11
NLT
And she made
this vow: “O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, if you will look upon my
sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I
will give him back to you. He will be yours for his entire lifetime,
and as a sign that he has been dedicated to The Lord, his hair will
never be cut.”
May the sex of an unborn child be determined by prayer?
James 4:2 NLT
"...you
don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it.
But remember also that Hannah, in her covenant, vowed
to do something for God, if He answered her prayer!
I Samuel 1:11
NLT
“...answer my
prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you. He will
be yours for his entire lifetime,...”
Keep Praying!
Matthew 7:7-11
KJV
7 Ask, and it
shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be
opened unto you:
8 For every one
that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that
knocketh it shall be opened.
9 Or what man
is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?
10 Or if he ask
a fish, will he give him a serpent?
11 If ye then,
being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much
more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them
that ask Him?
John 14:12-14
KJV
12 Verily,
verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do
shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I
go unto My Father.
13 And
whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father
may be glorified in the Son.
14 If ye shall
ask any thing in My name, I will do it.
John 16:23,24
KJV
23 And in that
day ye shall ask Me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name, He will give it you.
24 Hitherto
have ye asked nothing in My name: ask, and ye shall receive, that
your joy may be full.
Prayers Answered:
Moses:
Exodus 15:24,25
KJV
24 And the
people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?
25 And he cried
unto The Lord; and The Lord shewed him a tree, which when he had cast
into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there He made for them a
statute and an ordinance, and there He proved them,
Gideon:
Judges 6:39,40
KJV
39 And Gideon
said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will
speak but this once: let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with
the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the
ground let there be dew.
40 And God did
so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew
on all the ground.
Samuel:
I Samuel 7:9,10
KJV
9 And Samuel
took a sucking lamb, and offered it for a burnt offering wholly unto
The Lord: and Samuel cried unto The Lord for Israel; and The Lord
heard him.
10 And as
Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near
to battle against Israel: but The Lord thundered with a great thunder
on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were
smitten before Israel.
Solomon:
I Kings 9:3 KJV
And The Lord
said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that
thou hast made before Me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast
built, to put My name there for ever; and Mine eyes and Mine heart
shall be there perpetually.
Elijah:
I Kings 18:37,38
KJV
37 Hear me, O
Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art The Lord God,
and that thou hast turned their heart back again.
38 Then the
fire of The Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the
wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was
in the trench.
Hezekiah:
II Kings
19:19,20 KJV
19 Now
therefore, O Lord our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his
hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art The
Lord God, even thou only.
20 Then Isaiah
the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith The Lord God of
Israel, That which thou hast prayed to Me against Sennacherib king of
Assyria I have heard.
Jehoshaphat:
II Chronicles
18:31 KJV
And it came to
pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they
said, It is the king of Israel. Therefore they compassed about him to
fight: but Jehoshaphat cried out, and The Lord helped him; and God
moved them to depart from him.
Ezra:
Ezra 8:22,23 NLT
22 For I was
ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to accompany us and
protect us from enemies along the way. After all, we had told the
king, “Our God’s hand of protection is on all who worship Him,
but His fierce anger rages against those who abandon Him.”
23 So we fasted
and earnestly prayed that our God would take care of us, and He heard
our prayer.
Zacharias:
Luke 1:11-13 KJV
11 And there
appeared unto him an Angel Of The Lord standing on the right side of
the altar of incense.
12 And when
Zacharias saw Him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.
13 But the
Angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard;
and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his
name John.
Early Church:
Acts 4:31 KJV
And when they
had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together;
and they were all filled with The Holy Ghost, and they spake The Word
Of God with boldness.
Prayer
Answered, promised by The Word:
Psalm 91:15 KJV
15 He shall
call upon Me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I
will deliver him, and honor him.
16 With long
life will I satisfy him, and shew him My salvation.
Isaiah 58:9 KJV
"Then
shalt thou call, and The Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and He
shall say, Here I am..."
Isaiah 65:24 KJV
And it shall
come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they
are yet speaking, I will hear.
Zechariah 13:9
KJV
And I will
bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver
is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on My
name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is My people: and they
shall say, The Lord is my God.
John 15:7 KJV
If ye abide in
Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it
shall be done unto you.
With such a
tremendous resource before us, why oh why do we not pray more than we
do?
Let's begin to
believe The Word Of The Lord, and reach out for great things in His
name. He will hear the humblest prayer and answer!
Jeremiah 33:2,3
KJV
2 Thus saith
The Lord...
3 Call unto Me,
and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which
thou knowest not.
Luke 18:1-8 KJV
1 And He spake
a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and
not to faint;
2 Saying, There
was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man:
3 And there was
a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of
mine adversary.
4 And he would
not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear
not God, nor regard man;
5 Yet because
this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual
coming she weary me.
6 And The Lord
said, Hear what the unjust judge saith.
7 And shall not
God avenge His own elect, which cry day and night unto Him, though He
bear long with them?
8 I tell you
that He will avenge them speedily.
Nevertheless
when The Son Of Man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?
