Determinedly Praying
If My People...Pray • Sermon • Submitted
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Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Prayer is defined as the communication between mankind and God. It’s purpose is to have fellowship with God.
We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
The practice of prayer is to align mankind with God and to advance the work of God’s kingdom and the growth of God’s people.
God, whom I serve with my whole heart in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you.
Prayer is a work of God in which we can participate. We can utilize the purpose and practice of prayer through being persistent.
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
“For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!’ ”
Persistent prayer happens when we are determined to pray without compromise, pray through confusion, pray with clarification and pray assuredly with comfort. We find all these things in our text for today.
Once when they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on a chair by the doorpost of the Lord’s temple. In bitterness of soul Hannah wept much and prayed to the Lord. And she made a vow, saying, “O Lord Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head.”
As she kept on praying to the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk and said to her, “How long will you keep on getting drunk? Get rid of your wine.”
“Not so, my lord,” Hannah replied, “I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the Lord. Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief.”
Eli answered, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.”
Praying Without Compromise (vs. 9-10)
Praying Without Compromise (vs. 9-10)
Hannah was one of two wives that Elkanah had. She would go to the temple year after year with her husband and offer sacrifices to the Lord. The other wife that Elkanah had gave him children but the Bible tells us that Hannah did not have any children. However, Elkanah had a great love for Hannah and this caused quite a bit of jealousy. We learn from the first few verses of 1 Samuel 1 that the other wife, Peninnah, provoked Hannah. We do not know what took place during this provoking but we do know it was irritating. I can just imagine the rift that took place and how difficult it must have been especially for Hannah. Sometimes when there is such a rift, there can be a compromise to work things out, but sometime a stand must be taken.
We see in this passage that a stand was taken by Hannah both figuratively and literally. Scripture tells us that Hannah stood up. She physically got up and moved away from the area in which they were eating. She moves to a place where is within earshot of Eli, the priest who was sitting near the doorpost of the temple.
I do not think it is a stretch here to say that this detail is quite important for us. Sometimes we need to take a stand and move closer to the things of God without any compromise. As we do, we can turn to the example of Hannah, rise up and take a stand.
Who will rise up for me against the wicked?
Who will take a stand for me against evildoers?
Hannah takes a stand and as she does, she privately prays. I picture in my mind that she turned away from the others and perhaps went into a corner of the room. There are times when we must absolutely turn away from that which seems wicked and turn to that which is Sovereign.
For you have been my hope, O Sovereign Lord,
my confidence since my youth.
Hannah turned to the Sovereign Lord. The Bible says, “In bitterness of soul Hannah wept and prayed to the Lord.” Hannah took her bitterness and turned to beckoning. Hannah began to share her story to the Lord. We are fortunate to have the Word of God that promises when we share our story to the Lord He will answer us.
‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’
Hannah turns to the Lord, praying without compromise,
And she made a vow, saying, “O Lord Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head.”
Praying Through Confusion (vs. 11-14)
Praying Through Confusion (vs. 11-14)
Sometimes our prayers may be somewhat confusing to others. In fact, others may be so confused about what they are experiencing in watching another pray, they may come to confounded conclusions. Eli the priest saw her lips moving but did not hear what she was saying. He concluded that she must be drunk.
Drunk people can be funny or obnoxious. My all time favorite TV show will always be the Andy Griffith Show. I loved the shows where Otis, the town drunk, would come in and be murmuring to himself. It was always a funny portrayal of what a person was perceived to be when drunk. By the way, Otis was played by actor Hal Smith who never drank. His character stopped appearing toward the end of the series because of concerns of the sponsors of the program in regard to the portrayal of excessive drinking. While I don’t think that Eli the priest ever watched the Andy Griffith Show, I do think he had some run-ins with folks that had been drinking too much. Eli thought that Hannah was drunk. So, he opened mouth and engaged foot. He accused Hannah of drinking too wine. I bet he even said it in a pious judgemental way, “You’re nipping the wineskin a bit much aren’t you?”
Hannah could have easily been offended and gone back into her corner and pouted. However, she did something extraordinary. She chose to recognize and share with the priest how she had turned to the Lord about her troubling times.
The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.
Where do you go when trouble pops up? Hannah turned to prayer. Nothing about her circumstances had changed. She prayed for joy and determination that her prayer would be heard and answered. Until now, her prayer had been internal and silent. She prayed out her anguish and her grieving soul to God. You could say she was real and recognized her troubling times. Yet, even in the midst of her trouble, she remembered the truth.
The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord;
he is their stronghold in time of trouble.
She was accustomed to going to the temple year after year. She knew that her salvation came from the Lord. It was not in the double portions she had received from her husband nor from his apparent tender care. Her salvation was from the Lord. Hannah had the understanding that any matter we care enough to cry about we can care enough to pray about. Hannah knew that there are times when only the heart can pray and words cannot express. I am so thank that the Spirit of God helps us in those kind of times!
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.
In the absolute worst of times, we can pray through the confusion by redirecting the turmoil.
But I will sing of your strength,
in the morning I will sing of your love;
for you are my fortress,
my refuge in times of trouble.
We see in this passage that in the times of trouble we can sing! Talking about redirecting turmoil, there is proof!
Praying With Clarification(vs. 15-16)
Praying With Clarification(vs. 15-16)
Eli evidently had been around much gloom and doom. In fact, he was very quick to think that Hannah was intoxicated. He said, “How long will you keep on getting drunk? Get rid of your wine!” This was not the only place in the Bible where a religious leader mistook praying in the Spirit with drunkeness.
Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”
Matthew Henry wrote: “It is one bad affect of the abounding of iniquity, and its becoming fashionable, that it often gives occasion to suspect the innocent.” Eli was wrong to assume that Hannah was drunk. Again, Hannah could have been angry at the priest. Do you ever get mad at the preacher? I have been preaching at this church since January 1, 2017. I have preached about 200 sermons on Sunday mornings during that time. I have received at the minimum one email per week criticizing my sermons. I confess that criticism made me bitter. I got to the point that the my bitterness was causing me to lose sleep and my blood pressure was sky high. I had to correct the discord that was occuring in my life. How did I do that? I shared my trouble with a few godly people and I prayed that the Lord would release me from my bitterness. The example that Hannah gives here should be an example to us all. Hannah chose to take her problems straight to the Lord.
I think Eli learned a valuable lesson here as well. He learned that the people of God should be less those who judge and more of those that show compassion.
He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness.
Eli learned this lesson as we see in the next session. I want to be that person of God that recognizes no matter what, I can go straight to the Lord with my problems. I do not have to turn to a bottle or a drug or a relationship to solve my problems. I can pray with clarification and clear the delusion. Hannah cleared the delusion by pouring our her soul to the Lord.
Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge. Selah
Hannah prayed with clarification by countering the deception, correcting the discord and clearing the delusion. She made it known that she was praying out of great anguish and grief. Hannah responded as one of innocence and not one of guilt.
This week as I watched the seige on our capitol, I found myself in great anguish and grief. I found myself pushing a panic button saying, “Oh no what are we going to do? If this can happen on one of the most secure places in our country what can happen next?” My panic button disappeared when I realized the rock on which I stand. It is not the might of a constitution or the back on a mere man.
The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.
He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Hannah made it clear she was not mumbling to herself but conversing with Almighty God!
Praying Assuredly With Comfort (vs. 17)
Praying Assuredly With Comfort (vs. 17)
When the things of this world come at us and they appear to paint a picture of hopelessness, we don’t need to act in a drunken rage or a selfish riot, we need to act out in prayer. Eli recognized this pretty quick. Hannah demonstrated that through praying without compromise, praying through confusion, and praying with clarification, she could pray assuredly with comfort.
I want to run to Eli right here and ask him, “Hey Eli, how does that crow taste?” Or, “Can I help you get that foot out of your mouth?” He made a rather quick change of mind and heart. Eli recognized the genuineness of Hannah’s prayer and the sincerity of her faith. He then did his best to reassure her and reaffirm her.
Eli answered, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.”
The Hebrew translates as “the asking you have asked.” Eli was saying, “Go in Peace and may the asking you have asked be the assurance of that peace. Eli was enough of a priest to know that God empowers His people with peace. We are fortunate to have the assurance from God’s word that Eli did not yet have.
The God of peace be with you all. Amen.
We are established peace.
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
We are encountered through peace.
Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.
Eli came alongside of Hannah and made her prayer his prayer. Often we need to have others join us in prayer and we also need to join others in their time of prayer. This is why we are intentional about gathering prayer requests. I do not want us to be known about a church that takes prayer requests, rather I want us to be known as the church that prays wholeheartedly with, over and through all prayer requests. There is none too big because our God is bigger and there is none too small because God cares about the seemingly very least concern. And when we pray, God is listening and be reassured, He knows you are not just muttering nonsense, especially when you are pouring out from your heart.