Hannah

Day 1

Hannah
Her name means Graciousness or Favor
This is my daughters name.
Her character - Provoked by another woman’s malice, she refused to respond in kind. Instead, she poured out her hurt and sorrow to God, allowing him to vindicate her.
Her sorrow - To be taunted and misunderstood.
Many times my daughter, Hannah is misunderstood because of speach impairments (pray with me that she will no longer be frustrated in this area)
Her Joy - To proclaim God’s power and goodness, his habit of raising the lowly and humbling the proud.
Oh, boy, do we know it, she sure has a way of proclaiming God's power and goodness! Praise God for children who speak from their innocence, their heart.

Key scriptures - 1 Samuel 1:1 - 2:11; 2:19 - 21.

Dear Lord, help me to learn more this week, to find truth in your word and to seek you every day. Help me to find some time to bask in your love. This is a time of fruitfulness and new life, Spring is starting to birth beautiful, bright, colorful baby blooms and everywhere I look, I see your beauty. As I look upon my Hannah, help me to pray specifically for her and your purpose in her life. May I see her graciousness and Favor as you do. Thank you for my little flowers in my life and those big trees with roots buried deep. May I find a balance between learning from those you have made stronger than me and may I be an example to those who are weaker. Will you guide me in every thing I do, will you cause a rippling effect in my life so that you are seen through my actions.

Just for fun :
I asked my girls what they would think if we shared God with someone new everyday. What if we were able to share a priceless gift everyday so that even strangers will know God and rejoice in Heaven. My daughter said “well he is preparing a feast that we will all share when all those who know Him are finally with Him” Out of surprise, I said “we better talk to more people.”
What are you doing to make sure you will have a feast with everyone you have had the opportunity to share this priceless gift with?

It is spring, why not plant the seeds?, someone else may need to harvest them!

Day 2

Like Sarah and Rachel, Hannah grieved over the children she couldn’t have. But unlike them, she took her anguish directly to God. Misunderstood by both her husband and her priest, she could easily have turned her sorrow on herself or others, becoming bitter, hopeless, or vindictive. But instead of merely pitying herself or responding in kind, she poured out her soul to God. And God graciously answered her prayer.

Is there a situation in your life where the only one that understands is God. Have so many others misunderstood you to the point that you have been brought to your knees. I am the first to admit that I could use heaps more practice and knowledge in the area of communication. I am sure there are times others have thought I was drunk on beer or wine when I was just trying to communicate. How many different ways have you communicated with God? Do you do it throughout the day without ceasing?

Here are just a few examples of how you can communicate with Him, no matter what your circumstance: Request, the obvious way to come to Him. Even unbelievers do this. Many use it to cover all the bases and many use it selfishly, never giving the Glory to God when He does provide. I have seen both sides of this. As a part of an amazing army of believers who come together in belief that God can do all things. I also used to pray in hopes that if there were a God, he would make sure not to disappoint my selfish ways. Boy was that an eye opener when I came to know Him. I don’t always get what I want, Thank God!

Praise, this is a way to worship God. Just about anything can be a praise to God. To praise Him in the good times and bad is an act of obedience that takes faith.

Faith is the most meaningful of all ways to communicate. It is based in the heart. It is the believing what you can’t see, trusting what seems impossible into God’s hands. It’s loving Him unconditionally.

Worship can be done in many forms, it is an act of taking the focus off anything earthly and placing the focus on God alone. Music lyrics are commons ways to do this, poems, fasting, etc.

Confession is a way to show God that you know he knows all and that you want him to be a part of every part of your life. He knows it all anyway. Every healthy relationship has truth, even when it hurts. Consciousness of our own sinfulness. Sometimes we tend to confess to our friends, hairdressers, diaries, but the one that forgives waits for us to drop to our knees and humble ourselves.

Adoration is a way of expressing Gods great love for us. Yes this is done in words and deeds. If you love God you will treat him as your friend, your companion. You will express His love to others, yourself and Him.

Thanksgiving is a way to show gratitude. In everything, give thanks. (Col. 3:17; 1 Thess. 5:18). A prayer during a meal is always nice, but there are hundreds of other things to thank God for.
Dedicated Action is a way to show God to others. If you are in a relationship with God you will know He desires for others to meet your friend and companion, he wants to be shared with others. This is where you are so dedicated that you know you can give your life for others, you will put others before yourself.

Just remember: The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. James 5:16

Are you aware of what you can do through prayer? God is present and listening. He is waiting. He can change the physical world through healing, parting seas, enlarging borders, preservation and sanctification of body, soul and spirit.

Dear Lord, thank you for leading me on this journey through your Word and how we should come to you for everything in every way we know how to express ourselves. We love you and pray you continue to show us how we should come to you and how we can intercede on your behalf.

Day 3

The more that I read about the women of the Bible, the more I see that I have it pretty good. In Hannah’s days, she was not a shinning star. She had many people counting on her to bear children. She didn’t just have to deal with the pain and emotions of infertility, she had to deal with the public responses. She was an outcast, not part of the group of women who were able to bless their families and husbands with children. I can’t imagine how she came to the Lord, I am sure she had no other place to turn, no one to confide in. But the very fact that she went to Him rather than anyone else, made her story one that has last thousands of years. Not the fact that she had enough faith to ask God for a child, but the fact that she went to Him above all others, recognizing that He had a purpose for her life and only He could do anything about her circumstance.

Read 1Samuel 1

What Response does Hannah’s childlessness cause in Hannah? In Peninnah? In Elkanah?

How have you responded to disappointments or failures in your life?

What impact did the reactions of those around you have on you?

Hannah stood in this very public place and poured out her pain to the Lord. Notice Eli’s reaction. Do you think she was unaware of the reaction others might have, or do you think she just did not care?

What caused the changes in Hannah after verse 18? Is there anything here that would make her sure she would now bear a son? If not, why then was she comforted?

When has God answered your prayers after a time of disappointment or difficulty? When have your prayers gone unanswered? How did God provide in those troublesome times?

How did God answer Hannah’s prayer? What is the significance of the name Samuel?
What was Hannah’s fulfillment of her vow? Why would Hannah’s vow be difficult for you?

Read 1 Samuel 2:18 - 21
18 But Samuel was ministering before the LORD -a boy wearing a linen ephod. 19 Each year his mother made him a little robe and took it to him when she went up with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice. 20 Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, saying, "May the LORD give you children by this woman to take the place of the one she prayed for and gave to the LORD." Then they would go home. 21 And the LORD was gracious to Hannah; she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the LORD.

During the time Samuel was growing up, what do you think it was like for Hannah? What were her actions?

How did God reward Hannah for her faithfulness?

Hannah dedicated her son Samuel to the Lord by giving him up to the Lord and to the work in the temple. Are your children dedicated to the Lord? If so, what are you doing to help them grow up in him.

Dear Lord, I know I have dedicated each of my girls to you and as hard as it is to say, I know I could do better showing them how to serve you and worship you. How rewarding it would be to have all three of our girls seek you in their crisis’s. To know you are the only one worth going to for results. May you surround them with others that will encourage a daily walk and praise of you Lord. For them to love you first and foremost. Lord, I cry out to you asking you for protection on my children. Please don’t stop there, please bless those children that are part of the families represented in this devotional. Help each of us, young children or grown, to be prayer warriors for them and to trust them in your hands. Praise you , Lord for you are Almighty.

Day 4 & 5

Her legacy of prayer

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.” - 1 Samuel 1:10 - 11

Reflect on 1 Samuel 2:1 - 10

Praise God that he knows our hearts

Offer thanks for already answering so many of your prayers

Confess your tendency to pour out your heart to everyone but God, making him a last, rather than first, resort.

Ask God to give you the grace to trust his strength.

One way to build your confidence in God is to form a habit of remembrance. it’s so easy to forget everything he’s already done by being preoccupied with what you want him to do right here, right now. But by forgetting his blessings, you form a habit of ingratitude. By frequently thanking God for what he’s done, you build a habit of gratitude, which will also deepen your trust in God’s compassion, mercy, faithfulness, and power. Find a blank notebook or a lovely scrapbook that can become your Remembrance Book be a tangible way to keep God’s faithfulness in the forefront of your heart.

Father, Thank you for all the prayers you have answered in my life. You have answered all types of prayers. Those of desperation, small ones and big ones, evening and morning prayers, soft prayers and loud prayers. You have even caused me to pray for others and I have seen your hand upon them as well. May my own prayers be shaped according to your will and purpose. Work in my life so that I don’t come to you with all my problems, thinking you will solve them all, but rather, help me to come to you for everything, including praise and worship, even when the circumstances are not according to my own will. I love you Lord.