Living the Answered Prayer
Today's Bible Verse
Hannah: "...I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord. I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.”
(parts of 1 Samuel 1:26-28 | NIV)
It is challenging to be strong at all moments in our lives. We seldom have the strength to overcome difficult moments alone. We need support. It is also difficult to pray and wait for something. We search. We ask. We pray. We wait for God to answer. Sometimes it takes much longer than we would have thought. And, then, the Lord answers our prayers in His way. Well, now how do we live this life of an answered prayer? Indeed, the situations cannot be like the earlier, because the Lord has answered our much-wanted need! And therefore, our life also has to show the difference with this answered prayer! We can look at the life and testimony of Hannah.
In 1 Samuel, chapter 01, we get to read a full and detailed description of events that took place in the life of Hannah. And we have chosen some parts of the verses 26, 27 and 28 for today's learning. Hannah has been praying for a child, a son. She has gone through so much humiliation already as she had to face the world without a child in the society she lived. With unbearable pain in her heart, she poured out her heart to the Lord and when she visited the Lord's temple with her husband, Elkanah, who loved her so dearly. Hannah's anguish was even noticed and questioned by Eli, the priest. And the Bible says, "In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly. And she made a vow, saying, “Lord Almighty, if you will only look on 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” (1 Samuel 01: 10, 11). And that is the prayer Hannah prayed! And the Lord answered Hannah's prayer in His time, in His way, according to His will. I would like to share three important learnings that I find in Hannah's life of an answered prayer which may benefit us, I strongly believe.
Hannah Did Not Forget Who She Was Before.
The happiness and joy of having the answered prayer, a son, in her hands, did not make Hannah totally forget who she was before. She meets Eli, the priest, at the same temple where she prayed with anguish as a childless mother, and she says, “Pardon me, my lord. As surely as you live, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord" (1 Samuel 1: 26). None of the present situations of fullness, completeness and a heart of contentment stopped her from remembering and identifying herself as who she was before. It is this identification of her old self that makes her life a great testimony before us, and wherever the Bible and its good news has reached. We are able to see the comparison of old Hannah and the new Hannah, a childless Hannah and a mother Hannah, a sorrow-filled Hannah and a joyful Hannah, just because Hannah could remember who she was in the past before this prayer was answered, even in the midst of the fullness in her present. Today this is an important learning for us. How often do we remember what we were and how we were before the Lord answered our prayer? Without the remembrance of our past, our present can never be a testimony for the Lord.
Hannah Did Not Forget that Samuel Was"An Answered Prayer."
Having what she prayed for did not make Hannah forget that Samuel was her answered prayer! She tells Eli, "I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him" (1 Samuel 01: 27). This has been her prayer always, and today, she has a son. Hannah did not forget that the little Samuel with her was once her prayer. She did not forget that this Samuel was once the drops of tears flowing from her eyes and the pain that always remained in her heart. Hannah did not forget to remember that it came from the Lord. Hannah did not forget that Samuel was her answered prayer. How often do we remember that the blessings that we have today around us were once our prayer? Let us acknowledge that what we have today is our answered prayer.
Hannah Did Not Forget The Vow She Made When She Was In Need.
Hannah prayed for a child, and she made a vow when she said, "Lord Almighty, if you will only look on 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" (1 Samuel 01: 11). It would have been easier for Hannah to keep silent about the vow she had made to the Lord. No one knew that she had made such a vow. This was a son she had been asking for so long; Samuel was everything to her. But Hannah feared God. Hannah did not forget to keep her vow when her prayer was answered. Hannah kept her vow with a joyous and thankful heart. And that is where we really need God's help. Today, to what extent do we remember our vows in God's presence when we waited on Him for a need? And now that our prayer has been answered, do we remember to go to Him and keep our vows? Let us remember to keep the vows when our prayers are answered.
Let us be thankful to the Lord for He answered our prayers, and like the example that we find in Hannah's life, let us not forget our past, remember what we have is precious and keep our vows we made to the Lord. This is what we call a true living of the answered prayer.
May the blessings of God the Father, the love and grace of Christ Jesus the Son, and the fellowship and guidance of the Holy Spirit, be with us and help us, as we continue to trust Him.
May God bless you.
Yours in Christ,
"Lord, I offer my life..."
by Don Moen
