1 Samuel 1: Hoping in God Through Prayer

Introduction

Tim Wilson opens a new series on the first book of Samuel at St Jude's Anglican Church, Carlton. It is school holiday season, so he starts with the children, going through the little rhyme from Sunday school that helps them remember the big stages of the Bible story: creation, the fall, the flood, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Egypt, Moses, Joshua and the conquest, then the Judges. One question runs alongside it: when do things really go wrong?

The setting of 1 Samuel is anything but glorious. The book of Judges ends with these words: "In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did that which was right in his own eyes." The book of Ruth, set in the same period, begins with a famine. The people are in the promised land, yet it is not exactly flowing with milk and honey. Things look hopeless.

This is the context in which Hannah's story begins. The preacher draws a simple, practical message from it: "We can actively hope in God by praying."

Message outline

1. How to read the Old Testament narratives

1 Samuel is history, a true account that is beautifully crafted. Tim Wilson borrows an image he heard recently: a portrait can be a magnificent work of art while still depicting the person painted faithfully.
These narratives tell what happened; they do not give instructions. When we read that Elkanah had two wives, that is not a model to follow.
The narrator rarely comments. We have to watch the characters, see how things turn out for them, and notice how God is at work in the big story.
These narratives are also prophecy: God speaks through his Spirit. We listen to them in prayer and obedience.
Before the reading, the preacher suggests three exercises: break the text into scenes like a play, underline every word that describes what Hannah feels (a good activity to do with young children), or get inside a character's head to see what is good and not so good about them.

2. First scene: an ordinary family, a situation with no way out

You might expect to meet a hero, perhaps a king, since Ruth ends on a glimmer of hope with David's family line. Instead we meet Elkanah, "a nobody from nowhere in particular." His genealogy goes back three generations, but none of those names comes up again, and commentators do not really know where his town was.
Then comes something that is anything but ordinary, and in the wrong way: Elkanah has two wives, one who has children and one who does not. "This is really not a good start."
The preacher compares this yearly pilgrimage to the Christmas gatherings some people dread: the uncle who will drink too much again, the grandmother who will ask once more why you have not found someone to marry. Christmas can be a time of loneliness or grief. For Hannah, this trip is a terrible moment: "Her rival provoked her severely, to make her fret" (1 Samuel 1:6).
Eli does not inspire much confidence. The first thing we learn about him is the names of his sons, Hophni and Phinehas. Bible narratives are meant to be reread, and the reader already knows that these priests are corrupt. Eli himself mistakes Hannah's prayer for drunkenness. He admits his mistake, and a few chapters later he listens well to God, but the narrator wants us to know that the priesthood is in poor shape: "one more layer of hopelessness."
What would you have done in Hannah's place? Many would fire back with a cutting remark. Others would simply give up, convinced that nothing will ever change.

3. Second scene: Hannah hopes in God by praying

In verse 9, Hannah gets up, and in the bitterness of her soul she prays to the Lord, weeping. Hannah has a hope: she hopes in God, and she expresses it by praying. "When everything seems hopeless, the best thing to do is to pray." We pray because we know God cares for us.
Her prayer is bold; she expects a big answer. In verse 11 she calls God "the Lord of hosts." The Lord (Yahweh) is God's personal name, his covenant name: not a universal force to tap into. "Hannah is not trying to manifest a baby somehow." She prays to the personal, relational God, the God of Abraham, the God of her people. And he is the Lord of hosts, the mighty God. He is the right God to turn to in a hopeless situation.
Her prayer is also full of emotion. She weeps so much that the words will not come out: she speaks in her heart, her lips move, but her voice is not heard. In the Bible, nobody prays or reads silently in their head, which is why Eli misunderstood. That is why Jesus tells us to go into our room to pray in secret (Matthew 6:6).
Hannah is a model of prayer in the face of a hopeless situation, both personal and national. Eli first dismisses her, then approves of her prayer, and God hears and answers.
Later, in Gethsemane, Jesus prays in the same way. Hebrews 5:7 says he offered "prayers and petitions with strong crying and tears to him who was able to save him from death." Like Hannah, you can weep and even express your bitterness. There is something powerful about praying out loud. And when you cannot find the words, Romans 8:26 assures us that the Holy Spirit still carries your prayers to God.
In verse 18, Hannah goes on her way, she eats, and "her facial expression was no longer sad." The preacher stresses: "It is not the answer to prayer that fills Hannah with hope. Isn't that surprising? It is the very act of praying." It is even better than talking to a friend: God understands everything, he always has time for you, and he never forgets you.

4. Third scene: Elkanah, from hope in himself to hope in God

Elkanah is a complicated character. Tim Wilson admits he has changed his mind about him several times. Taking a second wife was not a good thing. He probably did it because he had lost hope that Hannah would have children: "You can be a little sympathetic, but not really."
On the positive side, he takes his family every year to worship God and offer sacrifices. He says he loves Hannah, which is good for her, but favoritism in a family always causes problems. And why does he not tell Peninnah to leave Hannah alone?
What he does well: he sees that Samuel's birth is not chance but the answer to Hannah's prayer. Under the Old Testament law, he had the right to cancel his wife's vow (Numbers 30), since it affected him too. He does the opposite and makes sure she keeps her promise: "Do what seems good to you. ... only may Yahweh establish his word" (verse 23).
For the preacher, Hannah may have helped Elkanah move from despair to hope, and above all to shift his hope from his own actions to the almighty God.

5. God's big plan behind a family story

1 Samuel begins by zooming in on one small family in an ordinary, difficult situation. But Hannah does not keep her eyes fixed there. She prays to the Lord of hosts, and her song in chapter 2 shows a great theological vision. She is able to see God's plan of salvation in an everyday, hopeless situation.
So the point of this story is not: "If I want a child, all I have to do is pray and make a promise to God." God does not promise that. Even within the Old Testament, the whole story shows that this birth is unusual, and that God has a particular purpose here.
Hannah is aware of this. She prays to the God of hosts, which seems a strange response to a family problem, and she already promises to give the child to God. She is not asking only for herself: her concern is the whole people of God.
In the same way, a man without children should not tell himself, like Elkanah, that he must marry someone else: that is not the point of the story. "In a sense, this story is not about infertility."

6. A word for those who are waiting for a child

At the same time, Hannah's story shows that God hears and that God cares. He is not concerned only with the big story: he knows ordinary people intimately.
The preacher speaks to those who long for children: men and women who have not found someone to marry, couples who have not been able to conceive, people who have lived through the disappointment of several miscarriages. "Each one here is precious to him; he hears and he knows your pain."
It is right to bring this to God in prayer, as Hannah did. It is good to ask for a child or a spouse: these are good things to ask for.
If God does not give what you ask, it is not because you lack faith, nor because you are being punished for a sin, nor because you did not pray the right way. We trust God, who works for our good in ways we cannot see.
Jesus prayed to be saved from death. God answered: he saved him from death, but only after he had suffered and died on the cross.

7. Jesus, the answer to Hannah's prayer

The answer to Hannah's prayer unfolds slowly, all the way to the birth of Jesus. He too is born in unusual and difficult family circumstances, in a family living in yet another out-of-the-way place.
Like Samuel, Jesus is a son given by his parent, the heavenly Father. "Hannah gave her child for the salvation of Israel. God gave his Son for our salvation."
By trusting in Jesus, you become part of God's great plan of salvation. Whatever your reasons for feeling hopeless, you can express your hope in Jesus through prayer.
In Jesus, you have the hope of a better future: the certain hope of eternal life in God's family, where there is no mourning or pain, only the joy of being with God among his people. The message ends with the song "Come Unto Jesus."

Key takeaways

Old Testament narratives tell what happened: they are not an instruction manual.
When everything seems hopeless, the best thing to do is pray: prayer expresses our hope in God.
Hannah prays to the Lord of hosts, the personal and mighty God, boldly and with tears.
Her face changes before the answer comes: it is the act of praying that gives her hope back.
Hannah gave her son for the salvation of Israel, and God gave his Son for our salvation: in Jesus, our hope is certain.

Personal application

In what situation in your life are you tempted to fire back bitterly or give up, rather than pray?
When you pray, are you speaking to a personal, mighty God, or to a vague force from which you expect a result?
Do you dare tell God your pain as it is, with your tears, even when the words will not come?
If God has not yet given you what you are asking for, how can you trust him for your good without believing you are being punished or lacking faith?

Verses cited

Frequently asked questions

Why does Hannah's situation seem hopeless in 1 Samuel 1?

Hannah has no child, and her husband has a second wife, Peninnah, who provokes her every year during the pilgrimage to Shiloh. Around her, the priesthood is corrupt and the people are living in the days of the Judges, with no king. For Tim Wilson, every detail of the story adds a layer of hopelessness.

What does Hannah's prayer teach us?

Hannah expresses her hope in God by praying. She addresses the Lord of hosts, the personal and mighty God, boldly and with tears. Tim Wilson notes that her face changes even before the answer comes: it is the act of praying that gives her hope back.

Does 1 Samuel 1 promise a child to those who pray?

No. Tim Wilson insists: these narratives tell what happened, they are not an instruction manual, and Samuel's birth is unusual, tied to God's plan for his people. It is good to ask God for a child, and if he does not give one, it is neither a lack of faith nor a punishment.