1 Samuel 1: Carrying the Word God Gave You

Introduction

"Every time God wants to act, he invites us to enter into partnership with him." Banning Liebscher, founder of Jesus Culture in the United States, is back at La Porte Ouverte Chrétienne in Mulhouse for the second time in a year. He jokingly introduces himself as "your American pastor," and this time he came with his wife, with whom he will have been married for 29 years in December.

His message starts from a conviction: God has plans for France, for Europe, for your city, but also for your marriage, your children, your health and your finances. And the way he brings his plans to life on earth is by working with his children. This invitation always begins the same way: God speaks, he reveals, he gives a word.

Starting from the story of Hannah in 1 Samuel 1, the preacher asks a simple question: when God has given you a word, what do you do with it? He offers three very practical keys for carrying that word all the way to its fulfillment: pray it, prepare for it, and align your words with his.

Outline of the message

1. God acts in partnership with his children

God decided that the way he would carry out his plans on earth would be partnership with his children. Some of the things he wants to accomplish in our time will only happen if we say yes to him.
This is true on a large scale: "I believe with all my heart that God has plans and purposes for France." Banning Liebscher believes that God wants to awaken his Church in this nation and that France is going to see the greatest harvest of its history.
"There is no revival in the Bible, no action of God in the history of humanity, that did not begin with an invitation God sent to a particular group who responded to it."
It also applies to your personal life. God may want to tell you: "I want to bless your finances. I want to act in your marriage. I want to touch your children."
This invitation comes through a word. The preacher draws on John 15:7: when we remain in Jesus and his word remains in us, that revealed word draws us into an action of faith.

2. Hannah wanted a son, God wanted to give a prophet

Hannah is married to Elkanah, who has another wife, and that other woman has children. But the Bible says that the LORD had closed Hannah's womb. God put a deep desire in her, and she cries out to him for a son.
Her husband does not understand her sadness. He even gives her more than his other wife, and he asks her: "Am I not better to you than ten sons?" For one verse, she tries to pull herself together. In the next verse, she is on the ground, crying out to God.
"She was crying out for a son, but God gave her a prophet." Hannah was going to give birth to Samuel, the prophet who would prepare the way for the kings to come, a figure who points to the kingdom of Christ.
The preacher sees a prophetic word here for the Church today: "I believe God is awakening a divine dissatisfaction." If something is stirring inside you, it may be because God wants to bring his plans to life through you.

3. A word that changes everything

At the temple, Hannah prays without saying a word aloud: her lips are moving. The priest Eli does not understand what is going on and thinks she is drunk. He tells her to put away her wine.
Hannah answers that she has had nothing to drink: she is pouring out her heart before the LORD. Eli then recognizes the cry of despair rising from her and says to her: "Go in peace; and may the God of Israel grant your petition that you have asked of him." (1 Samuel 1:17)
"Let your servant find favor in your sight." So the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad. (1 Samuel 1:18)
Her husband could not console her. She did not just want a husband who was good to her, she wanted a son. What changed that day was not that she was already physically pregnant: "it is that she received a word God gave her."
Some are waiting, and have cried out to God for their family or their finances. What they need is for God to speak to them. And when that word comes, we have a responsibility to carry it: according to the Gospel of John, it is not enough to hear the word, it must remain in us.
Hence the preacher's question: "What is God saying to you right now? What is the word he wants to give you? And when we hear that word, how do we carry it?"

4. First key: pray the word you received

"I know it sounds simple." But Banning Liebscher is amazed at how many people receive a word, read the Scriptures, and do not pray, do not declare what God told them.
God's word must become the fuel of your prayer life. We carry his word first in prayer. Intercession means standing in the gap and declaring God's word, even in your car as you drive across your city: "God, do what you told me."
"Prayer means this: God tells us what he wants to do, and I come back to him to say: Lord, will you do what you told me you were going to do?" This is why we must remain in the word and know God's heart and his promises.
The preacher understood this while praying for his own children. He did not settle for saying "bless them." He reminded God of what he had said about his daughter when she was a baby: that she would be a voice for the nations, that she would hear the voice of God.
Maybe your children are far from the Lord. But God has already given you a word about them, when they were five years old or at a youth camp. "Mom, you may be at home doing the dishes" while your children are in a nightclub. You can declare: "God, here is what you said about my son. He is going to proclaim the Gospel."
The same goes for the nation. When the people around us listen to the news, we carry the good news. Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more. When the darkness is thick, God's light will shine through the Church in France.

5. Second key: prepare for its fulfillment

"One of the simplest and at the same time deepest demonstrations of faith is the way we prepare." When Hannah heard the word, she got up and prepared. Her life was no longer the same after as before.
Hebrews 11:7: "By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his house." How do we know Noah believed God? Not because he said so, but because he prepared.
When his children were small and the house was a mess, the preacher and his wife had a trick: invite someone over for dinner. They were then forced to tidy up. And the guest would thank them warmly for the invitation, without knowing the real reason.
He imagines inviting the church's pastor on a Wednesday at 7 p.m. On Monday, he vacuums. On Tuesday, he goes grocery shopping. Why? "Because I believe what he said." His life concretely shows his trust.
Now imagine a guest who lies constantly. On Monday, nothing is tidied up. On Tuesday, no groceries. On Wednesday, you call to check that he is really coming. "I question your word."
"Don't tell me you believe what God told you. Show me how your way of living prepares for what God said." Some need to be honest: "I'm not sure I believe what you told me," and settle that unbelief before God.
For God does not lie. His word does not return to him without accomplishing what he sent it to do. Every man may be a liar, but God is true.

6. Third key: align your words with his

The preacher is struck by how little attention Christians pay to the words that come out of their mouths. The Bible says that death and life are in the power of the tongue: our words either partner with God's plans or work against them.
God says "I want to bless you in your finances," but we look at our bank account and what comes out of our mouth is not aligned with what he said.
His daughter, who is 27 today, was raised to be a confident leader. Every evening, he had her repeat: "I am blessed, I am loved, I am magnificent, I have no fear." At four years old, when she heard the story of Nebuchadnezzar, who thought he was greater than God, her answer to the question "Is there anyone greater than God?" made them realize they had perhaps gone a little too far.
As a teenager, while learning to drive with a parent in the car, she would argue with every one of his instructions. "You've been driving for three months, I've been driving for 25 years." She looked at him: "Dad, it's been four months." He prayed that she would only just pass her driving test, with exactly the required 70%, to learn humility. She passed with 100%, without a single mistake.
What he wanted to pass on to her was not fear but soberness: behind the wheel, she is responsible for a power that can cause great damage if it is underestimated. "Realize the incredible power you have in the words you declare."
He lives in California, which he compares to Babylon. It would be easy to declare discouraging things there. But God has spoken over that state, and he believes in a new movement, like the Jesus movement that touched this state in the past. "I do not have permission to say anything other than what God told me."
On his team, a pastor who has been part of it since she was 19, with a particular anointing, had to close the worship at conferences in front of thousands of people. Nervous, she did it anyway, and then as she came down she would say: "It wasn't that great." He would then send her for a two-minute "break with Jesus." She would come back: "It was powerful, lives were changed, he loved that moment." "Those are the only things you are allowed to declare."
We need people around us who hold us accountable for our words and who ask us: "What is God saying about this situation?" Take your Bible, go spend that time with him, then declare what he said.

7. Zechariah, repentance and a prayer for France

The preacher still prays today words that God gave him more than 30 years ago. Some used to pray what God had told them and stopped. He invites us to ask: "God, remind me of what you declared over my children, over this nation."
He invites the congregation to stand and repent for 30 seconds: "Forgive me. My words have not been aligned with those of heaven."
In the Gospel of Luke, an angel tells Zechariah that he will have a son who will prepare the way of the Lord and turn the hearts of Israel to God. Zechariah does not believe it: "I am old." The angel tells him he will be mute.
"I always told myself that God was punishing him, but I believe he was helping him." The unbelief coming out of his mouth was not helping God's plan. He stayed mute until faith entered his heart and showed in the way he spoke.
Some need to stop talking and say: "God, fill my heart, so that my mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart."
Addressing the church's pastor, he says he sees a new wave of prayer, "a new flame of prayer fire" over this church, God taking hold of the hearts of his people to pray.
The final prayer is for the nation: despite the strikes in the streets, a spiritual revolution. "This nation is going to be a city on a hill that cannot be hidden, a light for other nations." What God did in Wales, on Azusa Street, in China, in Argentina, the preacher asks for France. "Father, you have not forgotten France. Give me your word. May your word remain in me."

Key takeaways

God acts on earth in partnership with his children, and that partnership always begins with a word he gives.
Hannah was not yet pregnant when she left the temple, but she had received a word, and her face was no longer sad.
Praying the word means going back to God to ask him to do what he said he would do.
Faith is seen in preparation: Noah believed, and he built the ark.
Our words either align with God's plans or work against them: we do not have permission to declare anything other than what he said.

Personal application

What word has God already given you, for yourself, your children, your city or your nation, that you have stopped praying?
In the way you live, what shows today that you are preparing to see what God said come to pass?
Is there unbelief you need to acknowledge honestly before God instead of hiding it?
What words come out of your mouth when you look at your bank account, your children or the news? Are they aligned with what God says?
Who around you can ask you: "What is God saying about this situation?"

Verses cited

Frequently asked questions

What changed for Hannah at the temple, in 1 Samuel 1?

Hannah was not yet pregnant when she left the temple. What changed is that she had received a word: "Go in peace; and may the God of Israel grant your petition that you have asked of him." She went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad. For Banning Liebscher, everything begins when God gives his word.

How do you carry a word God has given you?

The preacher gives three practical keys. Pray that word, reminding God of what he said. Prepare for its fulfillment, like Noah who built the ark. Align your own words with God's, because death and life are in the power of the tongue.

Why did Zechariah become mute?

Zechariah did not believe the angel who announced the birth of John the Baptist. Banning Liebscher long thought that God was punishing him. Today he believes God was helping him: the unbelief coming out of his mouth did not serve God's plan, so he stayed mute until faith filled his heart.