Hannah's Life And Answered Prayers That Cost Something

Image Credit: The Call of Samuel (1 Samuel 1–3) by Moody Publishers. Image courtesy of FreeBibleimages.org. Used with permission under their terms of download.

    Hannah lived in a time when a woman’s value was often measured by her ability to bear children. Her husband, Elkanah, loved her. But his other wife, Peninnah, had children, while Hannah had none (1 Sam 1:2, NKJV). Peninnah provoked her year after year. The text says that Hannah wept and did not eat (v. 7). Then she went to the house of the Lord and prayed in bitterness of soul (v. 10).

    Hannah spoke in her heart. Her lips moved as she prayed to God, but her voice could not be heard. The priest, Eli, thought she was drunk and rebuked her. She replied, “No, my lord, I am a woman of sorrowful spirit” (v. 15). She had not come to perform, nor to complain to men. She had come to pour out her complaint before the Lord.

    The passage does not explain every hardship she endured. But Scripture gives us enough to understand that her sorrow was indeed deep. She made a vow, asking for a son, and promised to give him back to the Lord. After that, she went her way, and her face was no longer sad (v. 18). In time, the Lord remembered her, and she bore a son. She named him Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked for him from the Lord” (v. 20).

    And then Hannah did not keep him for herself. After weaning him, she brought him to the house of the Lord and left him there. That kind of obedience may have required a surrender that only the Lord could supply. And even her prayer in chapter 2 praises God as the One who lifts the poor, grants children to the barren, and brings both judgment and mercy.

    There are several truths we may consider in Hannah's life. First, God does not overlook the sorrow of women. The text never mocks Hannah’s tears. It also does not minimize her grief. Second, public misunderstanding does not mean God is absent. Eli misjudged her prayer. But the Lord still heard. Third, answered prayer is not always the end of the trial. Hannah received what she asked, but she followed through with her vow, which meant letting go of the very child she longed for. There was joy, but also cost.

    Some of us may find ourselves in long periods of waiting. Others may have seen the Lord answer a prayer, but with it came a new burden. Some may wonder whether the Lord sees what happens in private, when we are misjudged, provoked, or left in sorrow. Hannah’s account helps us remember that God is not far. He hears even when no one else does. And He is able to bring fruit out of seasons that once felt empty.