Hannah’s Prayer is Answered
Have you ever prayed about something over and over again? God hears and answers our prayers. In the Old Testament book of 1 Samuel, we read a wonderful story about a woman who had her prayers answered by God. Hannah was married to a man named Elkanah. She and Elkanah did not have any children. Hannah wanted to have a child very badly. In fact, she was so sad about not having children that she often cried and would not even eat. Hannah knew that the Lord could help her with her problem, so she asked the Lord to give her a son. If the Lord would give her a son, she promised to give him back to serve the Lord. A priest named Eli was in the temple when Hannah was praying, though at first he didn’t know she was praying. When Eli saw her praying, he noticed her lips moving but he could not hear any sound. Eli thought that Hannah was drunk! Soon he realized that Hannah was not drunk but that she was praying, and he gave Hannah very good news. He blessed her so that God would answer her prayers. Hannah was so relieved that she was able to eat again and no longer felt sad. She believed that the Lord would answer her prayer.
The Lord did answer Hannah’s prayer, and she gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, which means “name of God.” Just like Hannah had promised, when Samuel was old enough, she took him to Eli and gave him back to the Lord. That must have been a very hard thing for a mother to do. Hannah gave something to the Lord that was very important and special to her. This pleased the Lord, and He rewarded her. The Bible tells us that the Lord blessed Hannah with three more sons and two daughters (1 Samuel 2:21).
From Hannah’s example, we can learn that it is very important to give God what He deserves. We also can see that when we make sacrifices for God, He will reward us, just like He rewarded His servant Hannah.
Hannah’s son Samuel was a faithful servant of the Lord, and God allowed him to anoint the first king of Israel. We can see from the story of Hannah that the Lord hears and answers our prayers.
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