1 00:00:00,480 --> 00:00:02,760 Good morning again. Take your Bibles, turn to the 2 00:00:02,760 --> 00:00:08,039 book of First Samuel, chapter one, First Samuel chapter 1 and 3 00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:13,160 that is on page 233. If you are using one of the 4 00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:17,760 Bibles in the seats around you for Samuel chapter 1. 5 00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:21,720 And if you weren't here with us last Sunday, let me just kind of 6 00:00:21,720 --> 00:00:24,480 bring you up to speed with what we are doing this summer. 7 00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:27,920 This summer we are talking about ancient prayers and present 8 00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:31,120 power. This idea of how do we take our 9 00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:35,640 prayer life and go beyond a, a, a list of things that we just 10 00:00:35,640 --> 00:00:39,320 ask God for and check off the list or a list of things we're 11 00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:43,160 thanking God for and just check off the list, but go deeper in 12 00:00:43,160 --> 00:00:46,760 prayer with the Lord. And we're doing by looking at 13 00:00:46,760 --> 00:00:50,560 various prayers throughout the scriptures so we can learn from 14 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:53,600 how God's people prayed in the Bible and how that applies to 15 00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:57,080 our lives today. Today, as we get started, I want 16 00:00:57,080 --> 00:01:02,880 you to think about the one thing that could possibly be your 17 00:01:02,880 --> 00:01:10,680 greatest pain point in life. The one thing that you know just 18 00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:15,880 gives you so much of A burden. The one thing that makes you 19 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:19,040 feel overwhelmed, the thing that makes you feel stressed the 20 00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:21,560 most. The the thing that you know is 21 00:01:21,560 --> 00:01:27,160 completely outside of your ability to fix or to resolve. 22 00:01:27,960 --> 00:01:31,080 Now, when you're in that kind of a spot, how do you usually pray 23 00:01:31,080 --> 00:01:33,120 when you're experiencing something like that? 24 00:01:33,320 --> 00:01:37,080 If you're like me, it's usually something like, oh, God, would 25 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:42,080 you just please take away this problem, Just fix this and make 26 00:01:42,080 --> 00:01:45,960 it go away soon. But I, I've noticed something. 27 00:01:45,960 --> 00:01:48,360 We can pray those kinds of prayers and say, God, would you 28 00:01:48,360 --> 00:01:52,760 just take this away? We can pray it and there's 29 00:01:52,760 --> 00:01:57,640 usually two things that happen. One, we still don't have an 30 00:01:57,640 --> 00:01:59,680 answer to the prayer. When we're done praying, the 31 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:02,800 problem still isn't fixed. You ever noticed that it still 32 00:02:02,800 --> 00:02:04,880 kind of hangs around over and over again? 33 00:02:04,880 --> 00:02:07,960 And the second thing that happens is we tend to still be 34 00:02:07,960 --> 00:02:10,759 just as stressed at the end of the prayer as we were at the 35 00:02:10,759 --> 00:02:12,800 beginning of the prayer. We're still worried, we're still 36 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:16,800 fearful, we're still feeling whatever emotion we're feeling 37 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:20,040 at the end of the prayer. Here's the big idea I want you 38 00:02:20,040 --> 00:02:24,120 to think about today in your most difficult moments of life. 39 00:02:24,640 --> 00:02:31,160 Prayer is the way to experience peace, even if you don't know if 40 00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:35,640 the problem will be fixed. I want to take you through this 41 00:02:35,640 --> 00:02:39,760 story. In First Samuel chapter 1, we're 42 00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:42,080 introduced to a guy by the name of Alcana. 43 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:44,600 Alcana is in a polygamous marriage. 44 00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:47,520 He has two wives, Hannah and Pnina. 45 00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:53,160 Now, before you get the idea that the Bible's endorsing more 46 00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:56,560 than one spouse, I just want to, like clear the air on this. 47 00:02:57,200 --> 00:03:00,480 The Bible does not endorse having more than one spouse, OK? 48 00:03:00,760 --> 00:03:03,880 Just because people in the Bible decided to do things does not 49 00:03:03,880 --> 00:03:06,520 mean that God is saying it's OK to do those things. 50 00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:10,120 This is a historical record of real life of what happened. 51 00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:13,440 And there's a brewing problem in Alcana's family. 52 00:03:14,160 --> 00:03:19,120 Jewish tradition said that Pnina had ten sons, and the Bible 53 00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:22,280 tells us that Hannah was not able to have any children. 54 00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:24,680 I want to stop there for a minute as well. 55 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:29,760 I know, but this reality of not being able to have any children 56 00:03:29,760 --> 00:03:33,120 is a pain that many of you have experienced. 57 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:37,120 In fact, there are a lot of people in our church community 58 00:03:37,320 --> 00:03:40,920 who have lived or are living with the reality of not being 59 00:03:40,920 --> 00:03:46,240 able to have any children. And you know, and you can put 60 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:49,760 yourself in Hannah's shoes, you know that deep down inside 61 00:03:49,760 --> 00:03:56,080 there's something in your heart that just longs for a child. 62 00:03:56,960 --> 00:04:01,040 You see other people having babies and it wrecks you because 63 00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:05,080 you're thinking to yourself, why do they get to have children but 64 00:04:05,080 --> 00:04:08,920 we don't? In Canada, this is a growing 65 00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:11,320 reality. One in six couples in our 66 00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:14,520 country are experiencing infertility right now. 67 00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:18,640 Now for Hannah, this is a multi layered problem. 68 00:04:18,640 --> 00:04:22,880 It's not simply about the pain of wanting a child. 69 00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:27,440 Yeah, there is that deep desire, but for her, there's also this 70 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:30,720 real deep sense of failure and shame. 71 00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:36,960 As a woman, she she lives in the sense of I'm actually failing in 72 00:04:36,960 --> 00:04:41,240 fulfilling my duties as a woman. Society expected women to have 73 00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:45,600 children, and she's not able to live up to the expectations of 74 00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:48,760 society. In addition to that, children 75 00:04:48,760 --> 00:04:52,640 were quite often how families built their economic prosperity. 76 00:04:52,640 --> 00:04:55,760 The more kids you have, the bigger the family business could 77 00:04:55,760 --> 00:04:58,920 be. And so now she's failing her 78 00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:02,240 family because she's not able to provide children for the family 79 00:05:02,240 --> 00:05:05,040 business. But it's not just the sense of 80 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:06,760 shame that she would be experiencing. 81 00:05:06,760 --> 00:05:11,960 There's also could be this fear of what might happen as well. 82 00:05:12,680 --> 00:05:16,920 You see, not having children had a lot of potential consequences 83 00:05:16,920 --> 00:05:18,600 in the culture that Hannah lived in. 84 00:05:19,240 --> 00:05:22,320 You could lose your social status in the community. 85 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:26,400 You could be isolated by people who want nothing to do with you 86 00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:30,640 because you aren't living up to the standards of a woman you. 87 00:05:30,640 --> 00:05:36,280 You could even give your husband a reason to divorce you in that 88 00:05:36,280 --> 00:05:39,960 time simply because you weren't providing a child for the 89 00:05:39,960 --> 00:05:42,240 family. So she could have had all kinds 90 00:05:42,240 --> 00:05:44,560 of fears building up inside of her. 91 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:48,360 But then in addition to all of that, there are all kinds of 92 00:05:48,360 --> 00:05:51,120 religious and family dynamics that are at play for her as 93 00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:53,680 well. In verses three to seven, we're 94 00:05:53,680 --> 00:05:58,000 told this that every year Al Canada would go up to worship 95 00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:00,640 God and make sacrifices at a place called Shiloh. 96 00:06:01,160 --> 00:06:05,960 Shiloh was the primary spiritual Center for Jews in that day 97 00:06:05,960 --> 00:06:08,720 before the temple was ever built in Jerusalem. 98 00:06:09,320 --> 00:06:13,960 And as they went to make these sacrifices every year, it is 99 00:06:13,960 --> 00:06:19,720 like her reality was being shoved in her face over and over 100 00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:24,480 and over again. You see, if you didn't have a 101 00:06:24,480 --> 00:06:29,040 child, quite often it was seen as God's judgment on you. 102 00:06:29,040 --> 00:06:31,760 Whereas if you did have children, it was seen as God's 103 00:06:31,760 --> 00:06:36,960 favor towards you. So imagine going to church every 104 00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:40,480 single week, or in her case, coming together to offer 105 00:06:40,480 --> 00:06:45,120 sacrifices with her family every year, and you are confronted in 106 00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:48,920 this spiritual environment with a sense of shame and guilt that 107 00:06:48,920 --> 00:06:51,720 you have failed over and over and over and over and over 108 00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:54,840 again. It's being shoved in her face. 109 00:06:55,680 --> 00:06:59,840 And then on top of all that, there's good old Pinina. 110 00:07:02,480 --> 00:07:08,080 Pagina was ruthless. Every year as they would go to 111 00:07:08,280 --> 00:07:12,440 Shiloh together as a family, the Bible says that Pagina would 112 00:07:12,600 --> 00:07:17,760 severely taunt Hannah. Now, some of you are sports 113 00:07:17,760 --> 00:07:20,160 fans. And if you watch sports, you 114 00:07:20,160 --> 00:07:24,080 know that there are some athletes who like to talk smack 115 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:26,960 about other people. You know that when you get into 116 00:07:26,960 --> 00:07:30,520 sometimes in a game, some people will kind of there's some things 117 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:32,320 that are coming out of their mouth that may not be the most 118 00:07:32,320 --> 00:07:35,200 godly things coming out of their mouth, may not be the most 119 00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:37,720 encouraging or uplifting things coming out of their mouth. 120 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:42,040 Some some athletes are ruthless about it. 121 00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:45,800 And that is exactly what the Bible describes Paninas like 122 00:07:45,800 --> 00:07:50,680 towards Hannah. She is ruthlessly mocking Hannah 123 00:07:50,680 --> 00:07:52,600 for not being able to have any children. 124 00:07:53,680 --> 00:07:57,480 She's pushing buttons to try and get a reaction out of her. 125 00:07:58,840 --> 00:08:01,840 And verse 7 tells us this in first Samuel chapter one. 126 00:08:01,840 --> 00:08:07,160 That year after year when Hannah went up to the Lord's house, her 127 00:08:07,160 --> 00:08:12,840 rival would taunt her in this way and Hannah would be so 128 00:08:12,840 --> 00:08:18,040 broken hearted over her reality of not being able to have a 129 00:08:18,040 --> 00:08:24,520 child and all that went with that, that she would weep and 130 00:08:24,520 --> 00:08:29,320 she would not eat anything. That's how great the pain was 131 00:08:29,400 --> 00:08:36,159 every single year for her. Now, side note, we can learn 132 00:08:36,159 --> 00:08:38,960 something. For those of us who maybe are 133 00:08:38,960 --> 00:08:42,159 not in a pain point in our life right now, we can learn 134 00:08:42,159 --> 00:08:46,320 something about what not to do from Eli in Alcana in this 135 00:08:46,320 --> 00:08:51,160 story. OK, first of all, Alcana, he he 136 00:08:51,160 --> 00:08:56,480 sees his wife really hurting and his best answer to her is hey, 137 00:08:56,480 --> 00:09:00,960 like why won't you eat? Aren't I so much better to you 138 00:09:00,960 --> 00:09:06,680 than 10 kids trying? I know you're trying to help, 139 00:09:06,680 --> 00:09:09,880 but trying to make your spouse feel better by saying aren't I 140 00:09:09,880 --> 00:09:13,360 better for you than whatever it is you're upset about is not 141 00:09:13,360 --> 00:09:19,360 helping. OK, Just free relationship 142 00:09:19,360 --> 00:09:24,520 advice for Sunday morning. Eli is supposed to be the 143 00:09:24,520 --> 00:09:27,480 spiritual leader in this story. And. 144 00:09:27,560 --> 00:09:33,160 And Eli sees how upset Hannah is in this moment, and he doesn't 145 00:09:33,160 --> 00:09:35,440 bother to go, hey, is, is everything OK? 146 00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:38,640 Are you OK? Can I help you in some way? 147 00:09:39,280 --> 00:09:42,200 Eli's best answer is, hey, are you drunk? 148 00:09:44,640 --> 00:09:48,200 Like, are you out of your mind? You should maybe get your act 149 00:09:48,200 --> 00:09:52,960 together again, Free relationship advice. 150 00:09:53,040 --> 00:09:57,360 If you see somebody crying and sobbing, don't go up and say, 151 00:09:57,360 --> 00:09:59,120 hey, are you drunk? You should get your life 152 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:06,720 together. I recognize that many people can 153 00:10:06,720 --> 00:10:11,240 feel the pain that Hannah was feeling because you're living 154 00:10:11,240 --> 00:10:14,760 it. Maybe it's not infertility, 155 00:10:15,320 --> 00:10:18,160 maybe it's health problems that you're experiencing. 156 00:10:18,160 --> 00:10:21,960 Maybe it's the unknown of what's going to happen to your job. 157 00:10:21,960 --> 00:10:25,720 Or maybe it's the unknown of what's going to happen in a 158 00:10:25,720 --> 00:10:29,080 relationship that you're in right now and and the pain that 159 00:10:29,080 --> 00:10:31,520 you're experiencing in that relationship. 160 00:10:32,840 --> 00:10:40,240 Hannah is worn down. She is broken, she is an 161 00:10:40,240 --> 00:10:46,080 emotional wreck and the pain that she's carrying is obvious 162 00:10:46,080 --> 00:10:49,360 to everyone. And there doesn't seem to be any 163 00:10:49,360 --> 00:10:53,320 end insight for this woman. But I want you to notice 164 00:10:53,320 --> 00:10:55,640 something in verse 18 in first Samuel chapter one. 165 00:10:55,640 --> 00:10:59,880 Look at verse 18. By the time we get to verse 18, 166 00:10:59,880 --> 00:11:03,200 we we read at the very end of verse 18. 167 00:11:03,200 --> 00:11:08,000 Then Hannah went on her way. She ate and no longer looked 168 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:11,200 despondent. How in the world does that 169 00:11:11,200 --> 00:11:15,640 happen? How does someone go from a spot 170 00:11:15,640 --> 00:11:20,240 where they are so broken and overwhelmed and burdened and 171 00:11:20,240 --> 00:11:27,880 stressed out and anxious to I'm good to eat, I got a smile on my 172 00:11:27,880 --> 00:11:31,600 face and life is pretty good. How does that happen? 173 00:11:34,120 --> 00:11:40,760 How does how does her whole demeanor change when her 174 00:11:40,760 --> 00:11:43,600 circumstances have not changed? There's no baby yet. 175 00:11:46,480 --> 00:11:50,720 The weight of her circumstance is still there, but the weight 176 00:11:50,720 --> 00:11:54,720 of her circumstance seems to have lifted from her heart and 177 00:11:54,720 --> 00:11:57,040 soul. Well to understand that we need 178 00:11:57,040 --> 00:12:01,160 to begin reading in verse nine of First Samuel chapter one. 179 00:12:02,840 --> 00:12:05,960 On one occasion, Hannah got up after they ate and drank at 180 00:12:05,960 --> 00:12:08,640 Shiloh. The priest Eli was sitting on a 181 00:12:08,640 --> 00:12:10,760 chair by the doorpost of the Lord's temple. 182 00:12:11,320 --> 00:12:14,960 Deeply hurt, Hannah prayed to the Lord and wept with many 183 00:12:14,960 --> 00:12:17,960 tears. Making a vow, she pleaded. 184 00:12:17,960 --> 00:12:22,160 Lord of Armies, if you will take notice of your servants 185 00:12:22,160 --> 00:12:26,680 affliction, remember and not forget me, and give your servant 186 00:12:26,680 --> 00:12:29,960 a son. I will give him to the Lord all 187 00:12:29,960 --> 00:12:33,600 the days of his life, and his hair will never be cut. 188 00:12:34,600 --> 00:12:37,320 And while she continued praying in the Lord's presence, Eli 189 00:12:37,320 --> 00:12:40,880 watched her mouth. Hannah was praying silently, and 190 00:12:40,880 --> 00:12:44,200 though her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. 191 00:12:44,840 --> 00:12:47,760 Eli thought she was drunk and said to her, How long are you 192 00:12:47,760 --> 00:12:49,720 going to be drunk? Get rid of your wine. 193 00:12:50,720 --> 00:12:54,840 No, my Lord, Hannah replied. I'm a woman with a broken heart. 194 00:12:55,560 --> 00:12:59,240 I haven't had any wine or beer. I've been pouring out my heart 195 00:12:59,240 --> 00:13:02,040 before the Lord. Don't think of me as a wicked 196 00:13:02,040 --> 00:13:04,000 woman. I've been praying from the depth 197 00:13:04,080 --> 00:13:08,480 of my anguish and resentment. And Eli responded. 198 00:13:08,480 --> 00:13:13,280 Go in peace and may the God of Israel grant the request that 199 00:13:13,280 --> 00:13:16,960 you've made of him. May your servant find favor with 200 00:13:16,960 --> 00:13:19,960 you, she replied. And then Hannah went on her way. 201 00:13:20,240 --> 00:13:24,120 She ate and no longer looked despondent. 202 00:13:26,280 --> 00:13:29,760 If you are going to find peace without knowing if your problem 203 00:13:29,760 --> 00:13:34,520 is going to be fixed, you are going to have to decide that God 204 00:13:34,520 --> 00:13:37,640 is the best solution for something to change. 205 00:13:39,120 --> 00:13:44,880 In verse 9, when scripture says that Hannah got up, it's written 206 00:13:44,880 --> 00:13:46,040 like this. It means this. 207 00:13:46,400 --> 00:13:49,760 Hannah just had enough. She decides she was going to put 208 00:13:49,760 --> 00:13:53,720 her foot down. Something was going to change. 209 00:13:54,840 --> 00:13:57,160 I'm tired of all that I'm experiencing. 210 00:13:57,160 --> 00:14:01,800 I'm tired of the weight of this. I'm tired and weary of feeling 211 00:14:01,800 --> 00:14:05,640 tired and weary. And she decides that's it. 212 00:14:05,720 --> 00:14:08,280 Enough. Something's got to change. 213 00:14:09,800 --> 00:14:11,880 I'm sick of my story being the same. 214 00:14:12,240 --> 00:14:16,600 Year after year I come to this place and ioffer sacrifices and 215 00:14:16,600 --> 00:14:19,440 year after year I have to deal with the same shame and the same 216 00:14:19,440 --> 00:14:24,000 pain. I'm done with it now. 217 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:27,520 I know that a lot of us have reached rock bottom at different 218 00:14:27,520 --> 00:14:30,440 points in our life. And you get that feeling. 219 00:14:30,440 --> 00:14:32,760 You understand what it's like to reach that point where you go, 220 00:14:32,760 --> 00:14:36,600 I'm just done. Something has to change. 221 00:14:37,640 --> 00:14:41,080 We get sick and tired of feeling sick and tired. 222 00:14:43,040 --> 00:14:45,760 But what do we usually do when we're sick and tired of feeling 223 00:14:45,760 --> 00:14:49,320 sick and tired? We we go and talk to anyone and 224 00:14:49,320 --> 00:14:52,080 everyone about it. We talk to our friends, we we 225 00:14:52,080 --> 00:14:56,480 talk to our counsellors, we ask Google or ChatGPT, we go 226 00:14:56,520 --> 00:14:59,720 searching for a podcast that's going to help us, whatever it 227 00:14:59,720 --> 00:15:01,320 is. But here's what we always end up 228 00:15:01,320 --> 00:15:04,360 doing. We end up in this constant loop 229 00:15:04,400 --> 00:15:09,400 of listening to voices over and over and over again, and we have 230 00:15:09,400 --> 00:15:14,280 no real peace. Hannah does something that would 231 00:15:14,280 --> 00:15:16,640 have been radical in her situation. 232 00:15:18,080 --> 00:15:21,360 She's done listening to all the voices that are around her, both 233 00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:24,440 the ones that are trying to help her and the ones that are trying 234 00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:26,320 to hurt her. She's done with it. 235 00:15:28,080 --> 00:15:30,800 And of all the things that she could have done to address her 236 00:15:30,800 --> 00:15:34,800 pain, she decides the most important thing that she could 237 00:15:34,800 --> 00:15:38,800 do is go to the only one that she knew was capable of doing 238 00:15:38,800 --> 00:15:42,800 something about it, and that was to pray and go to God. 239 00:15:45,400 --> 00:15:49,120 Hey, have you ever heard someone say, well I've tried everything, 240 00:15:49,320 --> 00:15:52,320 so I guess I'll pray about it, right? 241 00:15:52,640 --> 00:15:54,080 How many of you have ever said that before? 242 00:15:54,280 --> 00:15:56,840 I've tried everything, I might as well pray about it. 243 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:02,640 The reality is praying is the very best thing you can do. 244 00:16:04,560 --> 00:16:10,440 There are times that when you pray, something is going to be 245 00:16:10,440 --> 00:16:15,840 so overwhelming you don't even know that you know how to pray 246 00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:18,400 or even have the right words to say. 247 00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:21,960 And this is what I want you to know. 248 00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:26,560 Prayer is an invitation to bring your raw emotions to God. 249 00:16:28,280 --> 00:16:33,600 Verse 10 tells us this, says Hannah was deeply hurt that she 250 00:16:33,760 --> 00:16:38,920 prayed and wept many tears. Verse 15 says that she had a 251 00:16:38,920 --> 00:16:43,440 broken heart and that she's pouring out her heart before 252 00:16:43,440 --> 00:16:46,920 God. Verse 16 says she's praying from 253 00:16:46,920 --> 00:16:50,280 the depth of her anguish and her resentment. 254 00:16:52,240 --> 00:16:55,160 You can almost feel it. You can almost see it, can't 255 00:16:55,160 --> 00:16:58,040 you? You don't want one of the most 256 00:16:58,040 --> 00:17:04,200 difficult things in life is to see someone who is hurting so 257 00:17:04,200 --> 00:17:09,240 much that they're not just crying, they're weeping. 258 00:17:11,040 --> 00:17:13,640 It's hard to see somebody in that kind of a situation. 259 00:17:14,800 --> 00:17:18,560 Some of us, we, we run away from that kind of like people crying, 260 00:17:18,560 --> 00:17:21,640 get me as far away as possible from the person crying because 261 00:17:21,640 --> 00:17:24,000 we feel uncomfortable. We, we don't know what to say in 262 00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:27,839 the moment when that happens. We, we don't know how to respond 263 00:17:27,839 --> 00:17:33,240 to the person. And Hannah is here, and from the 264 00:17:33,240 --> 00:17:36,880 bottom of her heart, she's praying like this. 265 00:17:36,880 --> 00:17:40,880 You know, for, for me, one of the first times I ever heard 266 00:17:40,880 --> 00:17:45,200 someone praying like Hannah was praying is where I would 267 00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:51,160 experience my mom crying over some of the most deeply painful 268 00:17:51,160 --> 00:17:55,840 moments of her life. And, and at times it would sound 269 00:17:55,840 --> 00:17:59,720 like so much more than crying. At times it it sounded almost 270 00:17:59,720 --> 00:18:05,040 like a literal groan coming from the depths of her soul because 271 00:18:05,040 --> 00:18:08,560 of the pain that she was feeling and experiencing in her life. 272 00:18:10,640 --> 00:18:14,160 And Hannah is the same way. She's telling God everything 273 00:18:14,160 --> 00:18:17,880 she's feeling and experiencing because she's just done. 274 00:18:19,560 --> 00:18:22,720 And the good news about coming to God in prayer like this, it's 275 00:18:22,720 --> 00:18:25,960 this. When life is sucking the life 276 00:18:25,960 --> 00:18:30,600 out of you, you don't need to get everything together before 277 00:18:30,600 --> 00:18:34,160 you go and talk to God. I know sometimes we think I got 278 00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:36,400 to think about all the right words to say. 279 00:18:36,960 --> 00:18:39,880 I've got to just have the sentences all planned out. 280 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:42,200 Make sure I don't say any heresy in my prayer. 281 00:18:42,200 --> 00:18:46,320 Make sure that I like, you know, I use God's name properly, that 282 00:18:46,320 --> 00:18:51,520 I'm honoring and humble. And we overthink the prayer and 283 00:18:51,520 --> 00:18:57,280 sometimes, sometimes the weight of your circumstances are so 284 00:18:57,280 --> 00:19:03,520 great that you don't need to try and think about what are the 285 00:19:03,520 --> 00:19:06,320 words I'm going to say. You just need to come to God and 286 00:19:06,400 --> 00:19:11,080 pour out your heart to him. The words don't need to make 287 00:19:11,080 --> 00:19:15,760 sense. He is not a God who's going to 288 00:19:15,760 --> 00:19:18,360 run away from you in that moment. 289 00:19:18,520 --> 00:19:21,120 He is not a God who is overwhelmed by your 290 00:19:21,120 --> 00:19:23,400 circumstances. And whatever you bring to him, 291 00:19:23,680 --> 00:19:27,320 it is the exact opposite. He is a God who wants you to 292 00:19:27,320 --> 00:19:36,080 come to Him, the Bible tells us. Cast all, all your cares on Him. 293 00:19:36,920 --> 00:19:40,800 All. Sit in that word for a minute. 294 00:19:42,320 --> 00:19:47,960 All your cares. Cast them on God. 295 00:19:50,400 --> 00:19:54,920 Second Kings chapter 20 tells us that He is a God who sees your 296 00:19:54,920 --> 00:19:59,080 tears and he's a God who hears your prayers. 297 00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:06,600 There are times where you just maybe need to come to God and 298 00:20:06,600 --> 00:20:11,120 you only have one word to say or one sentence to say in a prayer. 299 00:20:11,440 --> 00:20:14,640 And that one word could be something as simple as just God 300 00:20:14,840 --> 00:20:20,320 help. And that's the best you can come 301 00:20:20,320 --> 00:20:27,040 up with and it's OK. I don't know where you normally 302 00:20:27,040 --> 00:20:33,360 go to pour out your heart, but I know every single one of us go 303 00:20:33,360 --> 00:20:36,600 somewhere to pour out our hearts when life is stressful. 304 00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:42,680 You might have friends, you might have a counsellor, maybe 305 00:20:42,680 --> 00:20:44,880 you're just passive aggressive and you go and take your 306 00:20:44,880 --> 00:20:47,720 frustrations out on a video game or whatever your favorite hobby 307 00:20:47,720 --> 00:20:51,240 is. Maybe you have a journal where 308 00:20:51,240 --> 00:20:55,880 you put all of your thoughts down and none of those things 309 00:20:55,880 --> 00:21:00,640 are inherently bad or wrong places to go for some of you. 310 00:21:00,680 --> 00:21:04,720 You pour out your heart over and over again to yourself. 311 00:21:05,520 --> 00:21:08,160 You can't stop thinking about your pain. 312 00:21:08,480 --> 00:21:12,080 It swirls in your mind and you keep pouring your heart out over 313 00:21:12,080 --> 00:21:16,640 and over and over again. But I know because you're human, 314 00:21:16,760 --> 00:21:20,280 you will go somewhere with whatever it is that's stressing 315 00:21:20,280 --> 00:21:25,320 you out. But here's the thing, of all the 316 00:21:25,320 --> 00:21:28,240 things and all the places and all the people that you could 317 00:21:28,240 --> 00:21:32,000 pour your heart out to, there is only one who is all powerful, 318 00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:38,240 and it's God. And so when you pray, pray a 319 00:21:38,240 --> 00:21:41,240 declaration of who has the greatest power. 320 00:21:44,080 --> 00:21:46,640 One one of the things we see in the Bible over and over again is 321 00:21:46,640 --> 00:21:51,120 that when it comes to prayer, how many times prayers start by 322 00:21:51,120 --> 00:21:55,280 focusing our attention on how great God is. 323 00:21:55,840 --> 00:21:58,680 Jesus taught us this when he taught us the Lord's Prayer. 324 00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:03,320 He he says, Hey, when you pray, start by saying our Father who 325 00:22:03,320 --> 00:22:05,200 art in heaven hallowed be your name. 326 00:22:05,720 --> 00:22:08,160 The whole focus, the whole starting point of prayer is 327 00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:12,200 focusing on the greatness of who God is. 328 00:22:12,600 --> 00:22:16,240 Hannah starts her prayer in much the same way she starts her 329 00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:21,000 prayer by pleading to the Lord of armies. 330 00:22:21,040 --> 00:22:24,640 Don't skip over that. She pleads to the Lord of 331 00:22:24,640 --> 00:22:27,040 armies. And here's what she's declaring 332 00:22:27,040 --> 00:22:31,720 at the beginning of her prayer. She is declaring that you are 333 00:22:31,720 --> 00:22:38,240 the God who has every power. You have sovereign control over 334 00:22:38,240 --> 00:22:42,240 everything, every dominion, every force, everything God. 335 00:22:42,240 --> 00:22:45,040 You've got sovereign control over it all. 336 00:22:45,840 --> 00:22:48,720 When she says Lord of Armies, she is saying God. 337 00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:52,360 You are a God who has infinite resources. 338 00:22:53,320 --> 00:22:57,800 There is nothing I could come to you and ask you for that is 339 00:22:57,800 --> 00:23:00,960 greater than the resources that are at your disposal, God. 340 00:23:01,720 --> 00:23:04,720 There is nothing that I could come and ask you for that is 341 00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:06,840 greater than your power. God. 342 00:23:07,680 --> 00:23:10,680 That's what she's declaring when she says Lord of Armies. 343 00:23:12,280 --> 00:23:15,200 In other words, Hannah praised this truth about God. 344 00:23:16,040 --> 00:23:21,360 God, my inability to have a child is not a match for your 345 00:23:21,360 --> 00:23:30,520 sovereignty and power. I, I don't know everything that 346 00:23:30,520 --> 00:23:34,880 you're facing today, but I know this, that God's resources and 347 00:23:34,880 --> 00:23:40,480 God's power is greater. In fact, if you were to take 348 00:23:40,480 --> 00:23:44,600 every problem that all of us in this room have and every person 349 00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:49,480 who's online and every person in our region, in our province, our 350 00:23:49,480 --> 00:23:51,360 country and our world, and you were to take all of our 351 00:23:51,360 --> 00:23:52,800 problems. You were to bundle them all 352 00:23:52,800 --> 00:24:00,800 together into one giant problem. That one giant problem is not 353 00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:06,360 greater than God. God's power is greater than 354 00:24:06,360 --> 00:24:11,920 anything. A friend of mine used to always 355 00:24:11,920 --> 00:24:15,520 say like this to me, said Kirk, stop telling God how big your 356 00:24:15,520 --> 00:24:17,920 problems are and start telling your problems how big your God 357 00:24:17,920 --> 00:24:24,200 is. Prayer is where we take our eyes 358 00:24:24,200 --> 00:24:28,440 off of our problem. We fix our eyes on the One who 359 00:24:28,440 --> 00:24:31,560 has everything needed to deal with the problem. 360 00:24:33,840 --> 00:24:36,640 So if you're here today and you are facing a big problem where 361 00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:40,280 you just need God's power to show up, start by calling out to 362 00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:44,080 the Lord of armies. If you're facing a big problem 363 00:24:44,080 --> 00:24:47,320 where you need God's wisdom, remind yourself in prayer and 364 00:24:47,320 --> 00:24:50,920 declare that He is the all knowing God who wants to give 365 00:24:50,920 --> 00:24:54,640 wisdom. One of the reasons why it's so 366 00:24:54,640 --> 00:24:57,960 important for you and I to continue to learn more and more 367 00:24:57,960 --> 00:25:01,840 about who God is, to learn more about theology and doctrine and 368 00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:05,640 things like that, is, is because we need to understand what God 369 00:25:05,640 --> 00:25:08,160 is like in order to be able to pray effectively. 370 00:25:09,600 --> 00:25:12,280 But it's not just about an intellectual exercise. 371 00:25:12,440 --> 00:25:15,360 It frames how we approach him in prayer. 372 00:25:16,720 --> 00:25:18,040 Now, let me ask you this question. 373 00:25:19,120 --> 00:25:24,120 If God is really all powerful, and I would say probably pretty 374 00:25:24,120 --> 00:25:26,000 much everyone in this room would say, yeah, of course God's all 375 00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:28,800 powerful. If God is really all powerful, 376 00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:35,440 if God has infinite resources and power, why do you still 377 00:25:35,440 --> 00:25:38,040 sometimes try to tell God how to answer your prayer? 378 00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:45,640 Like, hey, God, I I need you to fix this pain point in my life. 379 00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:48,160 Here's how I'd like you to do it. 380 00:25:50,280 --> 00:25:53,400 Go ahead and do it this way. You're the all powerful God. 381 00:25:53,400 --> 00:25:55,680 You've got every resource at your disposal. 382 00:25:55,680 --> 00:26:01,760 So here's what I need you to do. And this is where we often get 383 00:26:01,760 --> 00:26:05,800 tripped up and where we remain stressed out or anxious even 384 00:26:05,800 --> 00:26:11,400 after we pray because in our minds, we already have the best 385 00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:12,960 way for God to answer our prayer. 386 00:26:16,960 --> 00:26:18,920 We've already got it all figured out, and we're just trying to 387 00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:21,680 bring God up to speed on the things God needs to do. 388 00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:27,680 And when God doesn't do it the way that we want or give the 389 00:26:27,680 --> 00:26:32,240 exact answer that we want, we've got no peace because we think 390 00:26:32,240 --> 00:26:34,400 we've got a better solution than God does. 391 00:26:36,720 --> 00:26:39,600 And So what Hannah also teaches us is that the prayers that lead 392 00:26:39,600 --> 00:26:41,280 to peace are filled with surrender. 393 00:26:43,560 --> 00:26:48,840 In verse 11, two times Hannah calls herself a servant of the 394 00:26:48,840 --> 00:26:52,240 Lord. In verse 18, when talking to 395 00:26:52,240 --> 00:26:54,080 Eli, she calls herself a servant. 396 00:26:54,080 --> 00:26:58,000 Again, Hannah has no sense of entitlement. 397 00:26:58,560 --> 00:27:04,040 She she has just humility. She has no sense that God owes 398 00:27:04,040 --> 00:27:07,720 her anything, that God has to answer prayer in a certain way, 399 00:27:08,320 --> 00:27:11,480 or that she can somehow manipulate God to doing what she 400 00:27:11,480 --> 00:27:16,800 wants. Hannah merely says, you are God 401 00:27:18,480 --> 00:27:22,680 and I have an inability to fix this problem, and I'm coming to 402 00:27:22,680 --> 00:27:27,440 you. But then she does something that 403 00:27:27,440 --> 00:27:30,520 on the surface seems like she's striking a deal with God. 404 00:27:32,320 --> 00:27:38,920 She says if you'll give me a son, I'll give him back to you 405 00:27:38,920 --> 00:27:42,600 all the days of his life. You ever done that before? 406 00:27:42,880 --> 00:27:48,560 God, if you'll just do this, then I'll do this. 407 00:27:49,760 --> 00:27:54,760 God, if, if you just answer my prayer this way, I promise you 408 00:27:54,760 --> 00:27:58,560 I'll be the best person ever. I I've done it before, not 409 00:27:58,560 --> 00:28:00,320 always in ways that I'm proud of. 410 00:28:00,800 --> 00:28:05,480 God, if you would just let the Toronto Blue Jays win a game, I 411 00:28:05,480 --> 00:28:09,120 promise I'll serve you more. And suddenly they're winning all 412 00:28:09,120 --> 00:28:10,960 these games. So now I got to serve God even 413 00:28:10,960 --> 00:28:18,040 more, right? Maybe it's like, God, if you 414 00:28:18,040 --> 00:28:21,280 just give me this job, I'll give you more money. 415 00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:25,680 God, if you just give me this house, I'll use this house to 416 00:28:25,680 --> 00:28:30,600 serve you in some way. I think most of us have done 417 00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:32,920 something like that. Maybe you've said, God, if 418 00:28:32,920 --> 00:28:37,560 you'll just fix my spouse, I promise I'll be a better spouse. 419 00:28:40,480 --> 00:28:43,480 I don't think Hannah is striking a deal with God here. 420 00:28:43,480 --> 00:28:46,120 I don't think that's what's going on. 421 00:28:46,560 --> 00:28:50,760 Hannah's surrendering to God. That's what she's doing here. 422 00:28:52,400 --> 00:28:55,840 See, on behalf of her son, Hannah's making what's called 423 00:28:55,840 --> 00:28:59,360 the Nazarite vow. It's the kind of vow, if you're 424 00:28:59,360 --> 00:29:01,480 familiar with Old Testament stories, it's the kind of vow 425 00:29:01,480 --> 00:29:03,680 that Samson made in the Old Testament. 426 00:29:04,680 --> 00:29:09,680 It's this deep vow of commitment to God, and it's this promise to 427 00:29:09,680 --> 00:29:15,040 be set apart for service to God. And what Hannah is saying is 428 00:29:15,040 --> 00:29:20,280 that if God gives her a son, she will literally give him back to 429 00:29:20,280 --> 00:29:23,200 God instead of keeping the child for herself. 430 00:29:23,440 --> 00:29:27,280 There is no net gain for Hannah in this. 431 00:29:33,560 --> 00:29:37,000 She's praying for something that can only bring glory to God. 432 00:29:38,040 --> 00:29:42,560 She is surrendering her deepest desire to God. 433 00:29:43,160 --> 00:29:46,720 She's saying I'm your servant and all I want is what you want. 434 00:29:48,320 --> 00:29:51,360 Paul Tripp put it this way. He said rather than attaching a 435 00:29:51,360 --> 00:29:57,000 happy life to the fulfillment of her own desires, she finds life 436 00:29:57,000 --> 00:30:02,760 in the success of God's Kingdom. And this is what allows Hannah 437 00:30:03,480 --> 00:30:06,840 to not look despondent anymore. It's what allows her to be at 438 00:30:06,840 --> 00:30:09,400 peace. Because in this moment, Hannah 439 00:30:09,400 --> 00:30:12,840 has made the decision that she's no longer going to be defined by 440 00:30:12,840 --> 00:30:15,840 what other people say. She's no longer going to be 441 00:30:15,840 --> 00:30:17,960 defined by what society thinks of her. 442 00:30:18,120 --> 00:30:22,280 She's no longer even going to be defined by her greatest heart's 443 00:30:22,280 --> 00:30:25,320 desire. The thing she's going to be 444 00:30:25,320 --> 00:30:31,000 defined by is God himself. She's living and surrender to 445 00:30:31,000 --> 00:30:34,160 him. All that she wants is whatever 446 00:30:34,160 --> 00:30:38,640 God wants. Now, this is easily one of the 447 00:30:38,640 --> 00:30:43,240 most challenging things to do in prayer because every one of us 448 00:30:43,240 --> 00:30:49,720 is a human being that has normal desires, normal dreams of how we 449 00:30:50,000 --> 00:30:55,240 want things to go. And what Hannah's teaching us is 450 00:30:55,240 --> 00:30:59,720 that prayer can lead to peace when we surrender the need to 451 00:30:59,720 --> 00:31:03,560 have our prayers answered in a certain way. 452 00:31:06,160 --> 00:31:12,040 Maybe you said this before. If I only had blank, I'd be 453 00:31:12,040 --> 00:31:16,400 happy. Here's the truth. 454 00:31:17,040 --> 00:31:21,520 Whatever you put in that blank has some level of control over 455 00:31:21,520 --> 00:31:23,920 your heart and your emotions and your soul. 456 00:31:25,920 --> 00:31:27,560 It's going to shape your emotions. 457 00:31:27,560 --> 00:31:29,320 It's going to shape your decisions. 458 00:31:31,360 --> 00:31:35,800 Friends, you are only ever going to find peace in this life when 459 00:31:35,800 --> 00:31:40,360 you decide to surrender control and trust in the all powerful, 460 00:31:40,360 --> 00:31:44,800 all knowing and good God who also happens to love you. 461 00:31:47,720 --> 00:31:51,320 The invitation of God is to come to Him and surrender your 462 00:31:51,320 --> 00:31:56,840 deepest burdens to His loving care and to find life in Him 463 00:31:56,840 --> 00:31:59,960 instead of wherever you're going to try to find life. 464 00:32:02,360 --> 00:32:05,680 Now, one of the things that I've learned about prayer is that God 465 00:32:05,680 --> 00:32:09,160 doesn't always answer all of our prayers at once, even when He 466 00:32:09,160 --> 00:32:12,800 does answer our prayers. Quite often God's answers to 467 00:32:12,800 --> 00:32:16,200 prayer are more of a story that's unfolding than it is a 468 00:32:16,200 --> 00:32:20,760 moment of glory. And that's what happens to 469 00:32:20,760 --> 00:32:25,480 Hannah in verse 20. The Bible says after some time 470 00:32:25,480 --> 00:32:29,240 she gave birth to Samuel. We have no idea how long that 471 00:32:29,240 --> 00:32:32,240 was from the time that she prayed to the time that Samuel 472 00:32:32,240 --> 00:32:36,160 was born. But then after weaning and 473 00:32:36,160 --> 00:32:38,240 raising and weaning the child, she does what's promised. 474 00:32:38,240 --> 00:32:41,480 She brings Samuel to live with Eli. 475 00:32:42,640 --> 00:32:46,040 She had a baby and she literally gave her child to the Lord. 476 00:32:46,280 --> 00:32:47,920 We do that symbolically as parents. 477 00:32:47,920 --> 00:32:53,080 We talk about like, hey, I'm, I am committing, surrendering, 478 00:32:53,080 --> 00:32:56,320 dedicating my child to the Lord, and we do it symbolically. 479 00:32:56,640 --> 00:33:00,160 Put yourself in Hannah's shoes. She gives birth to this child 480 00:33:00,280 --> 00:33:02,640 and then she goes, I'm going to go and I'm going to leave this 481 00:33:02,640 --> 00:33:06,400 child to be raised in Shiloh with Eli, and I'm going to go 482 00:33:06,400 --> 00:33:11,680 back home. But she still kept coming back 483 00:33:11,680 --> 00:33:16,480 every year, every year to make sacrifices with the rest of the 484 00:33:16,480 --> 00:33:19,080 family. And so every year it's still in 485 00:33:19,080 --> 00:33:21,880 her face. I had a child, but I gave the 486 00:33:21,880 --> 00:33:28,000 child up to the Lord. I had a child, but I don't get 487 00:33:28,000 --> 00:33:34,240 to raise that child. In some ways, Hannah ends up 488 00:33:34,240 --> 00:33:38,480 right back where she started. Her circumstances had not really 489 00:33:38,480 --> 00:33:42,480 changed. And yet Hannah teaches US1 more 490 00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:45,960 thing. The prayers that lead to peace 491 00:33:45,960 --> 00:33:51,680 are filled with worship. See, prayer is not only a place 492 00:33:51,680 --> 00:33:53,520 where we go and ask God for things. 493 00:33:53,520 --> 00:33:56,960 Prayer is a place for us to reset our hearts and our minds 494 00:33:56,960 --> 00:34:01,760 and focus thing, focusing them on God and worshiping Him. 495 00:34:01,760 --> 00:34:05,000 Sometimes we think worship is just what we do with music, but 496 00:34:05,000 --> 00:34:06,920 there's so much more to worship than music. 497 00:34:07,560 --> 00:34:09,760 You can worship God in your prayers. 498 00:34:11,600 --> 00:34:15,719 Hannah does that in chapter 2. Again, her circumstances are not 499 00:34:15,719 --> 00:34:20,280 fixed yet, but but look at what happens in chapter 2, beginning 500 00:34:20,280 --> 00:34:22,639 of verse one. It says Hannah prayed. 501 00:34:23,679 --> 00:34:27,560 My heart rejoices in the Lord. My horn is lifted up by the 502 00:34:27,560 --> 00:34:29,800 Lord. My mouth boasts over my enemies 503 00:34:29,800 --> 00:34:32,159 because I rejoice in your salvation. 504 00:34:32,560 --> 00:34:34,679 There's no one holy like the Lord. 505 00:34:34,679 --> 00:34:39,040 There's no one besides you. There's no rock like our God. 506 00:34:39,600 --> 00:34:42,520 Don't boast so proudly or let arrogant words come out of your 507 00:34:42,520 --> 00:34:44,719 mouth. For the Lord is a God of 508 00:34:44,719 --> 00:34:47,400 knowledge, and actions are weighed by Him. 509 00:34:48,199 --> 00:34:52,560 Sometimes we just need to praise God for the little ways we've 510 00:34:52,560 --> 00:34:55,880 seen Him answering prayers even when the whole story is not yet 511 00:34:55,880 --> 00:34:57,600 been revealed. That's what Hannah's doing in 512 00:34:57,600 --> 00:35:00,720 these first few verses. She's worshipping and praising 513 00:35:00,720 --> 00:35:03,640 God. She continues on in verses 4 to 514 00:35:03,680 --> 00:35:08,320 8 by celebrating and worshipping a God who is capable of 515 00:35:08,320 --> 00:35:11,640 reversing the fortunes of any human being. 516 00:35:13,240 --> 00:35:18,120 She says the mighty are broken by this God and the feeble are 517 00:35:18,120 --> 00:35:22,640 given strength. Those who have food end up 518 00:35:22,640 --> 00:35:26,200 scrambling for food and those who are hungry, hungry no more. 519 00:35:27,440 --> 00:35:30,760 That he's the God who can reverse the fortune of families, 520 00:35:31,200 --> 00:35:33,720 and he's the God who can reverse the fortune of those who want a 521 00:35:33,720 --> 00:35:38,240 family. He's the God who can bring both 522 00:35:38,240 --> 00:35:42,200 life and death. He is the God who raises the 523 00:35:42,200 --> 00:35:45,400 poor from the dust and gives them a throne of honor. 524 00:35:45,400 --> 00:35:47,840 He is a God who reverses the fortune of people. 525 00:35:50,600 --> 00:35:53,200 But she doesn't end there. She looks to the future and 526 00:35:53,200 --> 00:35:56,760 worships a God for all the promises that He has given to 527 00:35:56,760 --> 00:36:00,080 her for the future. In verses 9 and 10, she praises 528 00:36:00,080 --> 00:36:02,960 God for her future hope. He guards those who are 529 00:36:02,960 --> 00:36:08,720 faithful, while those who oppose the Lord will be shattered. 530 00:36:11,280 --> 00:36:15,400 If you're here today and you are exploring the Christian faith, I 531 00:36:15,400 --> 00:36:16,880 want you to understand something. 532 00:36:17,960 --> 00:36:21,560 There is a way for you to find peace no matter how hard your 533 00:36:21,560 --> 00:36:25,520 life is. The Bible teaches us that right 534 00:36:25,520 --> 00:36:29,640 now anyone who is a believer, who is not a believer and 535 00:36:29,640 --> 00:36:33,640 follower of Jesus is like a person who opposes the Lord. 536 00:36:33,640 --> 00:36:35,840 You want to do life your own way. 537 00:36:35,880 --> 00:36:39,000 You don't want anyone to be Lord and God of your life. 538 00:36:40,240 --> 00:36:42,400 You want life to be on your terms. 539 00:36:43,480 --> 00:36:47,680 And the Bible tells us that when you are in that place, the end 540 00:36:47,680 --> 00:36:50,520 result is you will encounter the judgement of God. 541 00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:56,240 God always gets the final say, but the good news is that your 542 00:36:56,240 --> 00:36:57,880 story doesn't need to end like that. 543 00:36:59,080 --> 00:37:03,000 God loves you and God sent his Son Jesus Christ to die on a 544 00:37:03,000 --> 00:37:05,880 cross and take the judgement in your place. 545 00:37:06,800 --> 00:37:10,000 And if you turn from your way of life and you put your faith in 546 00:37:10,120 --> 00:37:12,920 Jesus, you surrender your life to Jesus. 547 00:37:13,920 --> 00:37:17,600 Your entire status before God changes. 548 00:37:18,720 --> 00:37:22,520 Instead of God opposing you, He is now the God who is for you. 549 00:37:26,160 --> 00:37:29,800 When you become when you put your faith in Jesus, you become 550 00:37:29,800 --> 00:37:34,200 a child of God and he's your father. 551 00:37:36,080 --> 00:37:38,680 And if you're here today and you've already put your faith in 552 00:37:38,760 --> 00:37:44,120 Jesus, I want you to understand this with absolute confidence. 553 00:37:44,120 --> 00:37:47,280 Even though you might be in the waiting and you've got all kinds 554 00:37:47,280 --> 00:37:50,640 of pain going on and you've tried to surrender it all to 555 00:37:50,640 --> 00:37:54,960 God, here's one thing you can be absolutely confident about 556 00:37:54,960 --> 00:38:00,560 because you are God's child. God will pay attention to your 557 00:38:00,560 --> 00:38:04,480 needs. Look down in verse 21 of chapter 558 00:38:04,480 --> 00:38:11,840 2. After all this time, all this 559 00:38:11,840 --> 00:38:19,040 waiting, all this praying, all of this worshipping, we finally 560 00:38:19,040 --> 00:38:23,120 get to a place where it says the Lord paid attention to Hannah's 561 00:38:23,120 --> 00:38:27,280 need and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two 562 00:38:27,280 --> 00:38:33,160 daughters. I can't promise you how God's 563 00:38:33,160 --> 00:38:37,400 going to meet your need. I, I don't know He's going to 564 00:38:37,400 --> 00:38:39,280 meet your need the way he did for Hannah. 565 00:38:41,800 --> 00:38:45,560 But I can promise you this. If you are one of his children, 566 00:38:46,120 --> 00:38:50,600 He will meet your need. He knows what your need is even 567 00:38:50,600 --> 00:38:52,160 more than you know what your need is. 568 00:38:52,920 --> 00:38:55,960 He's a God who has promised to meet all of our needs. 569 00:38:56,520 --> 00:39:00,360 You can count on that. You can take it to the bank, and 570 00:39:00,360 --> 00:39:03,640 one of the greatest needs that all of us have is peace. 571 00:39:04,560 --> 00:39:10,400 We, we live in a world that is filled with so much anxiety, so 572 00:39:10,400 --> 00:39:14,120 much stress, so much fear and concern. 573 00:39:15,960 --> 00:39:19,760 You know, I, I usually eight sermons where people turn 574 00:39:19,760 --> 00:39:25,480 Christianity into a formula. I'm not a fan of if you just do 575 00:39:25,480 --> 00:39:29,120 this and this and this and this, then everything's going to turn 576 00:39:29,120 --> 00:39:32,720 out all right and we'll all live happily ever after because we 577 00:39:32,720 --> 00:39:35,520 all know that that's typically not how things work out. 578 00:39:36,400 --> 00:39:41,680 OK, But what I'm talking about today, it's not a formula, it's 579 00:39:41,680 --> 00:39:45,880 a promise. I'm going to put a verse up on 580 00:39:45,880 --> 00:39:48,160 the screen from the book of Philippians chapter 4. 581 00:39:50,400 --> 00:39:53,840 Paul, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, God himself is 582 00:39:53,840 --> 00:39:59,120 telling us this. Don't worry about anything but 583 00:39:59,120 --> 00:40:04,600 in everything. Through prayer and petition with 584 00:40:04,600 --> 00:40:08,680 Thanksgiving that that word Thanksgiving is not just a 585 00:40:08,680 --> 00:40:11,200 checking something off the list of saying I'm thankful to God. 586 00:40:11,360 --> 00:40:14,920 It it represents this idea from the bottom of your heart like 587 00:40:14,920 --> 00:40:20,880 you're worshipping God with Thanksgiving present your 588 00:40:20,880 --> 00:40:25,400 request to God. That's what God calls us to do. 589 00:40:25,400 --> 00:40:29,840 And now comes his promise and the peace of God, which 590 00:40:29,840 --> 00:40:39,200 surpasses all understanding. Will, will, will guard your 591 00:40:39,200 --> 00:40:44,320 hearts and minds in Christ Jesus in your most difficult moments. 592 00:40:44,920 --> 00:40:49,400 Prayer is the way to experience peace, even if you don't know if 593 00:40:49,400 --> 00:40:53,800 the problem will be fixed. I'm going to ask you to close 594 00:40:53,800 --> 00:41:04,040 your eyes. I know that today in this room 595 00:41:04,040 --> 00:41:08,000 right now, there are people who you're feeling the weight of the 596 00:41:08,000 --> 00:41:15,480 world just like Hannah was. And just here in this moment and 597 00:41:15,480 --> 00:41:17,800 just in a couple minutes, I'm going to be quiet. 598 00:41:17,800 --> 00:41:18,800 I'm just going to give you space. 599 00:41:18,800 --> 00:41:22,920 I just want you to quietly pray and pour out your heart before 600 00:41:22,920 --> 00:41:27,480 God, knowing that He's a God who sees you and He hears you. 601 00:41:30,960 --> 00:41:33,320 If you're here today and you don't have that going on in your 602 00:41:33,320 --> 00:41:37,240 life, but you know someone who does, I want you to pray for 603 00:41:37,240 --> 00:41:41,680 them right now that they would know and experience the peace of 604 00:41:41,680 --> 00:41:45,880 God in their hearts. Not just a theory, but it would 605 00:41:45,880 --> 00:41:52,200 be reality for them. Let's take the next minute in 606 00:41:52,200 --> 00:41:57,520 the presence of the Lord of Armies and pray to Him.