1 00:00:00,300 --> 00:00:03,800 We have been in this great sermon series at the beginning 2 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:07,600 of this year. Entitled Walking with God and 3 00:00:07,700 --> 00:00:08,800 we're going to end with this one. 4 00:00:08,800 --> 00:00:12,800 Last story about one of my favorite biblical figures Hannah 5 00:00:13,700 --> 00:00:20,300 and I personally love Hannah story because it's this raw 6 00:00:20,300 --> 00:00:22,500 honest. Intimate look into the life of a 7 00:00:22,508 --> 00:00:27,400 woman who is striving to follow God but he was also struggling 8 00:00:27,500 --> 00:00:31,000 with the pain of unfulfilled. Desires. 9 00:00:31,500 --> 00:00:34,100 And the narratives that we find in the Bible, the real story is 10 00:00:34,100 --> 00:00:36,700 of people learning what it looks like to relate to. 11 00:00:36,708 --> 00:00:40,100 God can be very different from one another and so each one can 12 00:00:40,100 --> 00:00:42,500 speak a different word into our lives. 13 00:00:42,700 --> 00:00:45,900 When I read the story of David and Goliath, I might feel 14 00:00:45,900 --> 00:00:49,100 strengthened by David's courage and his trust in God, in the 15 00:00:49,100 --> 00:00:52,600 face of these seemingly insurmountable odds. 16 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:55,400 And when I read about the Apostle, Paul's missionary 17 00:00:55,400 --> 00:00:59,300 Journeys and might be inspired by his passion to share the good 18 00:00:59,300 --> 00:01:01,700 news of Jesus. This with everyone and his 19 00:01:01,700 --> 00:01:04,900 passion for the church to see it grow in Holiness and 20 00:01:04,900 --> 00:01:08,300 faithfulness. But when I read the story of 21 00:01:08,300 --> 00:01:12,700 Hannah, I feel like I'm looking inside my own heart. 22 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:18,400 She is not a ruler or a warrior or a world traveling Church. 23 00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:22,700 Planter, she is an ordinary woman with a very messy and 24 00:01:22,700 --> 00:01:26,400 complicated family life. And she wants her life to change 25 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:29,400 but she feels powerless to do anything about it. 26 00:01:30,500 --> 00:01:34,400 Can anyone relate to that? Have you ever walked through a 27 00:01:34,408 --> 00:01:37,500 season where you felt like your life was being defined by 28 00:01:37,500 --> 00:01:40,800 something that was missing? Something that was Out Of Reach, 29 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:43,100 even if you didn't want it to be that way. 30 00:01:43,300 --> 00:01:46,200 Everything seemed to revolve around this desire. 31 00:01:47,100 --> 00:01:52,100 A dream job or just a way out of a really bad job relationship. 32 00:01:52,100 --> 00:01:56,400 A family, a community to be a part of a sense of calling and 33 00:01:56,400 --> 00:01:59,400 direction to bring you out of a dry season. 34 00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:04,900 Hannah gives a voice to the instincts of longings of the 35 00:02:04,900 --> 00:02:09,199 human heart for purpose, for fulfillment, to find our place 36 00:02:09,199 --> 00:02:11,700 in the world for someone to love. 37 00:02:13,100 --> 00:02:15,900 The presence of her story and scripture and the intention. 38 00:02:15,900 --> 00:02:20,200 And the detail that we see their shows us that God, saw Hannah's 39 00:02:20,200 --> 00:02:26,600 heart, God heard Hannah's cries and that means that God sees and 40 00:02:26,600 --> 00:02:30,700 hears us. And this is why I deeply believe 41 00:02:30,700 --> 00:02:35,900 that we need Hannah story today and that God can and will speak 42 00:02:35,900 --> 00:02:38,700 to us through it. So, before we dive deeper, I'm 43 00:02:38,700 --> 00:02:40,800 just going to open us with a quick word of Prayer. 44 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:46,700 Father, we thank you for the gift of your word. 45 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:53,600 We thank you for its surprising humanness the way that you enter 46 00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:57,300 into the lives of people and some of them film extraordinary 47 00:02:57,300 --> 00:02:59,800 and some of them feel ordinary and some of them are super messy 48 00:02:59,800 --> 00:03:02,400 and some of them are complicated and confusing Lord. 49 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:06,600 But in them, we see ourselves and we pray that just as you 50 00:03:06,600 --> 00:03:09,400 appear to people and you minister to them and you met 51 00:03:09,400 --> 00:03:11,800 them in their weakness in their dismay. 52 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:13,800 They and their darkness and their confusion, and their 53 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:17,500 questions in their longings. We pray that you would meet us, 54 00:03:18,100 --> 00:03:20,100 holy spirit. We need to feel your presence 55 00:03:20,100 --> 00:03:22,900 today. We need to know you as a God who 56 00:03:22,900 --> 00:03:26,200 walks with us. Lord, I just, I thank you for 57 00:03:26,200 --> 00:03:29,400 the ways of my own life, where you've appeared in the midst of 58 00:03:29,600 --> 00:03:32,400 darkness and cloudiness God. And I thank you for the way that 59 00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:36,400 Hannah story has ministered to me, and I just pray that the 60 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:39,700 life that you poured into her, the way that you cared for her, 61 00:03:39,900 --> 00:03:43,300 the way that you walked with, her would speak to us today and 62 00:03:43,300 --> 00:03:45,000 encourage us to draw near to you. 63 00:03:45,700 --> 00:03:47,400 We pray all these things in Jesus name. 64 00:03:47,600 --> 00:03:52,200 Amen. So, Hannah story appears at the 65 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:54,500 very beginning of the book of Samuel. 66 00:03:54,500 --> 00:03:57,900 So, in the Hebrew Bible, the Tanakh Samuel comes right after 67 00:03:57,900 --> 00:04:01,000 the Book of Judges. Now, this is important context 68 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:04,300 because it helps us understand the world that Hannah lived in. 69 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:08,600 So the Book of Judges to use a term that will expose my 70 00:04:08,600 --> 00:04:11,900 Southern California, Roots is super gnarly. 71 00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:17,600 Just when you think things can't get any more violent and 72 00:04:17,600 --> 00:04:21,200 degenerate and morally Erupt, they do. 73 00:04:22,300 --> 00:04:24,500 And the last line of Judges summarizes, the state of things 74 00:04:24,500 --> 00:04:28,100 that says, in those days, there was no king in Israel. 75 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:31,200 Everyone did what was right in their own eyes. 76 00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:33,800 And these words should strike us. 77 00:04:33,800 --> 00:04:38,300 As ominous leadership was lacking morality and Justice had 78 00:04:38,300 --> 00:04:40,300 been abandoned. And by the end of Judges, people 79 00:04:40,300 --> 00:04:43,400 are committing these horrendous atrocities against each other, 80 00:04:43,700 --> 00:04:47,100 and Israel is clearly in a state of spiritual crisis. 81 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:52,300 And yet in this era when depravity was high and knowledge 82 00:04:52,300 --> 00:04:55,400 of God was low. The book of Samuel introduces us 83 00:04:55,400 --> 00:04:59,800 to a family who follows God now they're far from perfect, but 84 00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:03,800 given their social context elkanah and Anna's Faith stands 85 00:05:03,800 --> 00:05:07,700 out as unusual. Every year, Hannah's, husband, 86 00:05:07,700 --> 00:05:10,300 elkanah and Hannah's Faith or side every year, Hannah's 87 00:05:10,300 --> 00:05:13,700 husband, elkanah brings the whole family to the temple, at 88 00:05:13,700 --> 00:05:17,600 Shiloh, to worship to seek, God's presence and favor. 89 00:05:18,500 --> 00:05:21,900 But for Hannah, these annual pilgrimages were a special 90 00:05:21,900 --> 00:05:25,700 source of pain because elka's second wife pain. 91 00:05:25,700 --> 00:05:30,100 Anna use this opportunity to provoke Hannah and remind her 92 00:05:30,100 --> 00:05:34,300 that she is Barren pain and I had sons and daughters but 93 00:05:34,300 --> 00:05:37,900 Hannah had done. And Hannah's inability to have a 94 00:05:37,907 --> 00:05:40,100 child. Would have been painful for a 95 00:05:40,108 --> 00:05:43,500 number of reasons. So first in Hannah's time and 96 00:05:43,500 --> 00:05:46,200 that era having children was especially financially 97 00:05:46,200 --> 00:05:48,600 important. Having a son in particular meant 98 00:05:48,600 --> 00:05:51,500 that you had an error, your property would stay within your 99 00:05:51,500 --> 00:05:54,800 immediate family, your son would learn your husband's trade and 100 00:05:54,800 --> 00:05:57,800 carry on the family business and you'd be taken care of in your 101 00:05:57,800 --> 00:06:00,800 old age and commentators suggest that. 102 00:06:00,800 --> 00:06:03,400 It's likely that the reason L can took a second wife is 103 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:05,700 because Hannah could not have children. 104 00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:08,100 Mmm. And while this cultural context 105 00:06:08,100 --> 00:06:11,000 is different for us and hard to understand and wrestle with, I 106 00:06:11,008 --> 00:06:14,500 think we can imagine how painful this would have been for Hannah. 107 00:06:14,700 --> 00:06:18,700 And how for her, this is equated to having no role in her family 108 00:06:18,700 --> 00:06:21,600 and perhaps feeling like she was only a liability. 109 00:06:23,100 --> 00:06:26,900 Secondly, Hannah likely experienced social stigma for 110 00:06:26,900 --> 00:06:29,800 being Barren. And one scholar says that for a 111 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:32,700 Hebrew woman in that era to have no child, was not only a 112 00:06:32,707 --> 00:06:35,700 disappointment, but seemed to make one out as Dishonored by 113 00:06:35,700 --> 00:06:38,800 God, since children were considered a sign of God's favor 114 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:42,200 childless, women were often scorned and female Society. 115 00:06:42,300 --> 00:06:44,900 Depriving them of the emotional support they needed. 116 00:06:45,500 --> 00:06:48,800 So, Hannah was likely, socially excluded, lonely and looked down 117 00:06:48,800 --> 00:06:52,700 on by others. And lastly, Hannah may have 118 00:06:52,700 --> 00:06:54,700 wanted children, simply because she wanted children. 119 00:06:55,300 --> 00:06:57,800 It was an egg that just existed in her heart. 120 00:06:57,900 --> 00:07:00,600 And sometimes the things we long for are just a part of being 121 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:03,900 human and they don't require much analysis, or explanation. 122 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:08,600 God himself is a father and a Creator and he chose to invest 123 00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:11,700 his love and care and to humanity and we Are Made In His 124 00:07:11,700 --> 00:07:13,600 Image. So our desires are sometimes a 125 00:07:13,608 --> 00:07:17,100 reflection of our call to be caretakers of creation. 126 00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:21,300 So even if Hannah's circumstances are familiar to 127 00:07:21,300 --> 00:07:25,700 us, we can relate to the core of her desires, to have a sense of 128 00:07:25,700 --> 00:07:30,900 purpose, to no longer be on the outside, looking in, for the 129 00:07:30,900 --> 00:07:36,600 voices of envy and self-doubt to be quieted to have something 130 00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:41,200 meaningful to invest our lives in, If we take a step back from 131 00:07:41,200 --> 00:07:45,500 the historical and the cultural details on a very human level, 132 00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:50,200 Hannah's story is about longing. It asked the challenging 133 00:07:50,200 --> 00:07:54,200 question, how do the Deep desires of our hearts intersect 134 00:07:54,200 --> 00:07:58,500 with our relationship with God or to put it another way as 135 00:07:58,500 --> 00:08:01,500 people of Faith? What do we do with our longings 136 00:08:02,300 --> 00:08:04,200 especially in the face of unanswered prayer? 137 00:08:05,800 --> 00:08:09,300 And honestly I have way more questions than I have answers on 138 00:08:09,300 --> 00:08:12,600 this topic and pressing into these questions about desire and 139 00:08:12,600 --> 00:08:16,100 faith is intimidating because first we live in a culture that 140 00:08:16,100 --> 00:08:20,600 tends to run after its impulses without wisdom or restrained and 141 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:23,400 secondly, because Christian culture sometimes reacts to 142 00:08:23,400 --> 00:08:26,200 this, by trying to squash down our desires and live into this, 143 00:08:26,200 --> 00:08:29,000 kind of Christian stoicism, that's all reason and no 144 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:33,400 passion, We know that the Bible does warn us about things that 145 00:08:33,400 --> 00:08:36,799 it calls, deceitful, desires, desires of the Flesh. 146 00:08:36,799 --> 00:08:39,500 And these would be things that explicitly run against the 147 00:08:39,500 --> 00:08:41,700 nature. And the character of God, things 148 00:08:41,700 --> 00:08:47,000 that are motivated by Envy rage, lust greed selfishness, instead 149 00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:51,700 of compassion wisdom, patience, generosity self-sacrifice. 150 00:08:52,500 --> 00:08:55,800 But for many of us like, Hannah, the desires, that permeate our 151 00:08:55,808 --> 00:08:59,400 day-to-day lives, fall more in kind of this ambiguous, gray 152 00:08:59,400 --> 00:09:02,800 neutral zone. Our desire for relationship, 153 00:09:03,200 --> 00:09:07,300 vocation a purpose, security, and these other ordinary 154 00:09:07,300 --> 00:09:10,300 longings of the human heart. What do we do with those? 155 00:09:11,500 --> 00:09:14,300 I believe that Hannah story wants to just provided 156 00:09:14,300 --> 00:09:19,600 encouragement that God wants to speak into our desires. 157 00:09:20,600 --> 00:09:24,200 God wants to walk with us as we navigate and discover our 158 00:09:24,200 --> 00:09:28,800 desires, our dreams, our hopes God already knows what we want, 159 00:09:28,900 --> 00:09:32,300 even if we don't And I think this is important because 160 00:09:32,300 --> 00:09:36,600 bringing our longings before God is an opportunity to strengthen 161 00:09:36,600 --> 00:09:38,300 and enrich, our relationship with him. 162 00:09:38,300 --> 00:09:42,700 As we discover How Deeply He Loves Us, How Deeply he knows Us 163 00:09:43,100 --> 00:09:46,000 and how he approaches each of our requests with wisdom and 164 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:48,600 care. So, as we look again, at 165 00:09:48,600 --> 00:09:51,000 Hannah's story, I want us to notice three things that she 166 00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:55,200 does that lend themselves toward a deeper and a richer Faith. 167 00:09:55,700 --> 00:09:58,900 So, first Hannah moves toward God. 168 00:09:59,600 --> 00:10:04,900 Secondly can No, pours out her heart to God and third, Hannah 169 00:10:04,900 --> 00:10:09,200 Waits on God. So, firsthand a moves toward 170 00:10:09,200 --> 00:10:11,500 God. So years ago, I listened to a 171 00:10:11,508 --> 00:10:15,200 sermon that Tim Keller, preached on the same passage and he cites 172 00:10:15,200 --> 00:10:19,900 this renowned Hebrew scholar, who analyzes, first Samuel 1 173 00:10:19,900 --> 00:10:23,200 verse 9, where the whole family is at the temple for the 174 00:10:23,208 --> 00:10:26,100 sacrifices. And the text says, once when 175 00:10:26,100 --> 00:10:29,200 they had finished eating and drinking at Shiloh, Hannah stood 176 00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:31,300 up. And the Hebrew scholar points 177 00:10:31,300 --> 00:10:34,300 out that, that last phrase seems like an unnecessary detail. 178 00:10:34,300 --> 00:10:37,200 Because anytime someone is sitting and needs to move on to 179 00:10:37,208 --> 00:10:38,900 the next thing, of course, they stand up. 180 00:10:39,100 --> 00:10:43,900 So why is that in The Story? So He suggests that the phrase 181 00:10:43,900 --> 00:10:47,300 is likely an idiom, which means that it's not merely literal, 182 00:10:47,500 --> 00:10:49,600 and it was sitting and then she was standing and she was walking 183 00:10:50,600 --> 00:10:53,300 instead. It implies that Hannah is moving 184 00:10:53,300 --> 00:10:56,900 from being passive to being active and she's taking a 185 00:10:56,900 --> 00:11:00,300 decisive action. And this Turning Point Point 186 00:11:00,300 --> 00:11:03,800 this radical action that Hannah takes is to pray. 187 00:11:05,300 --> 00:11:08,100 Do we think of prayer as being active? 188 00:11:09,100 --> 00:11:13,300 Do we believe that our prayers shift, the tides of our reality? 189 00:11:14,800 --> 00:11:17,900 I heard an analogy once that compared our spiritual lives to 190 00:11:17,900 --> 00:11:20,700 swimming in the ocean because there's no such thing as staying 191 00:11:20,700 --> 00:11:22,800 still. If you don't choose a direction, 192 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:26,100 the waves of our surroundings will decide where we go and the 193 00:11:26,100 --> 00:11:29,400 undercurrent of the world will invariably pull us farther away 194 00:11:29,400 --> 00:11:33,100 from God. It's a metaphor has its flaws. 195 00:11:33,100 --> 00:11:36,900 But what I find helpful about this one, is it frames Faith as 196 00:11:36,900 --> 00:11:41,200 something that is oriented in a direction, we can move toward 197 00:11:41,200 --> 00:11:46,200 God or away from God. And prayer is movement, toward 198 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:50,800 God, the act of drawing near to God always changes us. 199 00:11:51,500 --> 00:11:55,100 And so, Hannah orient's herself toward God by bringing her 200 00:11:55,100 --> 00:11:59,200 complaint to him and she tells Eli the priest, I have been 201 00:11:59,200 --> 00:12:03,700 praying here out of my great. Great, anguish and grief and the 202 00:12:03,700 --> 00:12:07,000 Hebrew word that is translated. Anguish can also be known as 203 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:08,900 complaint and the word translated. 204 00:12:08,900 --> 00:12:12,600 Grief can also be translated fixation or even anger. 205 00:12:13,500 --> 00:12:17,400 So Hannah moves toward god with her complaint even if her 206 00:12:17,400 --> 00:12:21,800 complaint is against him, The Lord is described as the one who 207 00:12:21,800 --> 00:12:25,100 closed Hannah's womb, which may be challenging to us, but 208 00:12:25,100 --> 00:12:27,400 acknowledges that God is the only one who can do something 209 00:12:27,400 --> 00:12:30,600 about her situation. So Hannah's decision to come to 210 00:12:30,600 --> 00:12:34,200 God, says, a lot about what she believes to be true about him. 211 00:12:34,600 --> 00:12:37,500 Even if she's mainly motivated by pure desperation that 212 00:12:37,500 --> 00:12:42,000 desperation compels her to hope that God might be merciful, that 213 00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:45,000 he might listen to her tears that he might have compassion 214 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:48,700 and answer her cries. Throughout the gospels, people 215 00:12:48,700 --> 00:12:52,000 would draw near to Jesus, to ask him for healing and freedom from 216 00:12:52,000 --> 00:12:54,300 spiritual oppression, and many were motivated. 217 00:12:54,300 --> 00:12:58,300 Probably mostly by desperation, but they found God to be 218 00:12:58,300 --> 00:13:01,100 willing. There's a story of a Canaanite 219 00:13:01,100 --> 00:13:02,900 woman who brings her daughter to Jesus. 220 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:05,600 And at first, it seems like baby, Jesus may not answer her 221 00:13:05,600 --> 00:13:09,000 prayer because he tells her I was sent only to the lost sheep 222 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:13,400 of East sheep of Israel during this time, but she keeps asking 223 00:13:13,400 --> 00:13:17,500 him for mercy and whether or not she realizes it This Canaanite 224 00:13:17,500 --> 00:13:21,500 woman is making a choice. She is choosing to believe that 225 00:13:21,500 --> 00:13:25,900 Jesus can heal and that it's worth it to keep taking the risk 226 00:13:25,900 --> 00:13:29,200 to keep asking, because she might yet see his compassion. 227 00:13:30,700 --> 00:13:33,900 And the second time Jesus responds to her by saying O 228 00:13:33,900 --> 00:13:36,100 woman great. Is your faith. 229 00:13:36,500 --> 00:13:40,300 Be it done for you as you desire and it says that her daughter 230 00:13:40,300 --> 00:13:45,200 was healed instantly. Her persistence and boldness, 231 00:13:45,300 --> 00:13:49,000 may have felt more like a Hail Mary pass than an Act of Faith. 232 00:13:49,400 --> 00:13:54,400 But God responded. And even though Hannah has not, 233 00:13:54,400 --> 00:13:56,700 yet seen evidence of God's hand at work. 234 00:13:56,700 --> 00:13:59,800 She chooses to put her hopes in his hands and she does. 235 00:13:59,800 --> 00:14:02,700 So, by pouring out her soul to God. 236 00:14:02,900 --> 00:14:05,400 This is our second Point, Hannah, pours out her heart to 237 00:14:05,400 --> 00:14:08,500 God, and the emotional language that's used in this passage is 238 00:14:08,500 --> 00:14:12,400 intense, she's in the temple weeping bitterly and the verb. 239 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:14,500 Because actually repeated twice in different forms. 240 00:14:14,500 --> 00:14:17,300 So it's almost as if she's saying that she was weeping 241 00:14:17,400 --> 00:14:22,000 weeping Lee, her soul is distressed or bitter as if her 242 00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:26,000 pain left like an unpleasant taste on her tongue that colored 243 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:30,300 how she experienced her life and she describes herself as pouring 244 00:14:30,300 --> 00:14:32,900 out her soul to the Lord pouring out. 245 00:14:32,900 --> 00:14:35,800 As if she were emptying a picture pitcher of water or a 246 00:14:35,800 --> 00:14:39,800 dam that had been blocked up or her soul which in Hebrew is a 247 00:14:39,800 --> 00:14:42,400 word that encompasses someone's whole self. 248 00:14:42,500 --> 00:14:46,200 Their life, their desire, their emotion and much, like, the 249 00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:49,000 psalmist Hannah is not holding anything back from God. 250 00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:54,300 Pouring out, two hearts to God is easier said than done. 251 00:14:54,800 --> 00:14:57,800 It takes a lot of vulnerability to come to God with your 252 00:14:57,800 --> 00:15:01,100 internal Mass to come to God. When you don't feel heard by him 253 00:15:02,100 --> 00:15:04,100 by Nature. I'm a person who feels things 254 00:15:04,100 --> 00:15:06,400 strongly, a lot of my emotions just feel like tidal waves. 255 00:15:06,400 --> 00:15:09,800 That hit me and watch over me. And yet, I still find myself 256 00:15:09,800 --> 00:15:13,100 tempted to hide my feelings from God as if that were even 257 00:15:13,100 --> 00:15:15,800 possible. Even when I'm praying, I'll be 258 00:15:15,800 --> 00:15:18,700 trying to do this Balancing Act between being honest about my 259 00:15:18,700 --> 00:15:21,100 feelings, but also You seem low maintenance. 260 00:15:21,900 --> 00:15:25,900 Do you ever do this? Like, hi guys, it's me. 261 00:15:25,900 --> 00:15:28,000 Just wanted to pray about that thing. 262 00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:31,500 I know I've prayed for before but you tell us to ask, and so 263 00:15:31,500 --> 00:15:34,400 I'm asking, but if the answer is no, that's okay. 264 00:15:35,300 --> 00:15:38,500 I mean, I'll be super sad, but I'm already sad right now. 265 00:15:38,500 --> 00:15:42,200 So, not much will change. Anyway, let me know when you 266 00:15:42,200 --> 00:15:46,100 have a chance. This isn't technically a prayer 267 00:15:46,200 --> 00:15:48,300 but it's more like a plate voicemail that I'm leaving. 268 00:15:48,300 --> 00:15:50,800 God, I'm gonna Daniel. So I don't even leave. 269 00:15:50,800 --> 00:15:58,200 More smells even though honesty reticle level, I believe that 270 00:15:58,200 --> 00:16:02,600 God is omniscient omnipotent omnipresent he is he knows 271 00:16:02,600 --> 00:16:07,700 everything he can do anything. He is always available sometimes 272 00:16:07,700 --> 00:16:10,300 I still hold back. As if I might say or do 273 00:16:10,300 --> 00:16:13,500 something that would make God not want to call me back. 274 00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:18,300 And sometimes we approach God more like he is a Stern Monarch 275 00:16:18,300 --> 00:16:23,000 or a busy executive or emotionally unavailable parent. 276 00:16:24,600 --> 00:16:27,000 More like the people in our Lives, who didn't know what to 277 00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:30,300 do, with the parts of us that were raw and messy, and confused 278 00:16:30,300 --> 00:16:35,400 and needed, help and direction. But Jesus says to his disciples 279 00:16:35,400 --> 00:16:40,200 in John 16, ask and you will receive that your joy may be 280 00:16:40,200 --> 00:16:43,800 full. God wants us to come to him with 281 00:16:43,800 --> 00:16:47,400 our desires and needs. God wants to see us filled with 282 00:16:47,400 --> 00:16:50,300 joy. Do you believe this? 283 00:16:51,300 --> 00:16:58,400 Do I believe this, God, sent his Spirit to dwell within his 284 00:16:58,400 --> 00:17:02,800 people, which means that God chose to always be with us to 285 00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:05,800 never be far from you or separated from you. 286 00:17:06,900 --> 00:17:11,099 God is not going to ghost you. Do you hear that? 287 00:17:13,200 --> 00:17:15,800 He has taken the time to get to know your heart. 288 00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:18,500 You can't surprise him or overwhelm him, he doesn't 289 00:17:18,500 --> 00:17:21,400 misunderstand you when you speak even if you're not exactly sure. 290 00:17:21,400 --> 00:17:24,700 What you're saying before, a word is on our tongues, God 291 00:17:24,700 --> 00:17:27,400 knows it completely. That's from Psalm 139. 292 00:17:28,900 --> 00:17:33,300 God is a safe place for those who come humbly to him to pour 293 00:17:33,300 --> 00:17:36,800 out their hearts. And I also want to say this when 294 00:17:36,800 --> 00:17:39,000 I talk about pouring out our hearts to God, I don't want us 295 00:17:39,008 --> 00:17:41,700 to confuse that, with their particular type of emotional 296 00:17:41,700 --> 00:17:46,300 expression, some people are prone to tears case in point, 297 00:17:46,800 --> 00:17:50,600 some are not some of clear words for their emotions and some find 298 00:17:50,600 --> 00:17:53,700 them difficult to Define and articulate some experience 299 00:17:53,700 --> 00:17:56,500 themselves, more as thinkers and are more aware of what they're 300 00:17:56,500 --> 00:17:58,600 analyzing and processing than what they're feeling. 301 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:02,600 The Hebrew words for heart and soul are holistic. 302 00:18:02,600 --> 00:18:05,400 They Encompass will reason emotion, all of it. 303 00:18:05,700 --> 00:18:08,900 So, what Hannah models is not just about feeling, it's about 304 00:18:08,900 --> 00:18:12,700 honesty, the willingness to open ourselves up to God. 305 00:18:12,700 --> 00:18:16,300 And let him meet us in our uncertainty, our helplessness, 306 00:18:16,500 --> 00:18:20,000 our weakness, bringing her honest request before. 307 00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:23,500 God, laying it all out on the table, creates space for him to 308 00:18:23,500 --> 00:18:26,400 work in our lives. And we see this in Han is 309 00:18:26,400 --> 00:18:28,700 experienced through the vowel that she needs. 310 00:18:28,800 --> 00:18:32,200 Ex she promises that if the Lord will give her a son, she will 311 00:18:32,200 --> 00:18:35,100 give him to the Lord for all the days of his life. 312 00:18:35,700 --> 00:18:39,100 So after all her longing for a child, Hannah tells God that 313 00:18:39,100 --> 00:18:42,100 she's willing to have her child grow up, not in her own home, 314 00:18:42,100 --> 00:18:45,600 where she can see him every day, but in the temple as an honorary 315 00:18:45,600 --> 00:18:48,100 levite, a part of the Israelite priesthood. 316 00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:52,300 So this part of the story is tricky, I think there may be a 317 00:18:52,308 --> 00:18:56,700 Temptation here to see The Vow, as the reason that God answered 318 00:18:56,700 --> 00:18:58,600 Hannah's Prayer and gave her a child. 319 00:18:59,100 --> 00:19:01,600 And some have even thought that maybe Hannah's original desire 320 00:19:01,600 --> 00:19:04,700 for a child was selfish, and God was waiting on Hannah to pray 321 00:19:04,700 --> 00:19:09,500 unselfishly before he responded. Now, I think there's a potential 322 00:19:09,500 --> 00:19:12,900 truth and a problem that I see with that. 323 00:19:13,700 --> 00:19:17,300 So, it's true that when it comes to answering prayer, God is an 324 00:19:17,300 --> 00:19:21,200 excellent multitasker. He's often working many things 325 00:19:21,200 --> 00:19:23,500 in our lives all at once. And one of those things is 326 00:19:23,500 --> 00:19:27,300 typically our sanctification shaping, our character healing 327 00:19:27,300 --> 00:19:30,200 things, in our hearts to protect his gifts from becoming burdens 328 00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:33,900 or Idols. It is true that God refines us 329 00:19:33,900 --> 00:19:36,700 in our waiting and that's likely one of the many beautiful 330 00:19:36,700 --> 00:19:38,100 things. That he's working in Hannah's 331 00:19:38,100 --> 00:19:42,100 life but I think we want to be careful about creating a kind of 332 00:19:42,100 --> 00:19:45,600 formula from Hannah's Prayer where we say to ourselves. 333 00:19:46,300 --> 00:19:49,100 If I can just reach a point where my desire is free from 334 00:19:49,100 --> 00:19:51,500 selfishness, then God will answer my prayer. 335 00:19:52,900 --> 00:19:56,600 I think the problem is that if we set conditions for what it 336 00:19:56,600 --> 00:19:59,900 takes for God, to answer our prayers, we accidentally make 337 00:19:59,900 --> 00:20:03,800 prayer merit-based. As if the better we become, the 338 00:20:03,800 --> 00:20:05,900 more likely God is to answer our prayers. 339 00:20:06,800 --> 00:20:10,600 In this could risk clouding, the beauty that is at the heart of 340 00:20:10,600 --> 00:20:13,600 prayer. So one beautiful Nuance in the 341 00:20:13,600 --> 00:20:18,800 story and Hannah's story is that her name Hannah in Hebrew, comes 342 00:20:18,800 --> 00:20:24,300 from the word for Grace prayer. Is Means through which we 343 00:20:24,300 --> 00:20:30,400 experience God's grace. As we come to God, we discover 344 00:20:30,400 --> 00:20:35,300 that he is gracious towards his children, he listens to us, even 345 00:20:35,300 --> 00:20:38,300 though at times we've ignored his voice, he is generous 346 00:20:38,300 --> 00:20:40,800 towards us, even though we've been stingy and giving our time 347 00:20:40,800 --> 00:20:44,000 and our resources to him, he's faithful to us. 348 00:20:44,300 --> 00:20:49,500 Even when our faith has proven fickle and frail in Grace is 349 00:20:49,500 --> 00:20:53,300 what changes us. Earning makes us entitled. 350 00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:57,700 We begin to see God as if our good behavior means that he owes 351 00:20:57,700 --> 00:21:00,500 us favors. But when the grace behind the 352 00:21:00,500 --> 00:21:04,200 gospel and the truth of the Bible, penetrate our hearts and 353 00:21:04,200 --> 00:21:09,200 we realized that we are selfish short-sighted, sinful creatures, 354 00:21:09,500 --> 00:21:12,700 we will be shocked and amazed at how kind God is to us. 355 00:21:13,900 --> 00:21:17,100 God receives our prayers, our requests, our longings are 356 00:21:17,100 --> 00:21:20,800 cries, and he thoughtfully and lovingly plans out how he can 357 00:21:20,800 --> 00:21:22,700 answer them. In a way that brings about 358 00:21:22,700 --> 00:21:25,900 goodness and growth and blessing and more often than not. 359 00:21:25,900 --> 00:21:28,100 I've discovered that God answers prayers, what? 360 00:21:28,100 --> 00:21:31,500 And how he chooses in ways that reveal more of who he is, and 361 00:21:31,500 --> 00:21:34,700 expands our faith. So, we have to see him as 362 00:21:34,700 --> 00:21:39,100 experienced in prayer, through the lens of God's grace, Hannah 363 00:21:39,100 --> 00:21:42,000 is on a unique Journey, with God, whatever she's prayed 364 00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:43,800 before. Whatever things God has been 365 00:21:43,800 --> 00:21:46,000 doing in her life. Up to this point, brings her to 366 00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:49,700 this moment of extraordinary surrender and asking God for 367 00:21:49,700 --> 00:21:51,600 very different type of motherhood than we would expect 368 00:21:51,700 --> 00:21:55,600 Dr. To want and this valve that she makes is important to her 369 00:21:55,600 --> 00:21:59,100 walk with God, because her son will grow up to become a 370 00:21:59,100 --> 00:22:02,700 righteous priest and a sea of unrighteous priests will be the 371 00:22:02,700 --> 00:22:06,200 first in a line of important prophets who discern God's will 372 00:22:06,200 --> 00:22:08,800 for his nation. And he will play a pivotal role 373 00:22:08,900 --> 00:22:12,100 in restoring faith. In Israel Samuels, priesthood 374 00:22:12,100 --> 00:22:15,800 will be a blessing to the entire nation and Beyond. 375 00:22:15,900 --> 00:22:18,900 And for that to happen, Hannah has to be able to accept a very 376 00:22:18,900 --> 00:22:24,200 different role in his life. But through prayer, God brings 377 00:22:24,200 --> 00:22:28,100 Hannah to a place where without knowing it, she is ready for the 378 00:22:28,100 --> 00:22:30,000 calling that God has for her life. 379 00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:34,700 And for her son's life, she is asking God for the future that 380 00:22:34,700 --> 00:22:37,800 God has planned for her. Do you see how beautifully 381 00:22:37,800 --> 00:22:42,200 mysterious that is? Somehow the process of pouring 382 00:22:42,200 --> 00:22:45,300 out her heart to God and wrestling with her Desires in 383 00:22:45,300 --> 00:22:48,400 his presence has brought Hannah's will, and God's will 384 00:22:48,500 --> 00:22:51,400 together. And that can be a source of 385 00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:55,200 comfort for us. Walking with God shapes, our 386 00:22:55,200 --> 00:22:58,800 prayers. Walking with God, directs our 387 00:22:58,800 --> 00:23:02,900 desires Walking with God opens us up to the joys and blessings 388 00:23:02,900 --> 00:23:05,400 and purpose that he has that. We could never have imagined for 389 00:23:05,400 --> 00:23:09,400 ourselves but it will still take a while for Hannah to see the 390 00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:13,300 full revelation of how God intends to answer the desires of 391 00:23:13,308 --> 00:23:15,700 her heart. And that brings us to our last 392 00:23:15,700 --> 00:23:21,100 Point, Hannah Waits on God. Not going to make you late for 393 00:23:21,100 --> 00:23:31,800 about 2 seconds. After Hannah praise and she 394 00:23:31,800 --> 00:23:35,500 receives a blessing from Eli. The priest, the text says she 395 00:23:35,500 --> 00:23:38,800 went her way and eat something and her face was no longer 396 00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:42,700 downcast and that last phrase if you look at it in the Hebrew 397 00:23:42,700 --> 00:23:46,300 more literally it says something like her face did not continue 398 00:23:46,300 --> 00:23:51,600 to be as it was before. So, in other words, everything 399 00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:55,000 Hannah had been pouring out, her grief, her, vexation, her 400 00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:58,700 bitterness her distress, her pain had left it. 401 00:23:59,500 --> 00:24:03,300 This is like a parting of the clouds after the rain, a ray of 402 00:24:03,300 --> 00:24:06,700 light coming up over the horizon after a long, dark night, 403 00:24:06,800 --> 00:24:10,400 Hannah's experience in prayer, brings her to a place of peace. 404 00:24:11,100 --> 00:24:13,500 And this piece does not come because Hannah has received a 405 00:24:13,500 --> 00:24:17,800 child or even a prophetic promise of some kind piece comes 406 00:24:17,800 --> 00:24:20,500 because through her wrestling. She has encountered God. 407 00:24:21,600 --> 00:24:24,400 At this point we are still not. Sure of Hannah's circumstances 408 00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:30,100 will change but Hannah has changed. and the tags also 409 00:24:30,100 --> 00:24:33,100 doesn't say that Hannah's longing, disappeared after her 410 00:24:33,100 --> 00:24:38,800 time of prayer, but her sadness did, That's God's Comfort. 411 00:24:38,800 --> 00:24:42,600 Swept like a salve over her pain, Hannah's longing, felt 412 00:24:42,600 --> 00:24:46,100 lighter. Have you experienced this coming 413 00:24:46,100 --> 00:24:49,400 to God in a time of heaviness or pain and feeling these things 414 00:24:49,400 --> 00:24:52,600 being lifted from you? Not because you're necessarily 415 00:24:52,600 --> 00:24:55,900 received a clear answer or resolution in that moment but 416 00:24:55,900 --> 00:24:59,200 because you experienced God's presence and somehow it changed 417 00:24:59,300 --> 00:25:03,800 everything, I remember a while back, I was in a crazy busy 418 00:25:03,800 --> 00:25:07,700 season dealing with stress and a lack of sleep and I was 419 00:25:07,700 --> 00:25:11,400 struggling to create space to really sit with God, most of my 420 00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:13,500 prayers were what I would call a reactive prayers. 421 00:25:13,500 --> 00:25:17,400 So asking God for help, keeping up with my to-do list and maybe 422 00:25:17,400 --> 00:25:20,000 to resolve a problem. I hadn't figure it out or just 423 00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:24,100 for more energy, but deep in my heart, I knew that I really 424 00:25:24,100 --> 00:25:26,400 needed to sit with God as if I could kind of feel like there 425 00:25:26,400 --> 00:25:29,500 was something specific and needed to talk to him about, but 426 00:25:29,500 --> 00:25:31,400 I didn't even have the brain space to figure out what that It 427 00:25:31,408 --> 00:25:34,500 was. So finally I had an evening 428 00:25:34,500 --> 00:25:37,400 where I was able to sit with uninterrupted time to pray. 429 00:25:37,900 --> 00:25:42,100 And as I sat with God, it felt as if the spirit was tugging at 430 00:25:42,100 --> 00:25:45,000 these things that had been buried inside of me and bringing 431 00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:48,200 them to the surface. And I realized that there were 432 00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:53,300 these deeper Desires in my heart that I had neglected because it 433 00:25:53,300 --> 00:25:56,100 was easier to focus on what I could do. 434 00:25:57,300 --> 00:26:01,800 And I realized that a part of me had been avoiding a heart to 435 00:26:01,800 --> 00:26:05,400 heart with God because I was worried it would be too painful 436 00:26:05,600 --> 00:26:11,500 to face my on that longings. But now the time had come to be 437 00:26:11,500 --> 00:26:19,700 honest with myself and with God. So I told him God. 438 00:26:22,800 --> 00:26:26,600 I feel like I've been working so hard and trying to focus on 439 00:26:26,600 --> 00:26:30,800 things that I can control and surrender the rest to you but 440 00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:34,100 things that I truly deeply want, still haven't happened. 441 00:26:34,100 --> 00:26:37,600 And honestly I feel overlooked about you. 442 00:26:38,800 --> 00:26:42,600 I feel like you forgotten. And I didn't want to tell you 443 00:26:42,600 --> 00:26:45,800 this because I really need you to feel close to me to get 444 00:26:45,800 --> 00:26:49,300 through this challenging season. But I haven't wanted to talk to 445 00:26:49,300 --> 00:26:51,300 you about what I want, because I don't feel like you're 446 00:26:51,300 --> 00:26:55,900 listening. If you're a person who walks 447 00:26:55,900 --> 00:26:59,200 with God and who talks with God, it can be hard to explain what 448 00:26:59,200 --> 00:27:01,600 it looks like. What it feels like to hear from 449 00:27:01,600 --> 00:27:03,600 him. And how we experience, the voice 450 00:27:03,600 --> 00:27:06,000 of the spirit can definitely vary from person to person and 451 00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:09,000 season to season in our lives. But what I can say is that I 452 00:27:09,008 --> 00:27:13,000 experienced the Lord's. Reassurance very clearly in 453 00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:17,000 response to my prayer. I haven't forgotten you. 454 00:27:18,200 --> 00:27:22,500 I haven't forgotten you. I remember all your prayers, 455 00:27:22,900 --> 00:27:24,400 even the ones that you forgotten. 456 00:27:25,800 --> 00:27:32,300 I see you. and after that prayer, Circumstantially, 457 00:27:32,300 --> 00:27:36,000 nothing really changed. But everything changed. 458 00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:40,200 And it felt like this. Not, that was in my chest had 459 00:27:40,200 --> 00:27:43,800 been loosened, like a burden had been lifted. 460 00:27:43,900 --> 00:27:47,700 It was a kind of refreshment, as if I'd taken a drink of cool 461 00:27:47,700 --> 00:27:52,300 water on a hot day, or could aloe vera on a sunburn, it felt 462 00:27:52,300 --> 00:27:55,100 like an obstacle between me and God, that I hadn't even 463 00:27:55,100 --> 00:28:00,500 acknowledged was, there had been removed and I felt comforted, I 464 00:28:00,500 --> 00:28:11,500 no longer felt alone and I believed that he saw me drawing 465 00:28:11,500 --> 00:28:16,500 near to God. In spite of my fears pouring out 466 00:28:16,500 --> 00:28:19,500 feelings that I didn't even want to acknowledge ended up being an 467 00:28:19,500 --> 00:28:24,200 opportunity to experience. God's mysterious, peace and 468 00:28:24,200 --> 00:28:27,700 Grace, encountering God In Prayer reminded me. 469 00:28:27,700 --> 00:28:33,500 Who he was. And our story after Samuel was 470 00:28:33,500 --> 00:28:35,600 born, we didn't read this part, but it's in first Samuel chapter 471 00:28:35,600 --> 00:28:40,000 two, after samuelosborne hand appraise, this beautiful poetic 472 00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:43,800 prayer and the things she focuses on in it are surprising. 473 00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:47,400 She exalts God as a deliverer are rocks. 474 00:28:47,400 --> 00:28:51,400 The holiest of holies she goes on about how God knows all and 475 00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:54,700 judges, rightly, and he sees those who are hungry and Barren 476 00:28:54,700 --> 00:28:57,800 and poor and humble, and oppressed and he reverses their 477 00:28:57,800 --> 00:29:00,500 fortunes. And shows them his goodness. 478 00:29:00,700 --> 00:29:04,000 He overcomes the wicked and strengthens those who Faithfully 479 00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:08,300 serve him and not all of her. Praises seem particularly 480 00:29:08,300 --> 00:29:11,900 relevant to Hannah's experience of praying for and receiving a 481 00:29:11,900 --> 00:29:14,400 child. But that's because God's answer 482 00:29:14,400 --> 00:29:17,400 to Hannah's Prayer, brought about so much more than the gift 483 00:29:17,400 --> 00:29:21,400 of motherhood through this experience, Hannah came to see 484 00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:25,600 God, more clearly for who he is and in an era when Israel was 485 00:29:25,600 --> 00:29:28,600 filled with corruption and violence and idolatry. 486 00:29:28,900 --> 00:29:32,800 And I had come to see God as her savior, the one who answers the 487 00:29:32,800 --> 00:29:37,300 longings of her heart, in Hannah would actually go on to have 488 00:29:37,300 --> 00:29:41,100 five more children and when that detail is mentioned, the Bible 489 00:29:41,100 --> 00:29:44,200 says the Lord was gracious to Hannah. 490 00:29:45,200 --> 00:29:50,700 See God can give us gifts. He can fulfill our desires, he 491 00:29:50,700 --> 00:29:52,900 can bring her dreams to life. All these things are possible 492 00:29:52,900 --> 00:29:55,400 for him. But the real sweetness in these 493 00:29:55,400 --> 00:29:59,700 gifts is not in the gift alone, but the experience of his grace 494 00:30:00,400 --> 00:30:03,300 when we receive answers to prayer with gratitude from God's 495 00:30:03,300 --> 00:30:06,200 hand, we are drawn deeper into the knowledge of his love and 496 00:30:06,200 --> 00:30:09,900 his wisdom and his goodness towards us and that can help 497 00:30:09,900 --> 00:30:13,500 Shield us from Desiring gifts only for themselves or idolizing 498 00:30:13,500 --> 00:30:15,700 them. Instead we get to enjoy the gift 499 00:30:15,700 --> 00:30:19,300 as a reminder of God's grace and remain anchored in the security 500 00:30:19,300 --> 00:30:22,200 and satisfaction of his great love for us. 501 00:30:23,700 --> 00:30:26,600 So where do you need to be reminded of God's Grace today? 502 00:30:28,300 --> 00:30:31,600 Maybe you relate to Hannah's wrestling and waiting, maybe the 503 00:30:31,600 --> 00:30:35,700 feeling that God has been silent or distant has made it difficult 504 00:30:35,700 --> 00:30:37,500 for you to draw near to him in prayer. 505 00:30:38,600 --> 00:30:40,600 Hannah didn't know, when she showed up to the temple that 506 00:30:40,600 --> 00:30:42,600 day, that God was waiting to meet with her. 507 00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:48,300 Take a step toward God. Give him a chance to reveal his 508 00:30:48,300 --> 00:30:52,300 presence to you. Maybe you're not sure if you can 509 00:30:52,300 --> 00:30:56,200 come to God because of your mistakes, your failures, your 510 00:30:56,200 --> 00:31:00,300 unbelief. God, responds to us, according 511 00:31:00,300 --> 00:31:02,800 to who he is, and he is gracious. 512 00:31:04,300 --> 00:31:08,600 His posture towards us is not clean up your act, but pour out, 513 00:31:08,600 --> 00:31:12,700 your heart. Come as a child with all of your 514 00:31:12,700 --> 00:31:15,900 needs and even your desperation and ask him to heal you. 515 00:31:17,300 --> 00:31:21,300 Hannah names, her firstborn son, Samuel which comes from the 516 00:31:21,300 --> 00:31:26,100 words Shema and Al which means God hears, my prayer for us 517 00:31:26,100 --> 00:31:29,500 today is that we would turn toward God that we would have 518 00:31:29,500 --> 00:31:33,700 the courage to lay our longings and desires before him and that 519 00:31:33,700 --> 00:31:36,400 as we wait on him, we would discover that to be true. 520 00:31:36,800 --> 00:31:39,800 God hears. Let me pray for us now.