Blog post April 18, 2026

Once after a sacrificial meal at Shiloh, Hannah got up and went to pray...

1 Samuel 1:9

Hannah was in deep anguish, crying bitterly as she prayed to the Lord. Eli the priest seeing her lips move but not hearing any words supposed her to be drunk. When Eli confronted her she replied, "Please don't think I am a wicked woman! For I have been praying out of great anguish and sorrow."

What was Hannah's prayer? She made a vow: "Oh Lord of Heaven's Armies, if you will look upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you. He will be yours for his entire lifetime.."

There have been many "foxhole" prayers/vows offered up to God in moments of distress, yet few follow through with their vow after God answers their prayer. When the crisis is over, the vow is forgotten.

The Prophet Samuel was a great prophet of God. Used by God in a very crucial time period in Israels history. Yet he wouldn't have become a prophet at all if his mother had not followed through with her vow.

Samuel the prophet was God's answer to Hannah's desperate prayer. God answered this barren woman's request for a son and she did wht most mothers could not think of doing. When the boy was three years old she took him to Eli and gave him back to the Lord. She walked away from her precious gift only to see him annually when she came with her husband to offer their annual sacrifice for sin.

Most of us have what I call the "finger roll" when God places something in our hands. We wrap our hands firmly around it and claim it as mine. We see everything through the "mine" lens. My time, my money, my house, my car, my health, my my my.... Yet hasn't God given it all to us and couldn't He take it back just as quickly?

After Hannah left her only son and walked away she offers another prayer. "My heart rejoices in the Lord! The Lord has made me strong." what a perspective. Her strength was not in her grip, it was in her release. What a beautiful lesson for each of us. She released her son to the Lord who had heard her prayer and answered. I wonder, what do we need to release to the Lord today. What has He given us that we are hanging on to tightly?

Heavenly Father help us today to freely give as was freely given to us. You are a gracious loving Father who has freely given us Your Son. Help us to share Him with others. In Jesus name. AMEN.