Stand Up

"As she kept on praying to the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk and said to her, "How long will you keep on getting drunk? Get rid of your wine." "Not so, my lord," Hannah replied, "I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the LORD. Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief." Eli answered, "Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him."
I Samuel 1:12-17

The book of 1st Samuel begins by introducing us to the beautiful story of a woman of God who poured out her soul before the Lord in prayer. Her name was Hannah (Samuel's mother), and her name has many meanings and interpretations in the Hebrew language, including "grace", "beauty" and "passion". As you learn more about her, you will see that she was rightly named. Her story is about breakthrough - it's a story about intercession, it's about storming the gates of heaven in prayer, it's about obedience, it's about the privilege of being used by God in his plans and purposes when in the world's eyes she was a failure. Hannah had what many would call 'a raw deal in life'. She was childless in a society that considered not having a child the ultimate failure. A longing of the heart denied can cause much pain. Rather than allow her pain to cause bitterness towards God Hannah used the pain in her heart as a catalyst to pray. When you have time, I would suggest you read the entire first chapter of 1st Samuel, paying attention to verses 12-20. The difficulties for Hannah went on year after year...maybe five, maybe 15 - long enough for Hannah to become depressed, she was broken and wept often - and to make matters worse she was taunted by her husband's other wife who had children. The ridicule was endless, and her despair affected her relationship with her husband - Elkanah, her husband, couldn't understand the desperation of her soul in the midst of her depression. Have you ever been in a place like this? You have carried a burden for a very long time, and it seems that your prayers are just bouncing off the ceiling and no one really understands your pain. Have you been the recipient of the taunting of the devil, who puts hurtful judgmental words in the mouths of others, or whispers in your ear that you are a failure and that God is not listening to you? Have you been with others who just didn't understand what you were going through? How long has that difficult situation been going on in your life? We are considering Hannah by divine appointment for some of you reading this today because it isn't just a nice Bible story about overcoming depression or despair. It's about being desperate - people can be desperate about many things - maybe you've been yearning for the Lord to do something new in you, yearning for something more in your Christian life - maybe you feel dried up, stuck in a rut, you wish you could feel the excitement you once knew. Maybe it's been going on for years - you're fed up going through the motions. Maybe you feel barren. Maybe you're longing for God to rekindle your spiritual giftings inside you, but its been so long you may not even remember what they ARE~ Maybe you want him to give you a new ministry, to shake you up, to do something dynamic in your life. Maybe you've got such a burning desire in you to get closer to the Mighty God of the Universe, to be more intimate with Him, to go deeper in worship. Maybe you don't know what you want - maybe you're simply hungry and thirsty. Are you desperate for God to do something? How desperate?

In 1st Samuel 1:9 we find a very significant phrase - only 3 words - it says "Hannah stood up". Three little words, but they say such a lot. It says that eventually Hannah couldn't take any more - she made a decision to do something about her situation. This was a breakthrough for Hannah -- she stood up - she rose up above her circumstances - she took a step. Instead of staying in her despair, in her circumstances, she stood up and decided to pray to the Lord and with that came release from all the pent-up bitterness. With many tears she poured her heart out, "I was pouring out my soul to the Lord." (verse 15) I love this verse. I was POURING out my soul to the Lord! Have you ever felt this serious about your prayers? Hannah's prayer was true pleading to the Lord, with many tears, out of a desperate heart. She may not even have known what she was saying at that moment, she was passionate; she was bursting at the seams in intercession. Have YOU ever prayed like that? Romans 8:26 reminds us, "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will." Groans, tears, anguish, sorrow - the Holy Spirit helps us - carries us into the very Throne room of God at those times when we have no words. We need to feel things deeply as we pray - we need to weep sometimes, for ourselves and on behalf of others - it touches God's heart as he sees the depth of our desire, our burden.

Hannah poured out her heart to the only ONE that mattered- God, and she didn't even care if anyone else was watching - she says she was deeply troubled, in great anguish and grief. So distraught was she that the priest in the temple at the time of her prayers thought she was drunk and chastised her. Eli misunderstood her - he was at fault here because he accused Hannah unjustly. Sometimes we feel misunderstood and that we're being accused wrongly. We would do well to follow Hannah's example here - she didn't react badly or direct her pain and anger at attacking the priest- no she respectfully and quietly explained herself. It would have been quite unusual for a woman to correct a man, particularly a man of Eli's status - she addressed him "my Lord". Realizing he'd judged her wrongly, he then said to her, "Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him." Hannah then went on her way and returned with a peaceful state of mind and body after having spent time in prayer and unburdening herself to the Lord, receiving peace and a blessing from Eli, she felt much better and was then able to eat. Hannah came to the end of herself and realized that only God could give her heart's desire. She made a vow that if God gave her a son then she would give him to the Lord for the rest of his life. God granted Hannah a son. She named him Samuel, saying, "Because I asked the Lord for him". Samuel sounds like the Hebrew for "heard of God". In her prayer in chapter 2 Hannah says, "for the Lord is a God who knows". God used Samuel in a mighty way to anoint the first and second kings of Israel... remember who the second one was.... DAVID! God used the result of her intercession to ultimately bless His people and to bless us with the Messiah through the line of David!

Let us STAND UP like Hannah did, and rise above what is pulling us into despair. Let's determine to do something about it by taking it to the only ONE Who can change the circumstance. Let's be ready to pray at all times, and at times to pray with fervor and passion as our sister Hannah did. Let us POUR out our hearts before the Throne of our God. Let us also be quick to praise and glorify God for all that he does in our lives.

Shalom, sister Lahoma

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