Hannah F Wallace

8/9/2019 Hannah F Wallace

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Prayer For Increase - Hannahby Frank Wallace

http://www.biblecentre.org

• The Importance of Prayer• Hannah's Desire• Hannah's First Prayer and Vow• The ord answers Hannah's Prayer• Hannah's Faithf!lness in "elation to her Vow• Hannah's #econd Prayer• The "es!lts of Hannah's Prayer

The Importance of Prayer

The story of Hannah is a $ery interesting one. %e can $iew the incident of the prayer inthree ways& first of all as an act!al occ!rrence so f!ll of interest to see how the ordwro!ght with His ser$ant& then prophetical& it loo s on to that wonderf!l day when (od'sanointed& (od's )ing& *hrist& the #on of (od will ha$e s!premacy in this world and allthe enemies of (od o$erthrown& then its application to !s today& and this is what we are

partic!larly concerned abo!t that we might get some enco!ragement in this matter of prayer.

Indi$id!ally and collecti$ely& we are all concerned abo!t spirit!al progress. %econtin!ally hear of decline in one way or another. Praise (od& there are spots where the

ord seems to be blessing& b!t in the general r!n of things it seems to be the other way&and we desire to see a change& and how are we going to do this+ %e belie$e that prayer isone of the best things that we can be occ!pied with.

In order to ma e things better there are three things hat we can do&

• first of all& and I belie$e the most important& is that we can pray&• secondly we can tal abo!t the tr!th and enco!rage each other in it ,maybe we

ha$e to ad-!st o!r thin ing & b!t if we tal abo!t the tr!th in h!mility and in lo$etowards each other then I am s!re the ord helps !s&

• thirdly& when we now the tr!th then we can be an e ample of it. This is always ameans of ma ing things better.

Hannah's Desire

0 Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim, of mount Ephraim, and his namewas Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an

Ephrathite: and he had two wives; the name of the one was annah and the name of the


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other !eninnah: and !eninnah had children, "ut annah had no children# $nd this manwent up out of his cit% %earl% to worship and to sacrifice unto the &ord of hosts in 'hiloh#

$nd the two sons of Eli, ophni and !hinehas, the priests of the &ord, were there# $ndwhen the time was that Elkanah offered, he (ave to !eninnah his wife, and to all her sonsand her dau(hters, portions: "ut unto annah he (ave a worth% portion: for he loved

annah: "ut the &ord had shut up her wom"# $nd her adversar% also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, "ecause the &ord had shut up her wom"# $nd as he did so %ear "% %ear, when she went up to the house of the &ord, so she provoked her; therefore she wept,and did not eat# Then said Elkanah her hus"and to her, annah, wh% weepest thou) andwh% eatest thou not) and wh% is th% heart (rieved) am not * "etter to thee than ten

sons) 0 ,1 #am. 1:123

4ow& we want to $iew this in the conte t that we find it& a woman beset by ad$ersaries& awoman sorrowing bitter in so!l beca!se she had not recei$ed what she desired. %e nowfrom the boo of Daniel that the 5ewish women desired to gi$e birth to a son& and thatson they hoped wo!ld pro$e to be the 6essiah& the long promised 7ne to Israel. 8$ery

5ewish mother longed for this& that she might be the one whom (od wo!ld !se to bringinto being the 6essiah. #o for a 5ewish woman to be barren was a great reproach to her.

Here we find that it was (od who had closed !p her womb& I belie$e to test her faith andto ca!se her to pray in the way she did in order that she might be an e ample for !s of

prayer and perse$erance and answer and response to (od. 7h& what a wonderf!l story itis. #o Hannah was persec!ted and ridic!led and how deeply she felt it. #he might ha$egone to her h!sband and complained of the treatment& b!t in $erse 19 she prayed !nto the

ord and she wept sore.

I ha$e to as myself& as I as yo!& when was the last time yo! shed tears in relation to the

testimony+ %hen did yo! feel yo!r spirit!al condition so low& or the condition of the*hristian testimony so low that it prod!ced real tears and sorrow+ %e thin of a man li ePa!l who spo e abo!t reminding the saints night and day for three years with tears. %eread abo!t this constantly in the life of this de$oted man& and we ha$e to as o!rsel$es&do we e$er feel li e this+ How callo!s and how cold o!r hearts can be ;et I belie$e the

ord wo!ld stir !s !p to be concerned& that o!t hearts might be malleable& if yo! li e&softened& to be concerned deeply abo!t the prosperity of His interests.

Here it was a $ery personal matter with Hannah& and she prayed and she wept.


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willingly be gi$en bac to Him& and not in a hapha@ard way& b!t a fit present to gi$e toHim& bro!ght !p as a 4a@arite and bro!ght !p to ser$e Him.

Is it not one of the saddest things in the history of the testimony as we now it& what (odhas gi$en to !s to defend& the tr!th of the assembly& the free action of the Headship of

*hrist and the Holy #pirit and all the tr!ths connected with this& how few of the childrenof the saints contin!e in this pathway+ Theoretically it sho!ld be the reser$oir that sho!ld be drawn !pon to fill !p the ran s. I cannot ma e any acc!sation against any of the parents as to why this sho!ld be so& I can only obser$e the fact and see that it is so. 7h&what a sad thing it is. I can only grie$e with the parents o$er this ind of thing.

The Lord answers Hannah's Prayer

0 $nd it came to pass, as she continued pra%in( "efore the &ord, that Eli marked hermouth# Now annah, she spake in her heart; onl% her lips moved, "ut her voice was notheard: therefore Eli thou(ht she had "een drunken# $nd Eli said unto her, ow lon( wiltthou "e drunken) put awa% th% wine from thee# $nd annah answered and said, No, m%lord, * am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: * have drunk neither wine nor stron( drink, "uthave poured out m% soul "efore the &ord# ount not thine handmaid for a dau(hter of

elial: for out of the a"undance of m% complaint and (rief have * spoken hitherto# Then Eli answered and said, .o in peace: and the .od of *srael (rant thee th% petition thatthou hast asked of him# $nd she said, &et thine handmaid find (race in th% si(ht# 'o thewoman went her wa%, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad# $nd the% roseup in the mornin( earl%, and worshipped "efore the &ord, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah: and Elkanah knew annah his wife: and the &ord remem"ered her#/herefore it came to pass, when the time was come a"out after annah had conceived,that she "are a son, and called his name 'amuel, sa%in(, ecause * have asked him of the

&ord#0 ,1 #am. 1: 1B2B9

#o this dear woman after ha$ing made this $ow& contin!ed praying before the ord. #hecontin!ed praying? not li e a prayer that can be p!t in the files and can be drawn o!t atsome con$enient moment& a contin!ance in prayer& the desire of the heart so acti$e in thisway. Prayer& prayer& prayer. I do not now how long she prayed& b!t she contin!ed in

prayer& and ha$ing made the desire& ha$ing e pressed her $ow& ha$ing e pressed herdetermination to do this& she contin!ed in it !ntil the time came when she got peace andass!rance. The bitterness passed away. The priest said to her& 0(o in peace& and the (odof Israel will grant thee thy petition that tho! hast as ed of him0.

How easy it is to be mista en. 8li was a priest of the ord& and he tho!ght she was dr!n beca!se her lips were mo$ing b!t he did not hear any so!nd #he was acting in a way thatindicated she was into icated& b!t he was wrong& absol!tely wrong. #he was prayingearnestly to the ord& and she e pressed this to him& and then he saw that here was awoman with real desires and he ga$e her the blessing of the ord 0(o in peace& and the(od of Israel grant thee thy petition0.


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oo at the change 2 0#o the woman went her way and did eat and her co!ntenance wasno more sad0. I belie$e there are times when we pray abo!t matters& I thin I can h!mblysay that I ha$e nown this in my e perience& that there are times when we pray and weknow that o!r prayer has been heard and it is going to be answered.


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%e remember re$i$als in the islands in the north of #cotland that were the res!lt of prayer& some few saints gathering together and crying to the ord to bring re$i$al. %henI was in


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indicates the drin offering& and the drin offering is always associated with -oy. Theord has His part& the offerer has his part& a m!t!al matter of -oy. Ha$ing recei$ed this

blessing from the ord& Hannah and her h!sband responded !nto the ord with worshipand than sgi$ing.

Then she ga$e testimony to 8li& 0For this child I prayed and the ord has gi$en me my petition which I as ed of him& therefore ha$e I also leant him to the ord as long as heli$eth shall he be leant to the ord0& and note what it says& 0and he ,that is 8liworshipped there0. Here is worship& fellowship in worship. Hannah and her h!sbandworshipped& 8li as he saw the res!lt of the prayer worshipped. %hat a wonderf!l thing

prayer is. %hat wonderf!l things it prod!ces& a response to (od& response in worship and praise& all in$ol$ed in it& those who recei$e the blessing& the priest of the ord& so happyin his so!l that he saw this answer to prayer and he worshipped too.

Hannah's "econd Prayer

0 $nd annah pra%ed, and said, 2% heart re3oiceth in the &ord, mine horn is e4alted inthe &ord: m% mouth is enlar(ed over mine enemies; "ecause * re3oice in th% salvation#There is none hol% as the &ord: for there is none "eside thee: neither is there an% rocklike our .od# Talk no more so e4ceedin( proudl%; let not arro(anc% come out of %ourmouth: for the &ord is a .od of knowled(e, and "% him actions are wei(hed###### 0 ,1#am.B:12

I want to di$ide this prayer !p $ery simply:

• Verses 1 to refer specifically to the greatness of (od?• $erses C to 3 indicate the (od who can change things? and then from• $erses = to 19 we find a prophetic reference to the ord 5es!s *hrist Himself.

A!t first of all these opening $erses 1 to & 06y heart re-oiceth in the ord... I re-oice inthy sal$ation0. It was indeed sal$ation? a $ery practical res!lt of prayer& $ery definitee$idence that (od wo!ld sa$e this woman from bitterness and from the reproach of herenemy and He changed things in s!ch a remar able way that she prayed and praised& as I

belie$e we co!ld rightly connect with this prayer.

This prayer was all abo!t the ord 2 her strength was in the ord& her e altation was inthe ord& He was the 7ne who had bro!ght abo!t sal$ation. There is no mention of whatshe had done in prayer& it is rather what (od had done as a res!lt of her prayer. #he ga$e(od the glory. Is not this tr!e of the prayer the ord ta!ght the disciples to pray 2 (odfirst? this is always right in prayer& (od's interests first and then the interests of others&and then o!r own personal interests& and so here Hannah& int!iti$ely nowing what wasright& glorified the (od who had done so m!ch for her. %e find this in the 7ld Testament&we find it in the 4ew Testament& praise (od& we find it in o!r own e perience.

It is one of the ways to warm o!r hearts when we bend o!r nees in prayer& notimmediately to embar !pon o!r re>!ests for help or s!pport or g!idance& b!t -!st for a


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ord& instead of being the enemy she was now in a place of nearness to (od !nder Hisfa$o!r and indness. %e co!ld go o$er all these sentences and we wo!ld find that this isthe (od who changes things. 7h& my& I need to get that into my so!l and I am s!re yo! dotoo. There is no need to ac>!iesce in a sit!ation personally& or in o!r homes& or in o!rmeetings& it is not right to ac>!iesce and say& 'There is nothing I can do abo!t it& I m!st

accept it'. %e can do something& we can pray to (od to change things. This has been doneagain and again and again in li$es& in homes& in meetings& in the *hristian testimony.There is a (od who hears prayers& good prayers& gen!ine prayers coming from the heartand conscience and (od can change things. If yo! forget all else& oh please rememberthis& and myself too& that we ha$e a (od who can change things He is so powerf!l& He isso great that He can deal with any sit!ation& whate$er it might be& and can bring in

blessing into seemingly impossible sit!ations.

4ow if we ha$e not this faith in (od it seems to me we will not ma e $ery m!ch progress. Pa!l roars it tri!mphantly from "omans 3& 0If (od be for !s who can be against!s+0 There is a note of tri!mph& and we can all ta e that home to o!r so!ls this e$ening 2

a (od who changes things.

0 e will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall "e silent in darkness; for "% stren(th shall no man prevail# The adversaries of the &ord shall "e "roken to pieces; outof heaven shall he thunder upon them: the &ord shall 3ud(e the ends of the earth: and he

shall (ive stren(th unto his kin(, and e4alt the horn of his anointed .0 ,1 #am.B:=219

%e ha$e all e perienced this& I am s!re& that He eeps o!r feet in a straight path when itmight be so easy to t!rn aside and wander. !ietly gi$e o!r li$es into His eeping& howable He is to do it and to lead !s along step by step for His pleas!re and glory. Hannah

new this& she had e perienced this& she new the -oy of $ictory thro!gh prayer and shewas able to respond to the (od who had done it all.


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Verse 19 co!ld only be said thro!gh di$ine inspiration.

Hannah F Wallace

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