WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.779 out there in attendance today. I hope you have 00:00:02.779 --> 00:00:06.459 a wonderful day with your family. Mother's Day 00:00:06.459 --> 00:00:10.339 is such a gift. It's such a sweet time. And it's 00:00:10.339 --> 00:00:12.460 so good to see everybody. And some of you came 00:00:12.460 --> 00:00:14.140 because your mom invited you to come. And we're 00:00:14.140 --> 00:00:16.739 really glad about that. Mother's Day is always 00:00:16.739 --> 00:00:20.620 a sweet day for me. My first mom, Melanie, went 00:00:20.620 --> 00:00:26.859 to heaven on Mother's Day. And I know that for 00:00:26.859 --> 00:00:31.039 many people because I've connected with this 00:00:31.039 --> 00:00:33.880 too a little bit. Mother's Day can be bittersweet. 00:00:34.280 --> 00:00:36.560 It can be a good thing. Who thinks it's a good 00:00:36.560 --> 00:00:39.159 thing? Yeah, to be with mom and to be around 00:00:39.159 --> 00:00:43.539 mom. But it can also be a bittersweet day for 00:00:43.539 --> 00:00:46.280 people. Maybe there's someone here today that's 00:00:46.280 --> 00:00:52.020 lost a child or maybe this is your first Mother's 00:00:52.020 --> 00:00:54.939 Day without mom and that can be hard. And so 00:00:54.939 --> 00:00:57.259 I pray that today is sweet for you too. and that 00:00:57.259 --> 00:01:01.060 you have a good day and not just to have that 00:01:01.060 --> 00:01:04.700 bitter memory. But I love my mom. I love both 00:01:04.700 --> 00:01:08.140 my moms. I have a mom now that God gave me when 00:01:08.140 --> 00:01:10.659 I was about 10 years old named Jana. That's my 00:01:10.659 --> 00:01:13.219 mom now. In fact, Melana is named after both 00:01:13.219 --> 00:01:15.760 of my moms, Melanie and Jana. We put Melanie 00:01:15.760 --> 00:01:19.319 and Jana together. Her name's Melana and that's 00:01:19.319 --> 00:01:22.439 where her name came from. But one of the best 00:01:22.439 --> 00:01:26.730 gifts I ever got from my mom. Janna is that she 00:01:26.730 --> 00:01:31.629 is a praying mom. I remember being impacted many 00:01:31.629 --> 00:01:37.170 times growing up in my teenage years where I 00:01:37.170 --> 00:01:40.709 would walk into my mom's room and she would be 00:01:40.709 --> 00:01:45.569 on her knees praying. Probably praying, Lord 00:01:45.569 --> 00:01:48.269 help me with these boys. That's probably what 00:01:48.269 --> 00:01:53.180 she was praying. But it affected me right like 00:01:53.180 --> 00:01:55.500 it's one thing for your parents to tell you to 00:01:55.500 --> 00:01:58.000 pray it's another thing when you see that be 00:01:58.000 --> 00:02:03.000 the pattern of their life and My mom This is 00:02:03.000 --> 00:02:05.000 how how bad it was sometimes. I'd be like ma. 00:02:05.079 --> 00:02:07.799 Have you seen my I'm always losing something 00:02:07.799 --> 00:02:10.360 right have you seen that she is I haven't seen 00:02:10.360 --> 00:02:12.840 it Have you prayed about it? Have you prayed 00:02:12.840 --> 00:02:16.819 about it? I'm like No, I just want to find it. 00:02:16.840 --> 00:02:19.669 I haven't prayed about it right And so then we'd 00:02:19.669 --> 00:02:21.750 stop and pray about it. And you might say, well, 00:02:21.750 --> 00:02:24.669 you would have found it anyway. I'm saying prayer 00:02:24.669 --> 00:02:31.770 didn't hurt. I'm pretty sure my brother and I 00:02:31.770 --> 00:02:34.009 gave her the gift of encouraging her to pray 00:02:34.009 --> 00:02:40.129 more. But Jana Jennings, my mom's a praying mom. 00:02:40.909 --> 00:02:46.430 And she prays about little and big. There is 00:02:46.430 --> 00:02:50.479 power in the Lord. And a faith praying mom can 00:02:50.479 --> 00:02:53.080 make a big difference in the lives of her family 00:02:53.080 --> 00:02:56.759 and beyond. There are some of us that, where 00:02:56.759 --> 00:03:00.639 we're at today, spiritually speaking, and humanly 00:03:00.639 --> 00:03:03.680 speaking, it has to do with what God did in answer 00:03:03.680 --> 00:03:07.319 to a mom who prayed. Anybody here have a praying 00:03:07.319 --> 00:03:11.740 mom? Yeah, it's an amazing thing. In First Samuel 00:03:11.740 --> 00:03:14.939 chapter one, we're introduced to a woman named 00:03:14.939 --> 00:03:24.930 Hannah. Hannah, in this story, this narrative, 00:03:27.150 --> 00:03:30.370 Hannah, we are introduced into her life at a 00:03:30.370 --> 00:03:33.550 time where she had some problems, three of them 00:03:33.550 --> 00:03:36.009 really, that are given to us right here in the 00:03:36.009 --> 00:03:39.289 beginning of this book. First we see that she 00:03:39.289 --> 00:03:44.229 has a problematic family structure and home in 00:03:44.229 --> 00:03:46.169 the home where she lived. You have your Bibles, 00:03:46.229 --> 00:03:48.289 you got your Bible? First Samuel chapter one, 00:03:48.430 --> 00:03:52.189 look at verse number one. Now there was a certain 00:03:52.189 --> 00:04:06.830 man of that place, of Mount Ephraim, and his 00:04:06.830 --> 00:04:10.469 name, I'm just being real, just being real, okay. 00:04:11.449 --> 00:04:14.150 and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jehoram, 00:04:14.270 --> 00:04:17.709 the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of 00:04:17.709 --> 00:04:23.430 Zeph and Ephrathite. And he had two wives. The 00:04:23.430 --> 00:04:27.129 name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other 00:04:27.129 --> 00:04:31.589 was Penana. Now God's plan for family has always 00:04:31.589 --> 00:04:34.970 been one man and one woman in lifelong covenant 00:04:34.970 --> 00:04:38.000 marriage. And some people make the mistake that 00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:41.079 since the Bible describes marriages where men 00:04:41.079 --> 00:04:43.480 are married to more than woman that God condones 00:04:43.480 --> 00:04:47.800 that. The Bible though is not always prescriptive. 00:04:47.800 --> 00:04:51.579 Sometimes it's descriptive. What do I mean? In 00:04:51.579 --> 00:04:53.720 this particular situation and others like it, 00:04:53.720 --> 00:04:55.740 God's not saying this is what ought to happen. 00:04:56.199 --> 00:05:01.699 He's just saying this is what did happen. People 00:05:01.699 --> 00:05:03.920 are messed up and they have been from antiquity. 00:05:05.750 --> 00:05:09.870 After Genesis 3, it's flawed, okay? Is your home 00:05:09.870 --> 00:05:14.290 perfect? Neither's mine, right? Okay, so she 00:05:14.290 --> 00:05:17.009 finds herself in this difficult thing, in this 00:05:17.009 --> 00:05:20.550 difficult circumstance. In fact, we see often, 00:05:20.569 --> 00:05:24.850 whenever there's multiple wives' polygamy, whenever 00:05:24.850 --> 00:05:27.129 that happens, there's almost always problems. 00:05:27.170 --> 00:05:29.990 And that's what you see happening here. The Bible 00:05:29.990 --> 00:05:32.009 describes the problems that can come from this 00:05:32.009 --> 00:05:35.000 arrangement. In verse 6, we find out, Hannah's 00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:37.759 relationship with her husband's other wife. It 00:05:37.759 --> 00:05:40.279 says in verse six at the very beginning, and 00:05:40.279 --> 00:05:44.600 her adversary also provoked her sore for to make 00:05:44.600 --> 00:05:49.220 her fret. Who agrees? It would be tough to be 00:05:49.220 --> 00:05:52.879 married to a guy who's also married to someone 00:05:52.879 --> 00:05:57.420 who's becoming your enemy. Who agrees? It's almost 00:05:57.420 --> 00:05:59.100 like you need a reality show about this kind 00:05:59.100 --> 00:06:01.759 of thing, right? I'm sure that all of us agree 00:06:01.759 --> 00:06:04.120 that that would be tough. So the first problem 00:06:04.120 --> 00:06:06.720 she had is she's got this really weird home situation. 00:06:06.800 --> 00:06:10.879 The second problem she has is that Hannah dealt 00:06:10.879 --> 00:06:14.759 with the dishonor from her culture of having 00:06:14.759 --> 00:06:19.079 no children. Look at verse two. And he, talking 00:06:19.079 --> 00:06:20.959 about Elkanah, had two wives. The name of one 00:06:20.959 --> 00:06:22.920 was Hannah and the name of the other was Penanah. 00:06:23.220 --> 00:06:28.319 And Penanah had children, but Hannah had, how 00:06:28.319 --> 00:06:33.689 many? No children. No children. Hannah was barren. 00:06:33.810 --> 00:06:37.009 At this point, she didn't have children and probably 00:06:37.009 --> 00:06:38.829 thought she couldn't have children. This was 00:06:38.829 --> 00:06:42.990 a great dishonor in her culture. In a very practical 00:06:42.990 --> 00:06:45.949 sense in our lives, our lives are different today 00:06:45.949 --> 00:06:50.470 with washers, dryers, dishwashers, grocery stores, 00:06:51.350 --> 00:06:57.079 supply chains, right? Labor is necessary, it's 00:06:57.079 --> 00:06:59.319 far more necessary then because they don't have 00:06:59.319 --> 00:07:01.899 all those conveniences. And children in the home 00:07:01.899 --> 00:07:06.699 meant you had help, right? Sometimes children 00:07:06.699 --> 00:07:10.500 are no help. In that day, you needed help, right? 00:07:12.639 --> 00:07:15.699 Give us this day, our daily bread was a lot more 00:07:15.699 --> 00:07:18.689 than... a lot more the reality for most people. 00:07:19.149 --> 00:07:21.649 And children were needed to get the daily tasks 00:07:21.649 --> 00:07:24.670 of life done. And then in old age, they didn't 00:07:24.670 --> 00:07:28.370 have social security. In old age, they had kids 00:07:28.370 --> 00:07:34.949 who took care of parents, right? A woman's fertility 00:07:34.949 --> 00:07:40.410 was very closely tied then with her worth. In 00:07:40.410 --> 00:07:42.980 the way that men thought about women, in the 00:07:42.980 --> 00:07:44.819 way that even women thought about women, that 00:07:44.819 --> 00:07:48.500 was part of what was going on. And you can see 00:07:48.500 --> 00:07:51.680 this as a cultural reality in her time by what 00:07:51.680 --> 00:07:54.160 transpired between Hannah and her adversary. 00:07:54.379 --> 00:07:57.100 Again, you see that in verse six. And her adversary 00:07:57.100 --> 00:08:00.019 also provoked her sore for to make her to fret 00:08:00.019 --> 00:08:05.180 because the Lord had shut up her womb. So the 00:08:05.180 --> 00:08:10.350 particular distinct issue that was felt in this 00:08:10.350 --> 00:08:12.949 adversarial relationship with my husband's other 00:08:12.949 --> 00:08:17.230 wife is that that woman was like, well, God must 00:08:17.230 --> 00:08:19.250 not love you because you don't have any kids. 00:08:19.310 --> 00:08:21.870 God loves me because I got all the kids. And 00:08:21.870 --> 00:08:23.470 don't you think she might've even said, and I'm 00:08:23.470 --> 00:08:25.110 reading between the lines, I'll admit it, I'm 00:08:25.110 --> 00:08:26.910 reading between the lines, but she may have said, 00:08:27.430 --> 00:08:30.310 God's blessing me and him and not you and him. 00:08:31.589 --> 00:08:33.850 So he must like me more, he doesn't like you 00:08:33.850 --> 00:08:36.750 as much, right? Who agrees? That would be weird. 00:08:37.569 --> 00:08:41.649 Hard, difficult situation. Here we're told that 00:08:41.649 --> 00:08:43.669 the Lord had shut up her womb. This may have 00:08:43.669 --> 00:08:47.070 been true in this instance because God's a revealing 00:08:47.070 --> 00:08:51.830 God. Who agrees God wanted this to show up in 00:08:51.830 --> 00:08:55.350 the scripture? So here we are years later talking 00:08:55.350 --> 00:08:58.309 about it. He's trying to teach us something. 00:08:59.090 --> 00:09:01.309 But you can also see that it was the assumption 00:09:01.309 --> 00:09:06.250 of her adversary. If you didn't have kids, there 00:09:06.250 --> 00:09:07.870 must have been something wrong. You must have 00:09:07.870 --> 00:09:10.570 not been favored by the Lord because you're less 00:09:10.570 --> 00:09:14.490 than. That's what, again, the Bible is not prescriptive 00:09:14.490 --> 00:09:16.169 here, it's descriptive. That's what they were 00:09:16.169 --> 00:09:21.110 thinking. We see throughout scripture, God doing 00:09:21.110 --> 00:09:24.950 amazing things through women who at one time 00:09:24.950 --> 00:09:27.309 were barren. If you ever wanna do an interesting 00:09:27.309 --> 00:09:30.950 study, go look at that. Sarai becomes Sarah. 00:09:33.019 --> 00:09:35.639 Elizabeth has John the Baptist, Rachel, Rebecca, 00:09:35.779 --> 00:09:39.139 at all times all these different matriarchs of 00:09:39.139 --> 00:09:43.259 the faith dealt with barrenness. And often God 00:09:43.259 --> 00:09:46.860 used their eventual children to do amazing things. 00:09:47.860 --> 00:09:50.279 We may see the intensity of this honor differently 00:09:50.279 --> 00:09:53.340 in our day, but some today deal with the same 00:09:53.340 --> 00:09:56.940 problem and on a day like Mother's Day may feel 00:09:56.940 --> 00:09:59.740 the same way, may feel very troubled because 00:09:59.740 --> 00:10:03.980 they don't have kids. For many ladies, Mother's 00:10:03.980 --> 00:10:06.620 Day can come with some pain because they wanted 00:10:06.620 --> 00:10:09.299 to have children and could not or have not. If 00:10:09.299 --> 00:10:13.019 this is the situation you find yourself in, don't 00:10:13.019 --> 00:10:17.220 think of yourself as inferior. That's not true. 00:10:17.879 --> 00:10:22.519 God loves you and you have worth. You are made 00:10:22.519 --> 00:10:26.100 in the image of God and God gave his son to die 00:10:26.100 --> 00:10:29.580 for you. We see a third problem that was part 00:10:29.580 --> 00:10:32.179 of Hannah's life. here right at the beginning. 00:10:32.720 --> 00:10:34.659 Because of the previous two problems, we see 00:10:34.659 --> 00:10:36.779 that there was a tension with her husband that 00:10:36.779 --> 00:10:39.940 gets described here in verse number three, talking 00:10:39.940 --> 00:10:43.320 about Elkanah, this man went up out of the city 00:10:43.320 --> 00:10:45.980 yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the Lord 00:10:45.980 --> 00:10:50.820 of Hosts, and Shiloh, and the two sons of Eli, 00:10:51.080 --> 00:10:53.019 Hophni and Phineas, the priests of the Lord, 00:10:53.360 --> 00:10:56.460 were there. Now make note of Eli, he's mentioned 00:10:56.460 --> 00:10:58.340 there. He was the priest of the Lord that will 00:10:58.340 --> 00:11:01.139 be part of this story later. Verse four. And 00:11:01.139 --> 00:11:04.720 when the time was that Elkanah offered, he gave 00:11:04.720 --> 00:11:09.559 to Pinnana his wife, and to all her sons and 00:11:09.559 --> 00:11:12.460 her daughters portions, but unto Hannah he gave 00:11:12.460 --> 00:11:16.539 a worthy portion. Oh, that's cool. Who agrees? 00:11:16.580 --> 00:11:21.340 He felt bad. And he wanted to give her, when 00:11:21.340 --> 00:11:25.460 I go to ice cream, I like a worthy portion. Okay, 00:11:25.860 --> 00:11:29.289 I like that. Don't give me a skinny guy scoop. 00:11:29.350 --> 00:11:32.769 Give me the chubby guy scoop, right? He gave 00:11:32.769 --> 00:11:35.370 unto a worthy portion for he, what does it say? 00:11:36.190 --> 00:11:40.730 He loved Hannah. I love that. But the Lord had 00:11:40.730 --> 00:11:44.350 shut up her womb. And her adversary, we read 00:11:44.350 --> 00:11:47.470 this already, also provoked her for to make her 00:11:47.470 --> 00:11:48.870 afraid because the Lord had shut up her womb. 00:11:49.389 --> 00:11:52.450 And as he did so year by year when she went up 00:11:52.450 --> 00:11:55.330 to the house of the Lord, so she provoked her, 00:11:55.429 --> 00:11:58.289 therefore she wept and did not eat." I think 00:11:58.289 --> 00:12:01.070 it's interesting that when they went to worship 00:12:01.070 --> 00:12:03.450 God, that's when the other lady was even more 00:12:03.450 --> 00:12:11.470 of a jerk. Not all church ladies are nice. Did 00:12:11.470 --> 00:12:19.139 I just say that on Mother's Day? The problems 00:12:19.139 --> 00:12:22.960 grew more and more intense. Year after year, 00:12:23.139 --> 00:12:26.960 no child. Year after year, a provoking adversary. 00:12:27.419 --> 00:12:31.820 Year after year, her pain grew more acute. And 00:12:31.820 --> 00:12:34.899 it affected her husband. Look at verse number 00:12:34.899 --> 00:12:37.440 eight. Then said Elkanah, her husband to her, 00:12:37.460 --> 00:12:42.080 Hannah, why weepest thou? And why eatest thou 00:12:42.080 --> 00:12:45.340 not? You see her discouragement got to the place 00:12:45.340 --> 00:12:46.940 where she wouldn't eat and she wouldn't drink. 00:12:46.940 --> 00:12:50.539 I mean, it's pretty intense. Why are you not 00:12:50.539 --> 00:12:55.399 eating? Why are you not... Why are you weeping? 00:12:56.759 --> 00:13:02.539 Why is your heart grieved? Am not I better than 00:13:02.539 --> 00:13:11.200 ten sons? It's at this point we see Hannah respond 00:13:11.200 --> 00:13:17.309 beyond her grief. Hannah's example here may be 00:13:17.309 --> 00:13:20.169 very relevant for you today because the situation 00:13:20.169 --> 00:13:21.970 she's going through. Maybe you have a problem 00:13:21.970 --> 00:13:24.929 that just seems like there's no way to fix it. 00:13:26.669 --> 00:13:33.710 You've tried everything. Maybe you're wondering, 00:13:34.070 --> 00:13:41.690 does God see me? God, are you really the cause? 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:46.080 of my problem and my pain here, don't you see? 00:13:47.620 --> 00:13:51.259 These people who aren't doing right seem to be 00:13:51.259 --> 00:13:53.519 blessed and I'm trying to do right and I'm not 00:13:53.519 --> 00:13:59.759 being blessed. Maybe like Hannah, you feel this 00:13:59.759 --> 00:14:03.559 problem defines you and identifies you to other 00:14:03.559 --> 00:14:07.279 people. And maybe like Hannah, you feel it so 00:14:07.279 --> 00:14:10.730 acutely that you weep. Maybe you've been in a 00:14:10.730 --> 00:14:14.789 place where you don't even eat I certainly have 00:14:14.789 --> 00:14:16.429 counseled people through the years that lost 00:14:16.429 --> 00:14:18.490 weight because they were in such a grief and 00:14:18.490 --> 00:14:21.370 difficulty that they didn't take the time to 00:14:21.370 --> 00:14:25.830 eat in their grief and It's at this moment that 00:14:25.830 --> 00:14:28.169 and it's at this point that Hannah serves as 00:14:28.169 --> 00:14:31.850 an example for us to imitate When we face seemingly 00:14:31.850 --> 00:14:39.129 insurmountable problems Every mom can grow in 00:14:39.129 --> 00:14:43.350 her faith through prayer by imitating Hannah's 00:14:43.350 --> 00:14:46.750 three responses to her problem. And by the way, 00:14:46.889 --> 00:14:50.889 so can the rest of us. Moms aren't the only one 00:14:50.889 --> 00:14:52.950 that go through difficulty. Any dads going through 00:14:52.950 --> 00:14:56.149 difficulty at a particular time? Yeah, for sure. 00:14:57.309 --> 00:14:59.169 So let's look at her responses. Here's response 00:14:59.169 --> 00:15:03.730 number one. She prayed a promise to God by faith. 00:15:03.830 --> 00:15:07.919 Look at verse nine. It says this, so Hannah rose 00:15:07.919 --> 00:15:11.580 up after they had eaten in Shiloh and after they 00:15:11.580 --> 00:15:15.100 had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat 00:15:15.100 --> 00:15:18.659 by a post of the temple of the Lord and she was 00:15:18.659 --> 00:15:25.039 in, what does it say? Bitterness of soul and 00:15:25.039 --> 00:15:29.139 prayed unto the Lord and wept sore. Was this 00:15:29.139 --> 00:15:34.370 lady sincere? I believe she was. Here is the 00:15:34.370 --> 00:15:36.009 starting point when it comes to dealing with 00:15:36.009 --> 00:15:39.269 your problems. Prayer isn't the last resort. 00:15:40.549 --> 00:15:44.690 I've heard, preached many times in my life, you 00:15:44.690 --> 00:15:49.750 know, a pastor will say, I heard people say all 00:15:49.750 --> 00:15:53.009 we can do is pray, you know. And that shouldn't 00:15:53.009 --> 00:15:55.149 be how it is. The first thing we should do is 00:15:55.149 --> 00:15:57.950 pray. Who think that preach is good? Yeah, but 00:15:57.950 --> 00:16:01.330 sometimes, sometimes all you can do is pray. 00:16:03.029 --> 00:16:05.769 Sometimes it's like, it's not up to me. This 00:16:05.769 --> 00:16:09.470 is something God's gotta do, right? And if you're 00:16:09.470 --> 00:16:12.309 like feeling guilty that man, I haven't been 00:16:12.309 --> 00:16:14.690 praying like I ought to and because I haven't 00:16:14.690 --> 00:16:16.789 prayed and now I'm really, maybe I wasn't praying 00:16:16.789 --> 00:16:18.690 when things were, I wasn't praying when things 00:16:18.690 --> 00:16:20.389 were going good and now things are going bad 00:16:20.389 --> 00:16:22.490 and so I feel bad about praying because God doesn't 00:16:22.490 --> 00:16:25.070 wanna answer my prayer because God wouldn't answer 00:16:25.070 --> 00:16:26.669 my prayer. I wasn't faithful when things were 00:16:26.669 --> 00:16:28.509 going good and now bad things are bad and now, 00:16:28.950 --> 00:16:31.769 so I'm not even gonna pray. Can I tell you? Don't 00:16:31.769 --> 00:16:37.570 be dumb. Write that down, don't be dumb. If you're 00:16:37.570 --> 00:16:44.330 going through difficulty, pray. Pray. Now don't 00:16:44.330 --> 00:16:47.789 stop praying when he answers your prayer. Don't 00:16:47.789 --> 00:16:51.169 stop praying when things are good. But if things 00:16:51.169 --> 00:16:59.190 are bad, pray. God wants us to pray to him. Hannah 00:16:59.190 --> 00:17:02.159 in the bitterness of her soul, came to this crisis 00:17:02.159 --> 00:17:05.660 point. She's hurting, she's weeping, she's not 00:17:05.660 --> 00:17:08.339 eating. Notice it says after they had eaten and 00:17:08.339 --> 00:17:13.140 they had drunk. I believe in the context, she 00:17:13.140 --> 00:17:16.319 didn't eat and drink, she was there. She prayed 00:17:16.319 --> 00:17:19.880 and she prayed a particular kind of prayer. She 00:17:19.880 --> 00:17:22.579 made a vow. She made a promise to God, verse 00:17:22.579 --> 00:17:26.519 11. It says, and she vowed a vow and said, oh 00:17:26.519 --> 00:17:30.059 Lord of hosts. If, and then later on she says 00:17:30.059 --> 00:17:35.480 then, we're gonna see that in a second. I believe 00:17:35.480 --> 00:17:37.960 Hannah's heart was right in this. Some people 00:17:37.960 --> 00:17:41.200 make a promise to God as a way of trying to manipulate 00:17:41.200 --> 00:17:45.740 God. That's bad. That's a bad plan because God 00:17:45.740 --> 00:17:55.819 cannot be manipulated. God cannot be manipulated. 00:17:57.609 --> 00:18:02.069 Okay. You aren't gonna surprise him. He knows 00:18:02.069 --> 00:18:10.490 you better than you know yourself. But I believe 00:18:10.490 --> 00:18:12.509 her heart was right in this because the vow she 00:18:12.509 --> 00:18:15.509 was making was not ultimately selfish. We're 00:18:15.509 --> 00:18:18.750 gonna see that. What she was promising was to 00:18:18.750 --> 00:18:21.710 have a right heart attitude about the gift of 00:18:21.710 --> 00:18:24.750 God to her. So what was the promise? She says 00:18:24.750 --> 00:18:28.609 she vowed a vow. And said, O Lord of hosts, if 00:18:28.609 --> 00:18:31.250 thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine 00:18:31.250 --> 00:18:36.829 handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine 00:18:36.829 --> 00:18:39.529 handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a 00:18:39.529 --> 00:18:44.769 man -child. Was she specific? Then I will give 00:18:44.769 --> 00:18:47.049 him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and 00:18:47.049 --> 00:18:53.150 there shall no razor come upon his head. Notice 00:18:53.150 --> 00:18:55.990 that the tone of this vow was not demanding. 00:18:56.029 --> 00:19:00.670 It was humble. Do you agree with me? It was requesting. 00:19:00.710 --> 00:19:04.269 It was not demanding. The vow was this. If God 00:19:04.269 --> 00:19:06.509 would deal with her dishonor by giving her a 00:19:06.509 --> 00:19:10.609 son, then what she would do is give that son 00:19:10.609 --> 00:19:14.049 back to serve God by helping that son serve God 00:19:14.049 --> 00:19:22.599 and keeping a lifelong Nazarite vow. This is 00:19:22.599 --> 00:19:24.319 not explained in the text, but it's certainly 00:19:24.319 --> 00:19:26.640 implied. Number six talks about what a Nazarite 00:19:26.640 --> 00:19:29.420 vow is. I put it on the screen. Here's what it's, 00:19:29.519 --> 00:19:31.400 number six, one through seven says this, and 00:19:31.400 --> 00:19:33.259 the Lord speaking the most is saying, speak unto 00:19:33.259 --> 00:19:35.279 the children of Israel and saying to them, when 00:19:35.279 --> 00:19:37.339 either a man or woman shall separate themselves 00:19:37.339 --> 00:19:41.000 to vow, a vow of a Nazarite to separate themselves 00:19:41.000 --> 00:19:44.019 under the Lord, he shall separate himself from 00:19:44.019 --> 00:19:47.380 wine and strong drink. and shall drink no vinegar 00:19:47.380 --> 00:19:49.759 of wine or vinegar of strong drink. Neither shall 00:19:49.759 --> 00:19:52.519 I drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes 00:19:52.519 --> 00:19:55.960 or dried." So the first part of the Nazarite 00:19:55.960 --> 00:20:00.579 vow is no fruit of the vine, no grapes of any 00:20:00.579 --> 00:20:05.089 kind, alcohol, even eating grapes. There, you 00:20:05.089 --> 00:20:07.390 got it, verse four. All the days of his separation, 00:20:07.670 --> 00:20:09.230 he shall eat nothing that is made from the vine 00:20:09.230 --> 00:20:12.230 tree, from the kernels even to the husk. All 00:20:12.230 --> 00:20:14.509 the days of his vow of his separation shall no 00:20:14.509 --> 00:20:17.809 razor come upon his head until the days be fulfilled 00:20:17.809 --> 00:20:20.230 in which he separate himself unto the Lord. He 00:20:20.230 --> 00:20:23.869 shall be holy or separated by that long hair. 00:20:25.230 --> 00:20:27.930 And shall let the locks of his hair of his head 00:20:27.930 --> 00:20:30.829 grow. All the days that he separated himself 00:20:30.829 --> 00:20:33.349 and the Lord, he shall come at no dead body. 00:20:33.650 --> 00:20:35.910 He shall not make himself unclean for his father, 00:20:36.009 --> 00:20:38.490 for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister 00:20:38.490 --> 00:20:41.170 when they die, because the consecration of God 00:20:41.170 --> 00:20:45.730 is upon his head." So no fruit of the vine. Let 00:20:45.730 --> 00:20:48.250 your hair grow out. Don't ever cut your hair. 00:20:49.089 --> 00:20:53.170 And never touch a dead body of any kind. That's 00:20:53.170 --> 00:20:56.289 the three parts of the Nazarite vow. Part of 00:20:56.289 --> 00:20:58.049 them taking this vow was not just to make these 00:20:58.049 --> 00:21:01.089 boundaries, it was to consecrate them for service 00:21:01.089 --> 00:21:04.170 to the Lord. They didn't do this just to practice 00:21:04.170 --> 00:21:06.869 these requirements. They practiced these requirements 00:21:06.869 --> 00:21:09.869 so as to be used of the Lord. The most famous 00:21:09.869 --> 00:21:13.589 long -haired Nazarite is probably, hey, good 00:21:13.589 --> 00:21:18.769 job, Samson, yeah. And notice he broke all three 00:21:18.769 --> 00:21:24.500 of those vows, right? Here's the point. In the 00:21:24.500 --> 00:21:26.859 midst of her grief and in the depths of her despair 00:21:26.859 --> 00:21:31.180 and problem, Hannah went to God in prayer. She 00:21:31.180 --> 00:21:34.220 prayed a prayer that did not demand. She had 00:21:34.220 --> 00:21:36.740 faith to believe that God would solve her problem. 00:21:37.000 --> 00:21:38.720 And she had faith to believe that if she gave 00:21:38.720 --> 00:21:41.700 God what he had given to her, that this would 00:21:41.700 --> 00:21:48.000 be a right response to his answer. Pause. Time 00:21:48.000 --> 00:21:51.579 out. In the story, let me ask you some questions. 00:21:53.160 --> 00:21:59.440 Have you sincerely, intensely, and wisely brought 00:21:59.440 --> 00:22:07.460 your problem to God? Is prayer to God the pattern 00:22:07.460 --> 00:22:12.519 of your life? Is it the pattern of your parenting? 00:22:13.839 --> 00:22:17.279 Is it the pattern of your marriage? Have you 00:22:17.279 --> 00:22:23.200 surrendered your desires to God's will? A good 00:22:23.200 --> 00:22:25.200 place to start growing in your faith in the middle 00:22:25.200 --> 00:22:30.299 of your problem is to start with prayer. Here's 00:22:30.299 --> 00:22:33.859 our second response, response number two. Hannah 00:22:33.859 --> 00:22:38.740 received the answer from God by faith. She prayed 00:22:38.740 --> 00:22:42.289 by faith. Now she receives an answer from God 00:22:42.289 --> 00:22:45.809 by faith. Look at verse 12. And it came to pass 00:22:45.809 --> 00:22:48.670 as she continued praying before the Lord that 00:22:48.670 --> 00:22:51.829 Eli marked her mouth. What does that mean? He 00:22:51.829 --> 00:22:56.950 sees this lady praying or her mouth moving. He 00:22:56.950 --> 00:22:59.130 explains it here. And he sees it and he's like, 00:22:59.130 --> 00:23:02.730 what's going on? Verse 13. Now Hannah, she spoke 00:23:02.730 --> 00:23:05.910 in her heart and only her lips moved, but her 00:23:05.910 --> 00:23:08.789 voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought that 00:23:08.789 --> 00:23:14.150 she was drunk. That's what he thought. Here's 00:23:14.150 --> 00:23:19.569 some crazy lady. A little too much wine. She's 00:23:19.569 --> 00:23:23.710 acting weird. Who thinks she was passionate? 00:23:24.789 --> 00:23:29.150 She's weeping. Her mouth is moving. He's probably 00:23:29.150 --> 00:23:31.069 not as sensitive maybe as he should. I don't 00:23:31.069 --> 00:23:33.869 know. But I probably shouldn't have said that. 00:23:33.970 --> 00:23:36.609 I have no idea. The point is he thought she was 00:23:36.609 --> 00:23:40.680 drunk. Now look at how Eli took it. Verse 14, 00:23:40.779 --> 00:23:42.980 then Eli said unto her, how long will thou be 00:23:42.980 --> 00:23:46.940 drunken? Put away thine wine from thee. I love 00:23:46.940 --> 00:23:49.180 the forwardness there. Stop drinking, woman. 00:23:50.859 --> 00:23:53.700 Verse 15, and Hannah answered and said, no, my 00:23:53.700 --> 00:23:57.480 Lord, I'm a woman of a sorrowful spirit. I have 00:23:57.480 --> 00:24:00.519 drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have 00:24:00.519 --> 00:24:03.099 poured out my soul before the Lord. Count not 00:24:03.099 --> 00:24:07.410 thy Hamada for a daughter of Belial for a daughter 00:24:07.410 --> 00:24:11.049 of deception and drunkenness for out of the abundance 00:24:11.049 --> 00:24:15.450 of my complaint and grief Have I spoken hitherto? 00:24:15.569 --> 00:24:18.150 I'm not drunk. I'm not a daughter of deceit. 00:24:18.190 --> 00:24:22.049 I am in grief I am going to God with my problem. 00:24:22.509 --> 00:24:24.509 I look at verse 17. This is gonna be such an 00:24:24.509 --> 00:24:28.470 encouragement to her Then Eli answered and said 00:24:28.470 --> 00:24:37.039 go in Peace. Do you agree that that's at least 00:24:37.039 --> 00:24:40.640 a part of what Hannah needed? She needed peace. 00:24:42.299 --> 00:24:45.079 And when he says it, let me ask you a question. 00:24:45.140 --> 00:24:48.880 When he says go in peace, well, let's keep reading. 00:24:49.319 --> 00:24:51.319 And the God of Israel grant thee thy petition 00:24:51.319 --> 00:24:54.259 that thou hast asked of him. And she said, let 00:24:54.259 --> 00:24:59.400 them handmade find grace in thy sight. I cannot 00:24:59.400 --> 00:25:01.319 say this for sure because all we know is what 00:25:01.319 --> 00:25:05.380 the text tells us. This is my opinion. I believe 00:25:05.380 --> 00:25:07.440 that many conversations that are described in 00:25:07.440 --> 00:25:09.640 the Bible give us the theme of the conversation 00:25:09.640 --> 00:25:13.079 and not necessarily every word that was said. 00:25:13.559 --> 00:25:17.079 This is what we know. Eli's heart turned from 00:25:17.079 --> 00:25:20.900 admonishment to compassion. Are you with me? 00:25:22.940 --> 00:25:26.420 He realized the rightness and health of her request 00:25:26.420 --> 00:25:30.119 to God, and he encouraged her in her petition. 00:25:30.799 --> 00:25:33.559 And then she received it, and I believe she received 00:25:33.559 --> 00:25:35.880 it by faith. Why? Look at the second half of 00:25:35.880 --> 00:25:39.220 verse 18. Go in peace, the Lord grant you according 00:25:39.220 --> 00:25:42.220 to your request, he says. So the woman went her 00:25:42.220 --> 00:25:46.980 way and did, and did what? What was she not doing 00:25:46.980 --> 00:25:49.900 before? She wasn't eating because she was grieved. 00:25:50.039 --> 00:25:54.180 Now she heard, somewhat of an answer. She took 00:25:54.180 --> 00:25:58.200 what Eli said as, okay, this guy thinks that 00:25:58.200 --> 00:26:00.680 God is answering. Maybe God used that to speak 00:26:00.680 --> 00:26:03.460 into my life. I believe that God is gonna hear 00:26:03.460 --> 00:26:08.500 my request and he's heard me. So she went away 00:26:08.500 --> 00:26:12.920 and did eat and her countenance was no more sad. 00:26:14.400 --> 00:26:22.299 Was she pregnant? Come on. Was she pregnant? 00:26:23.319 --> 00:26:24.660 Is that what she was asking for? Did she want 00:26:24.660 --> 00:26:27.539 a son? To have a son, you gotta get pregnant. 00:26:29.180 --> 00:26:39.579 Write that down. Right? She wasn't yet. But her 00:26:39.579 --> 00:26:41.259 countenance was no more sad. She went back to 00:26:41.259 --> 00:26:45.900 eating. She believed it by faith. Her disposition 00:26:45.900 --> 00:26:50.660 was a disposition not of grief, but of faith. 00:26:51.380 --> 00:26:53.859 Look at what happened next, verse 19. And they 00:26:53.859 --> 00:26:56.519 rose up in the morning early and worshiped before 00:26:56.519 --> 00:26:58.160 the Lord and returned and came to their house 00:26:58.160 --> 00:27:02.000 to Ramah. And Elkanah knew his wife and the Lord 00:27:02.000 --> 00:27:05.480 remember her. The Bible is clear without being 00:27:05.480 --> 00:27:09.880 crass. In faith, Hannah believed that God would 00:27:09.880 --> 00:27:12.779 give her a child. The term knew here speaks of 00:27:12.779 --> 00:27:15.180 intimacy. And I love the expression at the end. 00:27:15.380 --> 00:27:21.809 And the Lord remembered her. God answered. Her, 00:27:22.269 --> 00:27:25.069 what did she pray? God, don't forget me. God, 00:27:25.250 --> 00:27:28.509 remember me in my affliction and the Lord remembered 00:27:28.509 --> 00:27:34.069 her. She believed, she trusted, God answered 00:27:34.069 --> 00:27:36.589 her prayer. She received the gift that God gave 00:27:36.589 --> 00:27:39.349 her by faith and she even commemorated her request 00:27:39.349 --> 00:27:41.990 to the Lord and receiving of the Lord in a special 00:27:41.990 --> 00:27:46.670 way. Verse 20, wherefore it came to pass when 00:27:46.670 --> 00:27:49.619 the time, when the time was come after Hannah 00:27:49.619 --> 00:27:53.460 had conceived, that she bear a son and she called 00:27:53.460 --> 00:27:58.819 his name Samuel, saying, because I have asked 00:27:58.819 --> 00:28:05.059 him of the Lord. The name Samuel sounds like 00:28:05.059 --> 00:28:11.880 Shemuel, S -H -E, Shemuel in Hebrew. My apologies 00:28:11.880 --> 00:28:14.900 to any Hebrew professors here, right? The name 00:28:14.900 --> 00:28:19.319 means name of God, but any Hebrew speakers would 00:28:19.319 --> 00:28:22.500 know that the name sounds like heard of God, 00:28:23.240 --> 00:28:29.500 okay? Elohim El, that's God, right? So Shemuel 00:28:29.500 --> 00:28:33.880 literally means name of God, but to the hearer, 00:28:33.880 --> 00:28:38.519 it sounds like heard of God. And for Hannah, 00:28:39.279 --> 00:28:40.900 this is what she was pointing to in the name. 00:28:41.680 --> 00:28:48.509 She named her son, God heard me. Is that encouraging 00:28:48.509 --> 00:28:51.069 to any ladies out there? Anybody in your difficulty? 00:28:51.390 --> 00:28:55.430 When you pray, God hears you. Now God isn't obligated 00:28:55.430 --> 00:29:00.349 to give us anything and everything we want. He 00:29:00.349 --> 00:29:07.529 doesn't, God's not like Amazon .com. You know, 00:29:07.630 --> 00:29:10.869 it'll be here in two days, because that's not 00:29:10.869 --> 00:29:14.829 how he works. But when we pray according to His 00:29:14.829 --> 00:29:18.410 will, He'll do it for us. We receive it by faith. 00:29:19.509 --> 00:29:23.910 He says, and she called His name, saying, you 00:29:23.910 --> 00:29:26.509 know, because I have asked Him of the Lord, the 00:29:26.509 --> 00:29:29.809 Lord heard me. She's saying I asked of the Lord 00:29:29.809 --> 00:29:34.089 and He heard me and gave me my son. The Bible 00:29:34.089 --> 00:29:37.549 says this in Hebrews 11 six, but without faith, 00:29:37.549 --> 00:29:40.609 it's impossible to please Him. For he that cometh 00:29:40.609 --> 00:29:43.029 to God must believe that he is and that he's 00:29:43.029 --> 00:29:47.890 a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. 00:29:48.990 --> 00:29:54.430 God's desire for us is to trust him. God's desire 00:29:54.430 --> 00:29:57.910 for us is to trust him, to believe him. He wants 00:29:57.910 --> 00:30:00.789 us to go after him. This does not mean that God 00:30:00.789 --> 00:30:03.150 is lacking in some way if people reject him. 00:30:03.289 --> 00:30:06.720 He's not less than. what he is when people don't 00:30:06.720 --> 00:30:09.259 pursue him. He wants us to pursue him at least 00:30:09.259 --> 00:30:13.619 in part because it's what's best for us. Hannah 00:30:13.619 --> 00:30:15.559 struggled with her problems and that struggle 00:30:15.559 --> 00:30:18.079 pushed her towards the Lord and pushed her to 00:30:18.079 --> 00:30:21.019 her knees. It put her in contact with Eli who 00:30:21.019 --> 00:30:23.839 would be instrumental in raising Samuel and use 00:30:23.839 --> 00:30:26.119 of God to prepare him to be the great prophet 00:30:26.119 --> 00:30:29.269 that he would end up being. God used the difficulty 00:30:29.269 --> 00:30:32.329 to expose and encourage Hannah's faith and to 00:30:32.329 --> 00:30:35.289 grow her into who she needed to be. And she became 00:30:35.289 --> 00:30:38.210 an example of the Lord's goodness to those who 00:30:38.210 --> 00:30:44.130 will humbly ask in faith. I have learned so much 00:30:44.130 --> 00:30:46.529 more in my life in the difficulty than I have 00:30:46.529 --> 00:30:52.769 in the easy times. Are you with me? Have you 00:30:52.769 --> 00:30:56.900 been there? you learn so much and you grow so 00:30:56.900 --> 00:30:59.480 much more when things are hard than they are 00:30:59.480 --> 00:31:01.279 when they're easy. And in that way, sometimes 00:31:01.279 --> 00:31:06.259 those difficulties, God allowing them is good 00:31:06.259 --> 00:31:09.700 for us. There's a band I like a lot that I'm 00:31:09.700 --> 00:31:11.319 getting older and they're getting older. And 00:31:11.319 --> 00:31:13.460 so I'm not as cool as I used to be. They're not 00:31:13.460 --> 00:31:15.640 even around anymore. But they wrote this song 00:31:15.640 --> 00:31:19.279 and this is what they said. How can a day be 00:31:19.279 --> 00:31:23.490 a day without a night? How can a win be a win 00:31:23.490 --> 00:31:26.630 without a fight? I will not be shaken by the 00:31:26.630 --> 00:31:29.309 troubles up ahead. I'd rather trust your goodness 00:31:29.309 --> 00:31:32.710 instead. How can a love be a love without a cost? 00:31:33.309 --> 00:31:37.029 How can a life be a life without the loss? No, 00:31:37.029 --> 00:31:40.390 I will not trust my senses over anything you 00:31:40.390 --> 00:31:45.450 say. It's harder, but it's better this way. Thank 00:31:45.450 --> 00:31:49.529 you for the heartbreak. Thank you for the pain. 00:31:49.960 --> 00:31:53.079 Thank you for the sadness on the gloomy days 00:31:53.079 --> 00:31:56.619 of rain. Thank you that the hard times have a 00:31:56.619 --> 00:32:00.160 reason and a rhyme. Thank you that healing makes 00:32:00.160 --> 00:32:04.039 the beauty shine. Thank you for the heartbreak. 00:32:06.279 --> 00:32:09.440 For Hannah, the difficulty and pain pointed her 00:32:09.440 --> 00:32:13.400 to her need for God and produced joy and growth 00:32:13.400 --> 00:32:17.839 in receiving an answer from him. But that's not 00:32:17.839 --> 00:32:24.390 where it ended. Remember she made a vow? Remember 00:32:24.390 --> 00:32:27.930 that? Here's the next way we grow in our prayer 00:32:27.930 --> 00:32:29.890 life for the Lord. Number three, response number 00:32:29.890 --> 00:32:33.190 three, she kept her promise to God by faith. 00:32:35.049 --> 00:32:37.970 Verse 21, and the man Elkan on all his house 00:32:37.970 --> 00:32:41.109 went up to offer the Lord the yearly sacrifice 00:32:41.109 --> 00:32:44.680 and his vow. But Hannah went on up. For she said 00:32:44.680 --> 00:32:46.819 unto her husband, I will not go up until the 00:32:46.819 --> 00:32:49.680 child is weaned. And then I will bring him that 00:32:49.680 --> 00:32:53.400 he may appear before the Lord. Here it is. And 00:32:53.400 --> 00:33:01.680 there abide. How long? Forever. What is she saying? 00:33:02.000 --> 00:33:05.460 I made a promise. I'm gonna keep my promise. 00:33:06.240 --> 00:33:09.380 I'm giving him back. Elken and her husband said 00:33:09.380 --> 00:33:11.640 to her, do what seemed without good, tarry until 00:33:11.640 --> 00:33:14.130 I have weaned them. Only the Lord established 00:33:14.130 --> 00:33:16.730 his word. So the woman abode and she gave her 00:33:16.730 --> 00:33:20.509 son suck until she'd weaned him. She said, I'll 00:33:20.509 --> 00:33:22.089 do the part that only I can do and then I'll 00:33:22.089 --> 00:33:26.230 keep my promise to God. And in this she showed 00:33:26.230 --> 00:33:28.509 wisdom in keeping the promise. Verse 24, and 00:33:28.509 --> 00:33:30.670 when she had weaned him, she took him with her 00:33:30.670 --> 00:33:33.089 with three bullocks and up off a flower and a 00:33:33.089 --> 00:33:34.829 bottle of wine and brought him under the house 00:33:34.829 --> 00:33:37.509 of the Lord in Shiloh. And the child was young 00:33:37.509 --> 00:33:40.089 and they slew a bullock and brought the child 00:33:40.089 --> 00:33:44.069 to Eli. And she said, oh my Lord, as thy soul 00:33:44.069 --> 00:33:46.990 liveth my Lord, I am the woman that stood by 00:33:46.990 --> 00:33:51.349 thee here, praying unto the Lord. For this child 00:33:51.349 --> 00:33:56.769 I prayed, and the Lord hath given me the petition 00:33:56.769 --> 00:34:01.450 which I have asked of him. Eli, let me introduce 00:34:01.450 --> 00:34:06.170 you to this little guy named The Lord Heard Me. 00:34:08.429 --> 00:34:12.690 That's pretty cool. Therefore also I have lent 00:34:12.690 --> 00:34:14.389 to the Lord, as long as he liveth, he shall be 00:34:14.389 --> 00:34:20.769 lent to the Lord." And he, who? Eli, worshiped 00:34:20.769 --> 00:34:25.590 the Lord there. Think about what happened in 00:34:25.590 --> 00:34:28.309 the life of Hannah, Elkanah, Eli, and even to 00:34:28.309 --> 00:34:33.389 us. Hannah was freed from her dishonor. She was 00:34:33.389 --> 00:34:35.889 given a son. She had the opportunity to honor 00:34:35.889 --> 00:34:38.929 the Lord and her faith grew. We see that her 00:34:38.929 --> 00:34:41.590 husband trusted her and led her in the Lord and 00:34:41.590 --> 00:34:45.670 he grew. Eli was encouraged. What you don't know 00:34:45.670 --> 00:34:48.869 about Eli is that his own sons, Hophni and Phineas, 00:34:49.090 --> 00:34:52.010 ended up being ungodly and eventually unusable 00:34:52.010 --> 00:34:55.590 in the Lord's work. Eli was getting a second 00:34:55.590 --> 00:34:58.590 chance in raising and training Samuel for the 00:34:58.590 --> 00:35:00.389 Lord's work. He was encouraged and worshiped 00:35:00.389 --> 00:35:03.929 the Lord for what he had done in and through 00:35:03.929 --> 00:35:08.909 Hannah. So what does that mean for us? Today 00:35:08.909 --> 00:35:11.769 we're encouraged to be people of faith bringing 00:35:11.769 --> 00:35:14.670 our problems and worries to God and watching 00:35:14.670 --> 00:35:18.349 him answer and move and can I just tell you I 00:35:18.349 --> 00:35:25.730 Feel like I need to say this God answers prayer 00:35:25.730 --> 00:35:42.679 God answers prayer God answers prayer. You guys 00:35:42.679 --> 00:35:48.800 believe it? God answers prayer. He can answer 00:35:48.800 --> 00:35:55.340 prayer without us praying. He can. But he wants 00:35:55.340 --> 00:36:00.099 us to pray. He wants us to pray. You know what 00:36:00.099 --> 00:36:03.940 happens when we pray? Our faith in God grows. 00:36:07.760 --> 00:36:11.079 Jesus said, when you pray, go to your closet. 00:36:11.460 --> 00:36:13.940 Don't pray in this corners of street. God wasn't 00:36:13.940 --> 00:36:19.239 forbidding people to pray in public. Jesus wasn't 00:36:19.239 --> 00:36:23.920 forbidding that. What he was saying is, if your 00:36:23.920 --> 00:36:26.820 prayer life is just done in public, it may be 00:36:26.820 --> 00:36:28.880 an indication that you're just doing it. You're 00:36:28.880 --> 00:36:31.760 actually not really praying. You're talking so 00:36:31.760 --> 00:36:35.380 that other people hear what you say to God, right? 00:36:36.210 --> 00:36:39.949 Like and he said if you pray like that you have 00:36:39.949 --> 00:36:41.590 so the people that pray like that they have their 00:36:41.590 --> 00:36:43.769 reward What's their reward? I'm praying so that 00:36:43.769 --> 00:36:47.510 other people hear me He says well when you pray 00:36:47.510 --> 00:36:50.289 go to your closet and the Lord that sees you 00:36:50.289 --> 00:36:54.449 in secret Will reward you openly now. Why would 00:36:54.449 --> 00:36:58.489 he want you to pray in private? Because if you 00:36:58.489 --> 00:37:01.829 don't believe there's actually a God Or you don't 00:37:01.829 --> 00:37:04.309 believe that God will hear you. Why would you 00:37:04.309 --> 00:37:09.840 pray? by yourself. That makes sense? The only 00:37:09.840 --> 00:37:12.340 reward in praying would be just to be seen of 00:37:12.340 --> 00:37:14.199 other people, for people to think I'm really 00:37:14.199 --> 00:37:18.239 spiritual, because I pray. He says, don't pray 00:37:18.239 --> 00:37:23.260 like that, go pray in private. And the Lord sees 00:37:23.260 --> 00:37:27.400 you in private will reward you openly. He's not 00:37:27.400 --> 00:37:32.559 saying don't pray in public. Alan didn't violate 00:37:32.559 --> 00:37:35.519 today that when he prayed in public. The idea 00:37:35.519 --> 00:37:38.019 is that, what's the point? God wants our faith 00:37:38.019 --> 00:37:40.780 and dependence on Him to grow. And then when 00:37:40.780 --> 00:37:42.500 God answers our prayer, man, our faith grows 00:37:42.500 --> 00:37:48.119 like crazy. I know that there is a promise that 00:37:48.119 --> 00:37:52.039 God has made and a prayer He will always answer 00:37:52.039 --> 00:37:55.739 when we ask it in faith. God won't always give 00:37:55.739 --> 00:37:58.960 us everything we ask for. Anybody here thankful 00:37:58.960 --> 00:38:01.079 for the prayers that God didn't answer the way 00:38:01.079 --> 00:38:04.769 we wanted? Yeah. I've prayed some dumb prayers, 00:38:05.090 --> 00:38:08.550 and God has been gracious to me in not giving 00:38:08.550 --> 00:38:15.010 me some of those dumb prayers. I know that there's 00:38:15.010 --> 00:38:17.429 a prayer that he will always answer if it's prayed 00:38:17.429 --> 00:38:21.030 sincerely. When we repent of our sins and turn 00:38:21.030 --> 00:38:24.309 to Christ by faith for forgiveness and for salvation, 00:38:24.869 --> 00:38:28.550 God will always respond to that sincere request. 00:38:29.050 --> 00:38:33.300 If you ask God to save you, And you do that sincerely 00:38:33.300 --> 00:38:36.460 because you know that Jesus Christ died, was 00:38:36.460 --> 00:38:39.400 buried and rose again for your sins. He will 00:38:39.400 --> 00:38:43.920 always answer that prayer. He who comes to me, 00:38:43.940 --> 00:38:49.070 he says, I will in no wise cast out. The scripture 00:38:49.070 --> 00:38:51.230 says that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth 00:38:51.230 --> 00:38:53.269 the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that 00:38:53.269 --> 00:38:55.010 God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt 00:38:55.010 --> 00:38:57.030 be saved. For with the heart man believeth under 00:38:57.030 --> 00:38:59.210 righteousness, and with the mouth confession 00:38:59.210 --> 00:39:02.050 is made unto salvation. For the same Lord over 00:39:02.050 --> 00:39:04.170 all is rich unto all who call upon him, for whosoever 00:39:04.170 --> 00:39:08.010 shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be 00:39:08.010 --> 00:39:12.230 saved. Who's grateful for that? If you ask God 00:39:12.230 --> 00:39:17.929 to save you, he'll save you. He'll do it. That's 00:39:17.929 --> 00:39:19.690 not where he wants us to stop praying. He wants 00:39:19.690 --> 00:39:26.429 us to keep praying. So, in the middle of your 00:39:26.429 --> 00:39:28.190 difficulty, maybe things are going really well 00:39:28.190 --> 00:39:32.610 for you. Don't just pray when things are bad. 00:39:33.449 --> 00:39:36.670 Thank God for things when they're good. Maybe 00:39:36.670 --> 00:39:38.389 you're going through difficulty. Maybe a day 00:39:38.389 --> 00:39:42.230 like Mother's Day is a hard day for you. Can 00:39:42.230 --> 00:39:46.170 I just encourage you to pray? What could God 00:39:46.170 --> 00:39:48.489 do in your life if you became a faith praying 00:39:48.489 --> 00:39:54.489 mom a Faith praying dad the scripture says I 00:39:54.489 --> 00:39:57.829 don't think I'm taking this out of con Context 00:39:57.829 --> 00:39:59.690 think about it within the context of what it 00:39:59.690 --> 00:40:03.230 says, but scripture says you have not because 00:40:03.230 --> 00:40:08.570 you ask not What an incredible response it would 00:40:08.570 --> 00:40:11.190 be today then in the middle of our difficulty 00:40:11.190 --> 00:40:17.880 we would go to God and pray where we would receive 00:40:17.880 --> 00:40:19.900 whatever answer that he has from us through his 00:40:19.900 --> 00:40:22.380 word, and that we would live according to his 00:40:22.380 --> 00:40:25.679 promises, and we would do the things that we 00:40:25.679 --> 00:40:29.159 have promised to him. What an incredible response 00:40:29.159 --> 00:40:35.440 would be, would honor God if today, the next 00:40:35.440 --> 00:40:37.639 few minutes in response would just be all of 00:40:37.639 --> 00:40:41.579 us taking a moment to take whatever we need to 00:40:41.579 --> 00:40:45.820 take to God, to him. not just to attend the service 00:40:45.820 --> 00:40:49.099 and go through the service and from here to the 00:40:49.099 --> 00:40:51.059 end, just endure whatever what's gonna happen 00:40:51.059 --> 00:40:53.400 so I can go on and take mom to Olive Garden. 00:40:55.420 --> 00:40:58.579 But if you would take the next few minutes, and 00:40:58.579 --> 00:41:00.940 as I talked about what is heavy on your heart, 00:41:01.000 --> 00:41:04.820 you know what that is. And if you would actually 00:41:04.820 --> 00:41:06.940 take the next few moments to give that over to 00:41:06.940 --> 00:41:12.280 God. If you're here today, maybe you don't feel 00:41:12.280 --> 00:41:15.300 this. If you don't know Christ as a savior, the 00:41:15.300 --> 00:41:17.320 most important thing you need to do is call on 00:41:17.320 --> 00:41:20.139 the Lord to save you. We love to take God's word 00:41:20.139 --> 00:41:21.820 and show you how you can know for sure heaven's 00:41:21.820 --> 00:41:23.559 your home. There's a prayer that he'll answer. 00:41:24.380 --> 00:41:29.960 God forgive me, save me. He'll do it. If you're 00:41:29.960 --> 00:41:32.519 here today, how awesome would it be to fill up 00:41:32.519 --> 00:41:35.519 this altar, praying to God sincerely and seeking 00:41:35.519 --> 00:41:38.440 his provision and his moving in our lives. Would 00:41:38.440 --> 00:41:39.300 you stand with me?