Would you join me tonight in the book of 1 Samuel chapter one and put your finger right there and travel back to the book of Genesis. A couple verses I'd like to read. One's in the book of Genesis and one's in the book of Romans that have so much to do with what is happening with our friend Sister Anna here in the first chapter of the book of Genesis. First Samuel.

She has been given the information that she is going to have a child. She's going to have a baby and she's been waiting for that for a long time and she's going to be blessed with a child. She has promised to give that child back to the Lord, back to the wisdom of Eli when he is weaned. And we'll get to that in a moment.

But if in the book of Exodus chapter 33, if you join me in the book of Exodus chapter 33 tonight in verse 30, excuse me, in verse 19, verse 19, this is just one of those hallmark passages of scripture that we find in the scriptures about God doing his business. And we find out that God shared with Moses so long ago, how he is going to determine who he's going to bless as he has blessed Anna.

It tells us here in the book of Exodus chapter 33 verse 19, and he said, and Moses is asked to see the glory of God. Now, he gets to see a portion of God, but in reality, what he hears is much more valuable than what he sees. He gets to hear God speak about God. And here it says, and he said, God said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee. And I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee. and I will be gracious.

Now these words are so, they just need to be underlined in our Bibles. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious. Now we go back over there to First Samuel and just remember that Elkina has two wives, but which one would you want to be? We have that this one, Hannah, is the one that hears these words, maybe not personally or just as we hear it here, but the Lord blessed her in such a mighty way. He was gracious to her in such a gracious way.

It goes on to tell us there, I will be gracious and I'll show mercy on whom I will show mercy. And that's God's glory. That is, it's better to hear the glory of God than it is to see it, in this life at least. I'd rather, you know, I have people tell me they've seen God. Well, I have too, but he's got words about him. and we're just thankful for that.

So I will, and then the Apostle Paul takes this, he's led by the Spirit to put this in the book of Romans. If you travel clear over to the book of Romans, chapter nine, verse 15, and we have that this whole thought He is brought over here to the Book of Romans, and we find that, again, what a blessing it is to have God gracious. And then to find out He's gracious to whom He will be gracious. It's not people that are waving down, but He's going to be gracious to whom He will be gracious.

Here in the Book of Romans, Chapter nine, verse 15, it says, for he saith to Moses, I will have mercy. Verse 15, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and I'll have compassion on whom I'll have compassion. And one of the names that we could put in there is Hannah. The Lord is going to bless her. In fact, the word over here that we're going to get to in just a minute is the Lord remembered Hannah. My goodness, the very thoughts that are contained in those words about the Lord remembering his people.

All right, it goes on, so then, it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but God that showeth mercy. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared through all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he'll have mercy, and whom he will, he hardeneth." So I'm going to have mercy on whom I'll have mercy, and that's God's word about himself. He shared that with Moses, but do you know we find it also is found in the garden or just outside the garden between Cain and Abel. I'll show mercy on whom I'll show mercy. And then down through the line, I will show mercy. I showed mercy to Noah. I showed mercy to Abraham. I showed mercy to whom I will show mercy.

So here we find in that long line is a lady by the name of Hannah. So let's join her here in the book of 1 Samuel, 1 Samuel chapter one. as we think about this lady that was so distraught, and she was burdened, and there was a bitterness about her, and particularly when she was nagged on by the other house lady. Well, 1 Samuel 1, and let's look here at verse 19. 1 Samuel 1, verse 19, and they rose up in the morning early and worshiped before the Lord, and returned and came to their house in Ramah. So how long they've been there, it doesn't actually say. They've been there for some time. They've been offering sacrifices. We find that Hannah has been there at the tabernacle. She's been praying. She poured out her soul to the Lord. And we find those things and she brings up the subject of what she's praying about. And Eli, given the understanding, the knowledge about what God is going to do, shared with her, go home, be at peace. You're going to have your child. And so verse 20, wherefore it came to pass when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived that she bear a son and called his name Samuel saying, because I have asked him of the Lord. And that's really what Samuel means, ask of the Lord.

Samuel is mentioned three times in the New Testament, but how many times we're going to find him here in the book of 1 Samuel? Time and time again. And he is one of the individuals of the Old Testament that we're hard pressed to find any negative word about him.

Now, it doesn't take us too long when we get to some of the other people in the Old Testament that there's enough said about them that we find that they have a great deal of problems. But just as God did with Hannah, He remembered them and He saved them. And this is such a blessing for it tells us there in the latter part of verse 19, and the Lord remembered her.

Now, you know, that brought up two verses of scripture to my mind. One of them is found over in the book of Isaiah 49. This is a wonderful passage of scripture about, can a mother forget her sucking child? Well, let's just go over there and read what the prophet Isaiah was led to write as the Holy Spirit gave him utterance.

And in Isaiah chapter 49, it tells us here with regard to this subject that is brought up. Yes, there are times when a mama could forget her child. And here it goes on, verse 15 of the book of Isaiah, chapter 49. It says, can a woman forget her sucking child? That she should not have compassion on the son of her womb. Yes, that could happen. It has happened. It will happen. And then it goes on, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. So we have this promise of Almighty God, that though even our mother may forget us.

Now, I didn't think my mother would ever forget me, but she got into a state of mind that she'd forgot everybody. And so these words were true, but God never forgets his people. He never forgets his people. And the same thing is brought up there in verse 16. It's brought up here. Behold, I have graven thee on the palms of my hands. I have tattooed my hands with your names. I've engraven them. They've been marked there. I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands that walls are continually before me.

So when we read that the Lord remembered Hannah, that's what God does. That's just a natural blessing that God gives to his people. I remember them wherever they are, whatever condition I put them in. Who was it that stopped Hannah's womb? Bible says it was the Lord stopped her womb. Who was it that gave her children? The Lord. And he said he remembered her and gave her a son as we look there in the book of 1 Samuel 1.

The prayer that she prayed and she's going to pray another prayer. We're not going to get to that tonight, but in chapter two, there are a number of verses of scripture there that just let us see Hannah as who she is as we get to hear her prayer. Now, prayer is never for someone else. It's always for God, but aren't you glad we get to hear the Lord's prayer? I'm talking about his prayer in Gethsemane. We get to hear it. We get to hear some of his other prayers. We are sideliners and he never prayed them for other people to hear, but we do have the record of them and we get to delight in what he had to pray. I'm so thankful for that, that God gave us that insight, that Garden of Gethsemane prayer.

If it be possible, let this pass from me. Now that's the Lord's praying in the Garden of Gethsemane to his father. And then said, nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done. He is going to go to the cross. Now it was no small thing for him to go to the cross. His anticipating of going to the cross, it wasn't the pain of the nails. It was the separation of He and His Father. That's the pain of the cross. And we'll get there in just a moment.

But we find out that we don't know how to pray as we ought. That's what the Bible tells us. Well, and you know what? When we read that passage over here in the book of Romans, we say, got that right. You just got that right, Lord. We don't have any argument with it. We're not a professional prayer. We're not prayer warriors. We're stumblers. We're forgetters. We just can't get it together.

But turn with me, if you would, over here to the book of Romans again, chapter eight. And we find there that God has dealt with this issue. He dealt with it with Anna. He gave her the prayer to pray. That's what God does. He supplies the words. He supplies the heart. He supplies the occasion. He supplies all of those things. And when we pray, and we pray, He says He has knowledge of what we have need of before we ask, and He's the one that prompts us to pray. We're not the prompter of real prayer. He's the prompter of real prayer. He's the one that moves in us to do that.

In the book of Romans, chapter 8, verse 26, let's read this verse of scripture. We've done it many times, but it's just an aid. It's a help to understand that, you know, we're stumped so often on how to pray and what to pray for. We do know there in 1 John chapter 5 that God will answer all prayers according to His will. And we have trouble with that sometimes, because we have a will. We'd like things to fall out according to our will. But we have God who is going to oversee all of that, and everything will fall out according to His will. And I don't have to clarify that by saying His perfect will, or His blessed will, or His good will. It's His will. That's what's going to happen.

Romans 8, verse 26, likewise, the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities." Now, you know, it hasn't been that long ago I realized that my prayer is an infirmity. I don't know how to pray as I should. He helpeth my infirmities, for we know not what we should pray for as we ought.

Now, our heart may be as Hannah's and it may be overflowing. We have that prayer desire. I remember when we were going through some of the Psalms one time, long time ago, I said, I just wish I could pray like this. And sometimes I just have to read these as my prayer because I don't know how to pray as I ought. I don't know what to pray for as I ought, but I know it's a blessing to pray.

We know not how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." So the Holy Spirit has promised to come in and be the intercessor for our prayer. Be thankful as we hear Hannah pray how much the Spirit came and guided her in that, because with the heart that she had that was bitter, it's not going to be a very good prayer. unless the Holy Spirit intercedes.

And that prayer of the Holy Spirit intercedes with groanings that cannot be uttered. Now that's not idle chatter, and that's not false tongues. That's God's language with God. And he that searches the hearts knoweth what is in the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints, what? According to the will of God.

So when we hear Hannah pray her prayer for a son there with Eli or her prayer afterwards of Thanksgiving, we're gonna hear the Spirit interceding for her and according to the will of God.

Now, there are many prayers that are brought out in the scriptures. Turn with me, if you would, over to the book of 1 Kings, chapter three. 1 Kings, chapter three. In 1 Kings, chapter three, we have a fairly short prayer of Solomon. Now, Solomon has a pretty short prayer, and he has a pretty long prayer at the dedication of the temple. Both of them are in the same mind, in the sense that they are intercessory prayers of the Holy Spirit to the Father from the individual.

In 1 Kings 3, 1 Kings 3, join me there in 1 Kings 3, and he's just made king. In Gibeon, The Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night. And God said, ask what I shall give thee. Now, today, that's one reason to have a copy of the Bible by your nightstand. Because probably he's not gonna come to us in a dream. I've had people tell me he has, and then they won't pay a bit of attention to what the Bible has to say about the issue.

So if God came in a dream, it is going to be exactly in agreement with his word. There will be no variation. It will not be extra biblical. It will not be above biblical. But my firm belief is, as the cartoon I saw one time, a man is saying, Lord, show me your will, and God's handing him a Bible.

Now, I'm thankful that we can have people that preach the word of God, that help us so often with what it says, but that's how he's gonna speak to us. But in this instance, since we don't have the whole Bible, we don't have the Old Testament even put together, We have God speaking in this miraculous way, and it says there, he's spoken to Solomon in a dream, and God said, ask what I shall give thee. And Solomon said, thou hast showed unto thy servant David, my father, great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth and in righteousness and in uprightness of heart with thee.

David? Solomon is telling this about David? You know, from God's viewpoint, that's what it is. God had taken care of every issue at the cross for David. He did not hold a thing against him. He wasn't waiting to slap him around.

Now, the 51st Psalm, we have the Holy Spirit dealing with David, and these are the prayer of David as a result of it. All right, he said there, and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on the throne as it is this day. And now, O Lord my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father. And I am but a little child, I know not how to go out or come in. And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad, for who is able to judge this thy so great a people? And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing, and God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for long life, neither for riches for thyself, nor hast thou asked for life of thine enemies, but hast asked for thy self-understanding to discern judgment. Behold, I have done according to thy words."

And I can just hear Solomon say, Hallelujah.

Now, it doesn't take very long prior to this prayer, we find out that Solomon is out offering incense Aren't you thankful that the Lord remembers his people? If it wasn't for that, he remembers.

Solomon's prayer of dedication in the eighth chapter of the book of First Kings is from verse 22 to verse 61. And in that whole passage of scripture, he is just honoring God. the number of times he uses that name. 1 Kings 8. In verse 22, we read this. And Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel and spread forth his hands towards heaven. And he said, Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee in heaven above or in earth beneath who keep us covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart. And from then on, for the next several verses of scripture, he honors God with this prayer as the temple is dedicated. What a wonderful prayer that we have recorded here.

Turn with me, if you would, over to the book of Acts chapter 12. This is an astonishing prayer to me. Peter is in prison. Peter is set free. Peter goes to the house. The friends of Peter are praying for him. He's at the door, and they don't even let him in. Well, let's just go over here. Acts chapter 12.

As we think about another prayer, great prayer mentioned in the scriptures, they're praying for his release. Acts chapter 12, there in verse one, it says, about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hand to vex certain of the church. And he killed James, the brother of John, with a sword. And because he sought to please the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. Then were the days of unleavened bread. And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison and delivered him to the four quarterians of soldiers to keep him, intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people. That's really the Passover. Peter, therefore, was kept in prison, but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers bound with two chains, and the keepers before the door kept the prison.

And behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison, and smote Peter on the side, and raised him, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off his hands. And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. Then he saith unto him, Cast thy garments about thee, and follow me. And he went out, and followed him, and wist not that it was true which was done by the angel. thought he saw a vision.

And when they were past the first and second ward, they came into the iron gate, which leadeth into the city, which opened to them of its own accord. And they went out and passed on through one street, and forthwith the angel departed from him. And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety that the Lord hath sent his angel and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.

And when he had considered the thing, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John, whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying. And as Peter knocked on the door of the gate, a damsel came and hearkened, named Rhoda. And when she knew Peter's voice, she opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in and told how Peter stood before the gate. And they said unto her, Thou art mad. But she constantly affirmed that he was even so. Then said they, It is an angel.

But Peter continued knocking, and when they had opened the door, they saw him, and they were astonished.

Praying for him, praying for his release, and when it happened, I know the feeling. It's hard to believe sometimes that God does what he does. The prayers of so many are found in the scriptures. There was one I ran into as I was studying for this lesson that is so, as we think about Hannah's prayer, that she's already prayed, she's been given a son, his name is Samuel, the Lord blessed her in such a way, she's gonna have some more children too, but there is about two verses of scripture about a man in the Old Testament that I want to read, and he prayed.

in the book of 1 Chronicles. 1 Chronicles. Now that's not the strange thing that is being found in the book of 1 Chronicles. This is just one of those places where God has been so active. In chapter 4 of the book of 1 Chronicles, verse 9. We run into a man by the name of Jabez. Now I was visiting with Brother Ed today and he said, many years ago, some group was calling on churches to pray the Jabez prayer. I said, boy, I always felt left out. I didn't hear about that. And I couldn't remember a thing about him until I ran into this verse in preparation for tonight's lesson.

And here's a man that has this much said about him, and yet God said this. All right, and Jabez called, oh, Jabez was more honorable than his brethren. And his mother called him Jabez, saying, because I bear him with sorrow. And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, O that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that my hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me. And the God granted him what he requested.

Talk about praying in the will of God. Two verses. What an outstanding prayer and who answered it? God did. Jabez is a minor biblical figure that prayed a great prayer. In the book of Numbers chapter 11, Numbers chapter 11, the children of Israel should have been so thankful for this prayer. I'm not sure they were because their heart was wrong.

But in the book of Numbers chapter 11, there's two verses that I'd like to read. The people complained, it says, it displeased the Lord, it says. And the Lord heard it, it tells us. And his anger was kindled, it tells us. Numbers chapter 11, verse one. And the fire of the Lord burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp. And the people cried unto Moses, and when Moses prayed unto the Lord, the fire was quenched."

What a statement is made here. Such a simple prayer. The request for prayer, the prayer, and the Lord stopped the plague. How powerful is that? God's way of dealing with the situation.

Jesus' prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, we mentioned it, nevertheless, not my will but thine be done. You know, that's really the prayer of the church. Not my will, but thine be done. We want to pray in the will of God.

Well, let's go over... Go over with me to the book of 1 Kings. 1 Kings chapter 18. Verse 37. This is when Elijah had, and it wasn't a contest. I've read commentators and heard preachers say it was a contest. There was no contest to it. The prophets of Baal couldn't get anything done, and neither could Elijah. They couldn't get anything done. It was the power of God that did this. He was the one that answered the prayer.

So it's, hear me, oh Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God and that thou has turned their heart back again. First Kings 18, verse 38. Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, the Lord, he is God, the Lord, he is God.

A very short prayer, a great activity. And Elijah had as much power to do what had the same power to set that thing on fire as the prophets of Baal did. Impossible. God is possible.

All right, let's go back over here to the book of 1 Samuel for just a bit, and we'll close this chapter out. The book of 1 Samuel, chapter 1. 1 Samuel, chapter 1, as we read here of the birth of Samuel, 1 Samuel chapter 1, and I think it's verse 22 I want to start at. The next year, Hannah's husband says, I'm going up to worship again, and she says, I'm not going this time. And it doesn't look like she went for several years.

Now there's been a lot of discussion about how old Samuel was when he was weaned. I, uh, for what it's worth, the World Health Organization says the average in the world is from two to seven years old. Dr. Gill said he was probably about 10. Now he thinks, and I had to agree, there was more than just weaning from the breast. She's weaning him from herself. She's weaning him from the family. She's weaning him from all the activities that have been going on and setting him up to be a servant of God. He is a Nazarite.

So he is weaned, and she holds off on this until he is weaned. And then it says in verse 23, and Elkina, her husband, said unto her, do what seemeth good to thee, tarry until you have weaned him, only the Lord establish his word. So the woman abode and gave the son suck until she weaned him, and when she had weaned him, she took him up with her with three bullocks and one ephah of flour, and a bottle of wine, and brought him unto the house of the Lord in Shiloh. And the child was young, and they slew a bullock, and brought the child to Eli.

These three bullocks represent three different sacrifices that were going to be offered there. Three sorts of offerings. Just as we found in the book of Leviticus, there was the burnt offering, there was the sin offering, and there was the peace offering. She brought these. Now these are quite a sacrifice for a family to give three bullocks for this, but this is what God required. This is how they were to show that God had worked in them a work of grace. They followed through with what God shared with them.

She took up an ephah of flour and a bottle of wine, which was also used in these sacrifices, and she went up there and she had one thing in mind after she delivered these sacrifices, and that was to leave Samuel with Eli. He's old enough to be on his own. It tells us there in verse 26, and she said, oh, my Lord, as thy soul liveth, my Lord, she's talking to Eli, the woman that stood by thee here prayed unto the Lord. Remember that? When I was here before, a sorrowful, sore, afflicted lady. For this child I prayed, and the Lord hath given me my petition, which I ask of him. Therefore also I have lent him to the Lord, as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord, and he worshiped the Lord there.

Now, whether she ever saw him again, it doesn't say. I have the idea that she probably did when she came up on her annual visit. She saw her son, but she was also given other children. The Lord blessed her in that way. In verse 21 of the next chapter, would you look there? Chapter two, verse 21, and it shares with us here, the Lord blessed her. The Lord visited Hannah so that she conceived and bear three sons and two daughters and the child Samuel grew before the Lord.

Now he is going to be such an important figure here in the Old Testament. He is going to be the last judge and a prophet. He's gonna be brought up as a prophet. So he's going to be such, and he reminds us of the ambassadorship of our Savior, the Lord Jesus, who covered a number of the offices that are brought up here in the Old Testament. He was also a prophet. He was also a priest. He was also the king. So we have that brought up here.

So as we close out this chapter here, the prayer of Hannah is so outstanding. It was a blessing of the Lord. The Lord remembered her. The Lord gave her a son. And we have throughout the Bible the number of times that God spoke to people, they prayed, and the prayers recorded, and the blessing of those prayers. It's what a blessing it is to go through them. And then, if you'll notice, the first verse of chapter two, Hannah prayed. And we're gonna have a little more lengthy prayer here, and it's one that we often remember. He killeth and He maketh alive, and He bringeth down and raiseth up. What a statement she makes about God's work in salvation.

So we're going to stop there tonight as we conclude this