Woman Wednesday

This week from John MacArthur's book Twelve Extraordinary Women, I read from the chapter about Hannah. Hannah is the last of the OT women MacArthur writes about and she is the only woman from the OT group who is not in the genealogy of Jesus Christ.

I must share that I re-read this chapter at least two times for at least two reasons that I know of. I was not really familiar with Hannah before and two, over the past couple of days I believe that God through the Holy Spirit has been drawing my attention to faith and praying. But first, let me share with you about Hannah...

Hannah means "grace" and this Hannah was full of grace towards her loved ones and her enemies. Hannah was married to Elkanah, a priest who was well known and respected. He would often travel to Shiloh to offer sacrifices and worship at the temple. Elkanah was also married to Peninnah. Peninnah was cruel to Hannah. She would provoke Hannah with the fact that she had children and Hannah had none. What is also clear from Scripture is that Elkanah loved Hannah, more than Peninnah. When Elkanah would pass out portions for sacrifices to his wives, he would give a double portion to Hannah signifying his love to her.

(On a side note, I also believe that Elkanah loved Hannah more because of her quiet spirit and godliness even if the face of suffering in childlessness. In the culture, it was seen as a blessing and a necessity to have children to keep the family line going. Although Peninnah would be considered the favorite wife because of having children, I believe that Elkanah saw that a gentle and humble spirit in Hannah was more precious that having 7 sons. Elkanah knew of Hannah's sorrow and prayers and in Scripture, he tries to comfort her by reminding her of his love for her (1 Samuel 1:8).)

From Scripture, we know that Hannah never retaliated against Peninnah, nor did she complain to Elkanah about Peninnah and her provocations, nor complain to Elkanah about her childlessness. What we do know is that Hannah took her feelings of sorrow and suffering straight to God.

Hannah was faithful in prayer and placing herself in the presence of the Lord. She "continued praying before the Lord" (1 Samuel 1:12, emphasis mine). Whenever feelings of sorrow or sadness would come over, she would go to the temple to pray. She knew that it was useless to keep it to herself or speak of it to others, because she knew that only God could comfort and answer her prayers.

I love how MacArthur describes the way Hannah prayed at the temple. She would "cast her whole burden on the Lord and left her sense of frustration there at the altar. She did what she had come to the tabernacle to do. She brought her case before the Lord. Now she was content to leave the matter in His hands" (pg 100). MacArthur thens says this demonstrates a genuine and patient faith. He goes on to describe what a disgenuine and impatient faith looks like. "Some people will pray, 'O God, here's my problem,' and then leave His presence in complete doubt and frustration, still shouldering the same burden they originally brought before the Lord, not really trusting Him to sustain them. Hannah truly laid her troubles in the lap of the Lord, totally confident that He would answer her in accord for what was best for her" (pg. 100, emphasis mine).

At the beginning of this post, I shared how I re-read this chapter for at least two reasons that I knew of. I've laid out the first by sharing about Hannah and how God blessed her for her humility in only trusting in the One who could answer her prayers. The second, I mentioned about how the Holy Spirit has been drawing my attention to faith and prayer. Over the past two weeks, God has been showing me in His Word, in times of sharing evidences of His grace in my life to others and now through reading this chapter, about faith and prayer and reminding me about times in the past when I sought Him in faith to answer some pretty significant prayers and how He graciously and kindly answered them abundantly with more that I even prayed for. Prayer is not just taking a number and waiting for God to say the number and ask "what can I get for you?" but about acknowledging my dependence on God AND acknowledging that God and God alone is sovereign over my life and he can shoulder my dependencies and he cares for me. Sometimes I know for myself, I can either pray about my needs or problems and forget to acknowledge God's sovereign and good will in my life and vice versa. When I only pray acknowledging God's sovereign and good will, but don't tell him of my dependencies (even though I know He knows them), I am still acting pridefully with my arm stretched out in front of me separating me from God and saying, "I know you're God, but I can figure this out myself, just give me a moment..." That stance is not acting in faith and not the place to pray from.

In closing, I want to say thanks for sticking with me to the end of this post. And two, I want to share some of the verses God has led me to this past week about faith and prayer. I hope they encourage you to seek the Lord in full faith assured of His great love and care for us through the cross and that he who promised is faithful.

"Cast all your burdens on the Lord for He cares for you." 1 Peter 5:7

"Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful." Hebrews 10:22-23

"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." Hebrews 11:6

"For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ." 2 Corinthian 1:20

"If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does."
James 1:6-8


Toodles,