Many years ago, I was asked by a Christian couple to come to their home and “pray for their new-born baby.” They had asked the local preacher to pray for their baby in worship, but for reasons unknown to me to this day (I did not ask, and I make no judgement), they were refused. Hannah belongs in the upper echelons of any spiritual rankings. But for her immense faith we would never have known the name Samuel (1 Samuel 1ff).Though she was Elkanah’s most loved wife, she was barren. Elkanah’s other wife, Peninnah, who had children, tormented her for her lack. Her broken heartedness emanated from every fibre of her worship. Such was the intensity of her prayers before God that Eli, the Priest and Judge at Shiloh, wrote her off as a lost and mumbling drunk. Only milliseconds would have passed before he realized that he was face to face with a woman of God; full of deep faith and yearning for a son. Hannah set the gold standard for giving. Even before any hope was in the offing, she promised God her firstborn son—if God would bless her with one. Eli’s blessing was proof that ‘God heard,’ thus, she conceived and named him, ‘Samuel.’ God gave Hannah her heart’s desire, and she, in turn, kept her word. A divine transaction took place on the day that Hannah dedicated Samuel to minister to the Lord under Eli. Hannah returned to Shiloh at the annual sacrifice bringing with her a new robe for her little son. Eli acknowledged the sacrifice that Hannah and Elkanah had made and blessed them for it. Again, God heard and gave them other sons and daughters. O that all of our babies and their parents be called to the front of the assembly and a man of God be asked to pray blessings upon the child and the parents. This is an honour! If we had a hundredth part of the faith and dedication of Hannah, we wouldn’t know ourselves. All I can say is: “Hannah, that is a lot of faith!”Did I go to their home…?
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