An Availing Prayer - The cry of Hannah
James 5:16 - Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. (NKJV)
So let's set the scene. It's back back BACK in the day and there was a man called Elkanah. Now, he had not one but two wives (no mandem please, it does not work like that nowadays). Their names were Penninah and Hannah. Scripture tells us that Elkanah loved Hannah more than Penninah even though Penninah had given him children. He even gave her double portions of whatever he gave Penninah and her children even though she couldn't give him a child.
1 Samuel 1:4-5: 4 And whenever the time came for Elkanah to make an offering, he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters. 5 But to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved Hannah, although the Lord had closed her womb"(NKJV)
Scripture also tells us in 1 Samuel 1:6 that Penninah mocked and provoked Hannah to tears for years so whenever they went to the temple she stopped eating and just wept because she was miserable. In verse 8 we see that Hannah goes to the Temple and cries bitterly. Now verses 10 and 11 are the verses I want to focus on:
10 And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish 11 Then she made a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head.” (NKJV)
It says that she was in bitterness of soul and wept in anguish. Hannah was praying from her heart! She knew how much she wanted a son and she knew that through the eyes of a human, her situation seemed impossible to fix. Yet she still had faith that God would do it. With God, ALL things are possible! (Matthew 19:26)
Remember the definition of fervent that I gave earlier on? Hannah had passion.
Now I'm not saying put on a show and rip your clothes in public like the Pharisees. I'm saying to pray with sincerity. Make sure that the prayer is not half-hearted. HAVE COMPLETE FAITH IN GOD WHEN YOU PRAY. What you have in your heart will show on the outside. When you're praying, don't look to your left or right because I PROMISE you, everyone is praying and focusing on their own issues. Nobody is listening. Don't be embarrassed to mention things by name. God is our Father and He already knows our heart. When Jesus taught the disciples to pray in Luke 11, he told them to SAY not THINK. Yes thinking is good but scripture tells that power of death and life rests in the tongue (Proverbs 18:21) so speak life into your situations!!
If you can have chest to commit the sin, then you should have the chest to confess and repent for it! (sorry not sorry)
Back to my good sis Hannah. If you want to know how fervent she was, turn to 1 Samuel 1:13. Eli the priest that was in the Temple too thought sis was drunk. She was pouring her heart out so much that she appeared to have (sorry for the colloquial language) lost it.
We all know how people are when they've fAlLen OfF. Some of you guys will text your ex, fall down on the street or even end up doing some interesting things.
Go to your room, lock the door and pray. If some of you could see the way your Mum has been praying for protection over life in the early morning, then you would understand there is a time for silent prayer and then a time for radical prayer. Hannah prayed radically and it says in 1 Samuel 1:17 " Then Eli answered and said, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition which you have asked of Him.” and in verse 18, we finally find joy as Hannah went away and ate because she was NO LONGER SAD.
I don't know about you guys, but when I'm presented with a problem or when my heart is heavy and I run straight to God to pray, I know that I always go away relived and happy because I know that the situation is in His hands. Whatever happens after that prayer is God's will and therefore is perfect.
In 1 Samuel 1:19-20, we see that Hannah's prayer is answered. Scripture says that God REMEMBERED Hannah and gave her a son - she conceived the day after! God hears our prayers. The effective prayer of a righteous man really does avail much!
So I'm not sure what anyone is going through but there is nothing too small or big for Him. Ask God to remember you just like Hannah did. Pray that He hears your cries of anguish and that He look at your affliction.
Now lets talk about the hard part. If we turn back to 1 Samuel 1:11, we see that Hannah made a vow. Then if we turn to 1 Samuel 1:22, we see that she had already put plans in place to dedicate her son to God for the rest of his life once he reached a certain age.
Plot Twist : Hannah actually fulfilled her promise and stuck to her vow.
I know that I have made vows to God during prayer and not stuck to them after my request has been granted. Guys this is bad. We shouldn't do that.
Ecclesiastes 5:4-6 - 4 When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it; For He has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you have vowed—5 Better not to vow than to vow and not pay.
Good day everyone. I feel like 'blessings' is a bit too formal for me so I've decided to switch it up. In addition, I'm trying to chop the Word and DEVOUR it like it says in Jeremiah 15:16 (ironically in NLT) and since KJV and NKJV are very close to the original translations of the Bible, I'm going to grow up and start studying everything in NKJV and KJV and only compare to AMP and NLT if I'm stuck or want to see other ways of understanding . Of course, there is nothing wrong with other translations, but you have to make sure that your spirit is fed always so you just have to switch translations to keep it fresh. I've been battling with NKJV and KJV for ages because I cOuLDn't unDERsTANd it. THE GAG IS, I never really tried to understand.
So it's time to act right especially because in my last post I really spoke about deepening your Bible studies. We don't do hypocrisy around here so let me take my own advice.
Let's get started sha.
Definition: Fervent - having or displaying a passionate intensity.
Today's post is about fervent prayer. Prayer is a way that we can have TWO-way communicate with God. A while back during fellowship, a girl described prayer as a dialogue not a monologue. Question: would you call customer service, ask a question then end the call immediately? Of course not! It doesn't make sense. Funnily enough that's EXACTLY what some of us do when it comes to prayer. You can't pray and not leave time for a response to be issued. Sometimes, you'll be praying for hours on end. Your lips are dry, your mouth refuses to salivate and your head is pounding:
Yet after all of that, some people won't even sit,wait and listen for God to respond. Again, it's a conversation!!. God can speak to you through, people, signs and of course, His WORD. That's why you have to ensure that you are reading His Word as much as you can.
Now, we're going to go through the story of one of my favorite women in the Bible. When I first heard this story being broken down, it was during during Midweek service and I had just come back from camp so whew, my fire was blazing. Hearing how much Hannah's PRAYER moved the hand of God, I was ready to lose my voice all over again.
You can find her story from 1 Samuel 1 onwards.
1 Samuel 1:4-5: 4 And whenever the time came for Elkanah to make an offering, he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters. 5 But to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved Hannah, although the Lord had closed her womb"(NKJV)
Scripture also tells us in 1 Samuel 1:6 that Penninah mocked and provoked Hannah to tears for years so whenever they went to the temple she stopped eating and just wept because she was miserable. In verse 8 we see that Hannah goes to the Temple and cries bitterly. Now verses 10 and 11 are the verses I want to focus on:
10 And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish 11 Then she made a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head.” (NKJV)
It says that she was in bitterness of soul and wept in anguish. Hannah was praying from her heart! She knew how much she wanted a son and she knew that through the eyes of a human, her situation seemed impossible to fix. Yet she still had faith that God would do it. With God, ALL things are possible! (Matthew 19:26)
Remember the definition of fervent that I gave earlier on? Hannah had passion.
Now I'm not saying put on a show and rip your clothes in public like the Pharisees. I'm saying to pray with sincerity. Make sure that the prayer is not half-hearted. HAVE COMPLETE FAITH IN GOD WHEN YOU PRAY. What you have in your heart will show on the outside. When you're praying, don't look to your left or right because I PROMISE you, everyone is praying and focusing on their own issues. Nobody is listening. Don't be embarrassed to mention things by name. God is our Father and He already knows our heart. When Jesus taught the disciples to pray in Luke 11, he told them to SAY not THINK. Yes thinking is good but scripture tells that power of death and life rests in the tongue (Proverbs 18:21) so speak life into your situations!!
If you can have chest to commit the sin, then you should have the chest to confess and repent for it! (sorry not sorry)
Back to my good sis Hannah. If you want to know how fervent she was, turn to 1 Samuel 1:13. Eli the priest that was in the Temple too thought sis was drunk. She was pouring her heart out so much that she appeared to have (sorry for the colloquial language) lost it.
We all know how people are when they've fAlLen OfF. Some of you guys will text your ex, fall down on the street or even end up doing some interesting things.
Go to your room, lock the door and pray. If some of you could see the way your Mum has been praying for protection over life in the early morning, then you would understand there is a time for silent prayer and then a time for radical prayer. Hannah prayed radically and it says in 1 Samuel 1:17 " Then Eli answered and said, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition which you have asked of Him.” and in verse 18, we finally find joy as Hannah went away and ate because she was NO LONGER SAD.
I don't know about you guys, but when I'm presented with a problem or when my heart is heavy and I run straight to God to pray, I know that I always go away relived and happy because I know that the situation is in His hands. Whatever happens after that prayer is God's will and therefore is perfect.
In 1 Samuel 1:19-20, we see that Hannah's prayer is answered. Scripture says that God REMEMBERED Hannah and gave her a son - she conceived the day after! God hears our prayers. The effective prayer of a righteous man really does avail much!
So I'm not sure what anyone is going through but there is nothing too small or big for Him. Ask God to remember you just like Hannah did. Pray that He hears your cries of anguish and that He look at your affliction.
Now lets talk about the hard part. If we turn back to 1 Samuel 1:11, we see that Hannah made a vow. Then if we turn to 1 Samuel 1:22, we see that she had already put plans in place to dedicate her son to God for the rest of his life once he reached a certain age.
Plot Twist : Hannah actually fulfilled her promise and stuck to her vow.
I know that I have made vows to God during prayer and not stuck to them after my request has been granted. Guys this is bad. We shouldn't do that.
Ecclesiastes 5:4-6 - 4 When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it; For He has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you have vowed—5 Better not to vow than to vow and not pay.
6 Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, nor say before the messenger of God that it was an error. Why should God be angry at your excuse and destroy the work of your hands.
I had to make the whole thing bold so you guys could see if properly. Please stop and read the scripture again.
If you really want the thing, ask for it and and rededicate it back to God. I asked God to bless my singing voice and I promise you I never stop singing and I never will. I have become more committed to music ministry.
I really hope this post helped you guys. I know that there is someone out there reading this that is in anguish and bitterness. Pray like Hannah did with sincerity and show God how much you need Him in your situation. At Kharis we say that God is a like a gentleman - He will never force His way into your life. You need to allow Him in. After all, God appeared to Elijah in the form of a gentle breeze (1 Kings 19:12) not the volcano or the earthquake.
Stay blessed guys! As always, you can message me on Twitter.
If you liked this post, please feel free to check my other posts! I'm certain you won't be disappointed.
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