Click Here – 1 Samuel 1:21-2:11.
Hannah prayed for a son, promising to dedicate him to the Lord if her prayer was granted, and God granted her a Son. How many times do we do something like that? We want something really bad, we pray to God, telling Him that if He answers our prayers than we will do something wonderful for Him. That works until we get what we want, then we forget our promise to Him. Luckily God’s answering of our prayers has nothing to do with our ability to keep our promises.
Hannah, however, kept the promise made to God. When the child was old enough to be weaned, she brought the child to the temple to give him over to serve the Lord. She could have waffled on her promise, or said that Samuel could serve God better at home, or something like that… but she didn’t. She kept her promise. And she praised God for the great blessing God had given to her. Notice in Hannah’s prayer how much it reflects the teachings of Jesus, regarding humility and the lowly and the outcasts.
We can certainly learn a thing or two from Hannah…