WEBVTT 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:02.560 Welcome to the City Covenant podcast. 00:00:02.879 --> 00:00:11.599 We are a warm, welcoming church located in downtown Spokane, dedicated to practicing the way of Jesus in the heart of the city. 00:00:11.839 --> 00:00:15.679 Please join us as we dive into the Word of God together. 00:00:36.159 --> 00:00:37.280 Can everyone hear me okay? 00:00:37.359 --> 00:00:38.079 Oh, there it is. 00:00:38.240 --> 00:00:38.560 Great. 00:00:38.719 --> 00:00:39.759 Um, sorry about that. 00:00:39.920 --> 00:00:41.679 Hey guys, so glad you guys are here. 00:00:41.759 --> 00:00:43.520 Um great to see you this summer. 00:00:43.679 --> 00:00:45.200 Um my name is Asher. 00:00:45.600 --> 00:00:47.119 I haven't met all of you guys. 00:00:47.200 --> 00:00:53.119 Um so if you're new here and you um have been here the last couple weeks and I haven't, um I'm glad to meet you. 00:00:53.359 --> 00:00:57.520 Um hey, so we are doing this sermon series this summer on prayer. 00:00:57.679 --> 00:00:59.119 This is our our ninth week of it. 00:00:59.200 --> 00:01:01.520 We'll wrap it up in a right on Labor Day. 00:01:01.679 --> 00:01:05.519 Um and this morning we're looking at uh 1 Samuel 1. 00:01:05.760 --> 00:01:10.319 And um, so if you want to, if you have a Bible that you brought with you, you can turn over 1 Samuel. 00:01:10.480 --> 00:01:12.560 If not, there's a pew Bible right in front of you. 00:01:12.640 --> 00:01:28.079 And we're gonna be looking at this story of a woman of a woman named Hannah, uh, this woman who has really moved to a place of of desperation, of longing, um, who who felt like the walls were caving in on her because she had no pathway forward. 00:01:28.159 --> 00:01:34.560 And it felt like, you know, in her heart, is God ever gonna do um what I need him to do the most? 00:01:34.799 --> 00:01:49.120 And and I I think probably for many, if not most of us in life, we've all experienced, maybe not Hannah's specific experience, but the the general experience of saying, God, are you ever going to do what I need you to do the most? 00:01:49.280 --> 00:01:54.640 And so um I want us to think about that when we hear this from 1 Samuel. 00:01:54.799 --> 00:02:02.159 We're gonna look at the from the second half of verse 7 um to verse 20 in the first chapter. 00:02:02.239 --> 00:02:07.840 And so let's go ahead and what we'll do is we'll read it and then we'll pray together, and then we're gonna look and we're gonna see Hannah's pain. 00:02:07.920 --> 00:02:15.680 We're gonna see this prayer that Hannah gives, and then we're gonna ultimately see this posture shift that happens um through prayer in Hannah's heart. 00:02:15.840 --> 00:02:17.919 And so let's go ahead and read this and then we'll pray together. 00:02:18.159 --> 00:02:24.240 Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the Lord, her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat. 00:02:24.400 --> 00:02:28.719 Her husband Elkanah would say to her, Hannah, why are you weeping? 00:02:28.879 --> 00:02:29.759 Why didn't you eat? 00:02:29.919 --> 00:02:31.280 Why are you downhearted? 00:02:31.439 --> 00:02:34.159 Don't I mean more to you than ten sons? 00:02:34.479 --> 00:02:38.319 Once they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. 00:02:38.479 --> 00:02:43.120 Now Eli the priest was sitting on his chair by the doorpost of the Lord's house. 00:02:43.280 --> 00:02:47.680 In her deep anguish, Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly. 00:02:47.840 --> 00:03:05.120 She made a vow, saying, Lord Almighty, if you will only look on your servant's misery and remember me, and forget not your servant, but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head. 00:03:05.360 --> 00:03:07.360 And she kept on praying to the Lord. 00:03:07.599 --> 00:03:09.840 Eli observed her mouth. 00:03:10.319 --> 00:03:14.960 Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving, but her voice was not heard. 00:03:15.439 --> 00:03:19.759 So Eli, the local priest, thought she was drunk. 00:03:19.919 --> 00:03:22.800 And he said to her, How long are you going to stay drunk? 00:03:22.960 --> 00:03:24.080 Put away your wine. 00:03:24.319 --> 00:03:26.719 Not so, my Lord, Hannah replied. 00:03:26.879 --> 00:03:29.759 I am a woman who is deeply troubled. 00:03:29.919 --> 00:03:32.080 I have not been drinking wine or beer. 00:03:32.240 --> 00:03:34.639 I was pouring out my soul to the Lord. 00:03:35.599 --> 00:03:38.719 Do not take your servant for a wicked woman. 00:03:38.879 --> 00:03:43.439 I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief. 00:03:44.159 --> 00:03:50.319 Eli answered, Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him. 00:03:51.520 --> 00:03:55.120 She said, May your servant find favor in your eyes. 00:03:55.360 --> 00:04:00.159 Then she went her way, and she ate something, and her face was no longer downcast. 00:04:01.039 --> 00:04:07.039 Early the next morning they arose and they worshiped before the Lord, and they went back to their home at Ramah. 00:04:07.280 --> 00:04:11.360 Elkanah made love to his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her. 00:04:11.599 --> 00:04:15.759 So in the course of time, Hannah became pregnant and she gave birth to a son. 00:04:15.919 --> 00:04:20.079 She named him Samuel, saying, Because I asked the Lord for him. 00:04:20.319 --> 00:04:22.240 Friends, this is the word of the Lord. 00:04:23.759 --> 00:04:24.399 Let's pray. 00:04:24.639 --> 00:04:28.240 Father in heaven, thank you so much for stories like this. 00:04:28.399 --> 00:04:33.439 Stories that help us know that we are not alone in our anguish, in our suffering, in our pain. 00:04:33.680 --> 00:04:40.879 And God, not that we are just not alone because we have people like Hannah's story, Lord, but ultimately we're not alone because we have you. 00:04:41.199 --> 00:04:48.480 Lord, in the same way that you remembered Hannah, Lord, help us know and remember that you remember us. 00:04:49.120 --> 00:04:52.720 Lord, in the person and work of Jesus Christ. 00:04:53.360 --> 00:04:56.720 Lord, you you show us in Jesus that you remember us. 00:04:56.879 --> 00:04:57.839 And we thank you for that. 00:04:58.000 --> 00:05:09.279 Um help us this morning to learn your word, help us to love Jesus more, and help us to know how much we are loved as we hear um here the rest of this time together. 00:05:09.360 --> 00:05:10.319 In Christ's name, pray. 00:05:10.399 --> 00:05:10.879 Amen. 00:05:11.040 --> 00:05:13.040 So we're gonna look at this in a few movements, right? 00:05:13.120 --> 00:05:18.240 We're gonna look at this background, look at Hannah's pain, look at what it must have been like for a woman like this, right? 00:05:18.399 --> 00:05:19.360 And and then we will. 00:05:19.439 --> 00:05:24.079 We're gonna take that turn and we're gonna see the way that she prays in the midst of this, right? 00:05:24.160 --> 00:05:33.680 And so um I think we have to look and understand this story is something more than a woman who just says, I want to have a baby, God help me, right? 00:05:33.759 --> 00:05:35.279 It's not that simple. 00:05:35.439 --> 00:05:44.000 Um, there the the pressure and the weight on her is so thorough, is the the gravity of it is so intense, right? 00:05:44.079 --> 00:05:53.839 Because we have this woman who um has both circ personal circumstances, but also these wider cultural idols that put this incredible pressure on her, right? 00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:57.839 Um the the scriptures here say that she's not just kind of sad, right? 00:05:57.920 --> 00:06:00.319 She's not having a down day, she's devastated. 00:06:00.480 --> 00:06:12.399 Everything in her life that she's supposed to be able to do, all of her plans, all of her future seems to be tied up, and it's not gonna go where she thinks it could go or should go, right, or will go. 00:06:12.639 --> 00:06:17.920 And so I and it and I think probably for many of us that we have had these moments in our lives. 00:06:18.079 --> 00:06:24.800 We've had these moments in our lives where we just looked and you have this aha moment and you say, It's not gonna happen, right? 00:06:24.959 --> 00:06:33.600 I'm I'm never gonna get the job, I'm never gonna get the spouse, I'm never gonna get the you know, college admissions, I'm never gonna get you fill in the blank, right? 00:06:33.680 --> 00:06:46.560 And I don't know what that is for you this morning, but I bet for each and every one of us, somewhere in the deep, deep parts of our heart, there's a part of us who said, There, I'm never gonna get what I need the very most, right? 00:06:46.720 --> 00:06:57.439 The challenge for Hannah in this, in the wider cultural piece that we're gonna explore in a second, is there is this good thing that Hannah wants so desperately, right? 00:06:57.600 --> 00:06:59.600 And it is to be able to be a mom. 00:06:59.759 --> 00:07:13.199 The challenge is throughout all of scripture, we see these things where um throughout from Genesis to Revelation, we see this current, recurrent theme where people will take uh a good thing and turn it into an ultimate thing, right? 00:07:13.279 --> 00:07:16.079 So within scriptures, we would call that an idol, right? 00:07:16.240 --> 00:07:22.959 When you you take something that you should take good pleasure in, but you make it so much that you say, if I have this, I have everything. 00:07:23.120 --> 00:07:25.360 If I don't have it, I have nothing, right? 00:07:25.439 --> 00:07:31.600 And so here we have Hannah kind of experiencing this moment of saying, if I can't do this, I have nothing. 00:07:31.839 --> 00:07:33.680 You might look then and say, why? 00:07:33.839 --> 00:07:36.319 Why is it she experiences such pressure in this? 00:07:36.480 --> 00:07:38.160 Why is it she's feeling like this? 00:07:38.319 --> 00:07:39.439 Here's the thing. 00:07:39.680 --> 00:07:47.360 She is facing this dramatic pressure in the in the ancient Hebrew Near East, and here's why. 00:07:47.680 --> 00:07:53.439 Because in her world, she's facing pressures both within her family system and her nation as a whole, right? 00:07:53.519 --> 00:07:54.639 So let's talk about this. 00:07:54.879 --> 00:08:00.560 Is in her family in particular, there was so much pressure on women to have babies, and and it's because of this. 00:08:00.720 --> 00:08:21.680 It's not like there's some type of like university structure, it's not like there's a trade program where if you decided, you know, I really explored getting married, and but you know, I really just determined, you know, because I I fast-forwarded, you know, in my Back to the Future time car time machine, and I I went forward to when the Apostle Paul told um folks that if they could stay single, that'd even be better. 00:08:21.839 --> 00:08:25.920 So I just decided I'm gonna stay single and I'm gonna explore a career, right? 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:29.680 No, that there is nothing like that for women in the ancient Near East. 00:08:29.839 --> 00:08:37.840 And so um what she's contributing in her family structure is that in a marriage situation is that she's gonna have these kids. 00:08:37.919 --> 00:08:44.960 And here's what happens that she needs to have kids because her family is utterly dependent on her having children. 00:08:45.200 --> 00:08:51.919 Because um in her world for families, every family functioned like a small business. 00:08:52.080 --> 00:08:55.840 And so the more kids you had, the more financial security you had, right? 00:08:55.919 --> 00:09:06.000 And it didn't matter if you were if you were farmers, right, if you were like merchants, if you were shoe cobblers, whatever you did, the more kids you had means the more employees you had. 00:09:06.159 --> 00:09:15.759 So the more employees you have, you even though no one person is making that much money for your family, there's enough of them that they could work together and make a living as a family, right? 00:09:15.840 --> 00:09:16.720 So that's the first thing. 00:09:16.879 --> 00:09:20.720 They just for today's current financial provision, you need to have a lot of kids, right? 00:09:20.799 --> 00:09:22.000 So that's the first thing for her. 00:09:22.159 --> 00:09:27.120 The other thing though is looking and saying for toward the future, right? 00:09:27.440 --> 00:09:32.159 Um back then, only about four out of ten kids would reach adulthood. 00:09:32.399 --> 00:09:38.000 So there's no 401ks, there's no social social security, there's no retirement planning. 00:09:38.159 --> 00:09:42.720 The retirement plan is when you get old, your kids will take care of you. 00:09:42.879 --> 00:09:47.279 So if you don't have kids, you could literally be at risk of starving to death, right? 00:09:47.440 --> 00:09:48.879 And so so here she is. 00:09:48.960 --> 00:09:53.600 She's looking and saying, for my family, I have all this incredible pressure, right? 00:09:53.759 --> 00:09:55.440 I have she has pressure for herself. 00:09:55.600 --> 00:10:03.600 And then if you feel like that's not enough, right, if you feel like that's enough, there's this incredible pressure actually for the whole nation. 00:10:03.759 --> 00:10:04.399 You know why? 00:10:04.639 --> 00:10:07.279 Because women had to have lots of kids. 00:10:07.519 --> 00:10:14.000 Because um if you didn't have lots of kids in your tribe, there could be some other tribe that's larger next to you. 00:10:14.080 --> 00:10:15.759 They come home and take over your tribe, right? 00:10:15.840 --> 00:10:20.559 So they come over, and because they're bigger, faster, stronger, there's more of them. 00:10:20.639 --> 00:10:22.080 They they can take you guys over. 00:10:22.240 --> 00:10:30.000 And so the challenge is you need more and more people in your group of people so that you can basically battle against others, right? 00:10:30.080 --> 00:10:31.200 So you won't get taken over. 00:10:31.360 --> 00:10:34.399 So there's this enormous, enormous pressure. 00:10:34.639 --> 00:10:36.559 Sorry, that other one wasn't a word, right? 00:10:36.639 --> 00:10:40.879 So there's this enormous pressure on Hannah, right? 00:10:41.039 --> 00:10:46.240 And she's looking and saying, how can I possibly live if I don't do this? 00:10:46.399 --> 00:10:47.919 There's this nation on the line. 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:52.559 So she's facing that internal pressure that's really, in many ways, that's a pressure from the outside, right? 00:10:52.720 --> 00:10:55.919 This isn't just some internal thing that she needs to go to counseling for, right? 00:10:56.000 --> 00:10:57.360 And work through it, right? 00:10:57.519 --> 00:10:58.559 This isn't going away. 00:10:58.720 --> 00:11:01.679 This is everyone around her is saying, This is true. 00:11:01.840 --> 00:11:04.960 You know, you got you gotta do the work here, Hannah, right? 00:11:05.120 --> 00:11:07.120 And she's like, I'm trying my best. 00:11:07.360 --> 00:11:09.200 So then here's what also happens. 00:11:09.360 --> 00:11:11.360 You you might have noticed this weird thing. 00:11:11.519 --> 00:11:25.840 In the midst of prayer, in the midst of her going to the temple, um, right, right at the very beginning, you might have noticed this, where it said, um, whenever Hannah went up to the house of the Lord, her rival provoked her um till she wept and would not eat. 00:11:26.080 --> 00:11:28.799 So you might wonder, um, who's this rival? 00:11:28.960 --> 00:11:29.200 Right? 00:11:29.279 --> 00:11:29.919 Who's this rival? 00:11:30.159 --> 00:11:30.240 Right? 00:11:30.399 --> 00:11:32.639 Because we a few verses before you would know. 00:11:32.879 --> 00:11:37.200 Um, her rival is her husband's other wife, right? 00:11:37.360 --> 00:11:48.879 So add in adding insult to injury, um, she's also competing for the like the love, the affection, the commitment of this guy who she's supposed to have a covenant relationship with, right? 00:11:49.200 --> 00:11:57.919 And so, um, and and then this is a guy, his name's Elkona, and Elkana isn't what I would say has like a really high EQ, right? 00:11:58.080 --> 00:12:00.240 His emotional intelligence is a little low. 00:12:00.399 --> 00:12:10.320 So remember, he says this thing where he says, Oh my goodness, but honey, um, I know you can't have you know any babies, but aren't I like enough for you? 00:12:10.879 --> 00:12:13.919 Also, just a little background information that we can't forget. 00:12:14.080 --> 00:12:16.159 When he says, Aren't I enough for you? 00:12:16.240 --> 00:12:18.480 She only gets half of him, right? 00:12:18.720 --> 00:12:22.000 So, like, is he saying, I mean, I've given myself to you. 00:12:22.159 --> 00:12:24.879 And your rival, who's really making your life horrible. 00:12:24.960 --> 00:12:26.799 But I mean, honey, aren't I enough? 00:12:27.039 --> 00:12:30.399 I think it'd be reasonable to say, no, you're not enough, Alkana, right? 00:12:30.480 --> 00:12:31.279 For a lot of reasons. 00:12:31.360 --> 00:12:32.480 So, so things are hard. 00:12:32.639 --> 00:12:36.000 Robert Alter actually says, he's this guy some of you guys have heard about before. 00:12:36.159 --> 00:12:38.000 He used to be at the University of Berkeley. 00:12:38.080 --> 00:12:45.279 Um, he wrote a time, he's a Jewish guy, I think he's actually an atheist, but um really intelligent on understanding the Hebrew scriptures. 00:12:45.360 --> 00:12:58.879 And he would say, as you look through all of the Hebrew scriptures, as you look through all of the Hebrew scriptures, there is not a single instance of a polygamous relationship where it results in anything other than total disaster and unhappiness for the family, right? 00:12:58.960 --> 00:13:14.080 So this is what within narrative theology, we would say this is actually, even though we see polygamy happening in the Old Testament, through narrative theology, we would say this is God actually saying his big plan is not for polygamy, because every time it happens, it works out very poorly, right? 00:13:14.159 --> 00:13:16.240 That's just a little extra, you know, for you guys. 00:13:16.480 --> 00:13:22.799 So this is Hannah in this polygamous relationship with a husband who's not really there for her. 00:13:22.960 --> 00:13:27.200 You know, she feels like she can't do the things that she needs to be able to do the most, right? 00:13:27.279 --> 00:13:29.519 This is this isn't this is not Hannah. 00:13:29.600 --> 00:13:34.480 She's not having a bad day, she's not having a bad week, she's not having a bad month or a bad year, right? 00:13:34.559 --> 00:13:36.240 This is something that's on repeat. 00:13:36.320 --> 00:13:39.200 It's just happening again and again and again for her, right? 00:13:39.360 --> 00:13:46.480 This unrelenting feeling of the walls closing in on her because there's nothing she can do to change. 00:13:46.720 --> 00:13:46.960 Right? 00:13:47.120 --> 00:13:57.360 And so some of you guys have experienced that in prayer in your life, where you look and say, I'm utterly helpless to change the thing that needs to be changed the most. 00:13:58.320 --> 00:13:59.279 And so what's she do? 00:13:59.519 --> 00:14:00.480 She prays. 00:14:01.039 --> 00:14:01.360 Right? 00:14:01.440 --> 00:14:03.840 That that's the that's the right answer, right? 00:14:04.000 --> 00:14:07.440 When you look and say, there's nothing I can actually do to change. 00:14:07.679 --> 00:14:08.720 Only God can change it. 00:14:08.799 --> 00:14:09.440 So that's what she does. 00:14:09.519 --> 00:14:10.879 She comes to the Lord in prayer. 00:14:11.039 --> 00:14:17.919 And here's what she says: she says, Lord Almighty, if you only look on your servant's misery and remember me, remember that word of remember. 00:14:18.320 --> 00:14:26.960 Don't forget your servant, but give her a son, and then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will be ever be used on his head. 00:14:27.120 --> 00:14:28.799 Let's go backwards in the prayer. 00:14:28.960 --> 00:14:32.159 Some of you guys might have a question about the whole haircut situation. 00:14:32.320 --> 00:14:37.919 Okay, so here's the thing about her saying, I'll give him to you, and he'll never get a haircut. 00:14:38.240 --> 00:14:46.320 So what she is like virtually for sure referring to is she's making for her son this thing called a Nazarite vow. 00:14:46.399 --> 00:14:50.639 So there's a group of people who are priests um in ancient Israel. 00:14:50.799 --> 00:14:55.919 Those folks, to be a priest in the temple, you have to be um of the tribe of Levi, right? 00:14:56.080 --> 00:14:57.679 And so you have to be a Levite. 00:14:57.840 --> 00:15:02.720 And and so the thing is, Hannah evidently is not from the tribe of Levi. 00:15:02.799 --> 00:15:06.080 And she says, there's another group of people who help at the temple, though. 00:15:06.240 --> 00:15:08.559 These folks are not are called Nazarites. 00:15:08.799 --> 00:15:13.679 These are folks who they never eat, or excuse me, they they never drink alcohol, they never get a haircut. 00:15:13.840 --> 00:15:15.840 There's a bunch of things with them. 00:15:16.320 --> 00:15:20.240 But really, what she's saying is, I will give him to you, Lord. 00:15:20.559 --> 00:15:26.639 If you give me the gift of a child, I won't even keep him, God. 00:15:26.720 --> 00:15:28.399 I'll give him back to you, right? 00:15:28.559 --> 00:15:35.919 And he'll be like this full-time, you know, I'm gonna give him, he's gonna become, you know, uh uh in full-time ministry, okay? 00:15:36.080 --> 00:15:41.759 And so, God, would you just give me a son and um and he'll be a Nazarite, right? 00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:45.600 And she says, because I'm I'm miserable, right? 00:15:45.759 --> 00:15:46.799 She says, Remember me. 00:15:46.960 --> 00:15:52.799 So she makes him this offer, and so she ultimately says, Um, why? 00:15:52.960 --> 00:15:54.159 Why does she need this the most? 00:15:54.320 --> 00:16:01.679 Because the thing is, if she says, I'll get a son, but he won't even be able to help me, you look and say she won't enjoy all of the benefits of being a mom, right? 00:16:01.840 --> 00:16:02.720 In this world, right? 00:16:02.879 --> 00:16:05.919 She won't actually have the financial security that a kid would give her. 00:16:06.080 --> 00:16:11.039 She won't have the um, she won't she won't be able to, you know, when all the other kids are hanging around. 00:16:11.120 --> 00:16:13.120 He he won't be there, he'll be at the temple, right? 00:16:13.279 --> 00:16:14.960 And and fast forward, you can read in the story. 00:16:15.039 --> 00:16:16.000 That's what happened, right? 00:16:16.159 --> 00:16:19.120 And um, oh, sorry, if you didn't know she was gonna get pregnant later. 00:16:19.279 --> 00:16:21.120 That that's in the next chapter. 00:16:21.360 --> 00:16:25.360 But anyway, so she's not gonna receive that. 00:16:25.440 --> 00:16:29.679 So why is it that she says, God, but please just answer my prayer? 00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:33.919 It's because that tells her God does see me. 00:16:34.399 --> 00:16:36.080 That says, God, I'm not alone. 00:16:36.240 --> 00:16:37.519 God, you must remember me. 00:16:37.679 --> 00:16:42.159 If you answer my prayer, it would at least help me know that I'm not alone in all this. 00:16:42.320 --> 00:16:45.759 I'm not carrying the burden alone anymore. 00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:46.399 Right? 00:16:46.559 --> 00:16:54.399 You you know, when you you pray, you think sometimes like it's just gonna be in an instant, God's gonna give you what you want. 00:16:54.639 --> 00:16:54.960 Right? 00:16:55.039 --> 00:17:12.720 And and somehow also in this prayer, um, maybe in your heart, when you pray and and you just long for something so much, you feel like not only is God gonna give you um everything, the the deepest needs of your heart, but also like all the people around you are gonna somehow like lift you up on their shoulders and parade you around in like the Christmas story or something, right? 00:17:12.799 --> 00:17:18.880 That this is our our big longing is somehow everything gets fixed and we become the hero of the story. 00:17:19.039 --> 00:17:24.319 And and the thing is for Hannah, that's not what she's getting. 00:17:24.480 --> 00:17:27.680 In fact, she's got this husband who doesn't get her. 00:17:27.920 --> 00:17:30.880 She's at you know, the Jewish equivalent of church. 00:17:31.119 --> 00:17:38.960 She's praying, she's what the language is that she's pouring out her soul, and they're the local pastor that misses it. 00:17:40.079 --> 00:17:48.960 There's this gal who's in deep prayer, and all he can see is from across the room is hey, this gal showed up to church drunk. 00:17:49.519 --> 00:17:49.839 Right? 00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:51.440 So he misses it. 00:17:51.680 --> 00:17:51.920 Right? 00:17:52.160 --> 00:17:56.480 So you can imagine how utterly alone she'll feel. 00:17:57.680 --> 00:18:02.319 But then Eli then does realize his error, which is kind of an amazing moment. 00:18:02.720 --> 00:18:06.480 Eli realizes his error and says, Okay, well, God be with you. 00:18:08.640 --> 00:18:18.799 And and and she um in the midst of her prayer somehow has this incredible strength that now she can even speak honestly to Eli about it. 00:18:19.279 --> 00:18:19.680 Right? 00:18:20.160 --> 00:18:29.039 What's what's happening here is that she is now having a heart change in the midst of her time of prayer. 00:18:29.359 --> 00:18:32.880 She's not somehow dressing up prayer and she's not making it fake, right? 00:18:32.960 --> 00:18:34.960 She's not saying everything is actually okay. 00:18:35.119 --> 00:18:42.559 She's still um, she's still longing for motherhood so much. 00:18:44.079 --> 00:18:48.160 But she know now, she now knows something is that God's with her. 00:18:48.720 --> 00:19:02.559 So in this book, The Hiding Place, and some of you guys have been to the Netherlands and actually been to this house, um, but in the book, The Hiding Place, Corey Tenboom tells this story of her family's experience during the Nazi occupation, right? 00:19:02.880 --> 00:19:09.039 And and her family, they were a Christian, deeply devout Christian family, and they hid Jewish people from the Nazis. 00:19:09.119 --> 00:19:13.039 And then they eventually, though, got arrested and they were sent to concentration camps. 00:19:13.279 --> 00:19:19.839 Well, there's this moment in the story where Corey is so wildly overwhelmed by what lies ahead. 00:19:19.920 --> 00:19:26.960 But she had this sister named Betsy who would always remind her that no matter what was happening, they could trust God. 00:19:27.200 --> 00:19:30.400 And and even when they they don't understand what he's doing, right? 00:19:30.559 --> 00:19:40.000 And her her sister, Betsy, keeps finding reasons that they could even thank God in all of these circumstances, even when it seems like there's nothing good left. 00:19:40.079 --> 00:19:46.960 Even to the point where, like at one point, Betsy is over here in the concentration camp, thanking God for the fleas, right? 00:19:47.119 --> 00:19:50.000 And it reaches this moment, it feels like of absurdity, right? 00:19:50.079 --> 00:20:03.920 Because she's thanking God for fleas because she says, because there's fleas in our housing in our concentration camp, the the guards, the Nazi guards, won't come in to the place where we're at, so we can keep doing our secret Bible studies in prayer groups, right? 00:20:04.079 --> 00:20:06.240 So she's over here thanking God for fleas. 00:20:06.400 --> 00:20:18.559 The the reason I tell you this connected, right, to uh our story today is because what we're seeing is not Hannah dressing it up. 00:20:18.880 --> 00:20:21.680 Corey Tenbroom's sister did not dress it up. 00:20:21.839 --> 00:20:23.839 She didn't say, Well, there's no fleas. 00:20:23.920 --> 00:20:26.319 Let's just let's stuff it, let's act like the fleas aren't here. 00:20:26.480 --> 00:20:32.720 She said, No, it turns out even in the midst of the fleas, Betsy said, God is still with us, right? 00:20:32.880 --> 00:20:37.599 Even in the midst of my infertility, God is still with me. 00:20:37.759 --> 00:20:39.680 That's what Hannah ends up being able to say. 00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:44.559 And it is still so difficult for her, but she knows God is with her. 00:20:44.799 --> 00:20:45.200 Right? 00:20:45.359 --> 00:20:49.200 Something changed, and that's where we're gonna see Hannah's posture shift. 00:20:50.079 --> 00:20:50.640 Right? 00:20:50.799 --> 00:20:56.240 It her posture shifted, and it wasn't because somehow now her husband understood her, right? 00:20:56.400 --> 00:20:59.759 It wasn't that all of a sudden she got the answer to prayer she was looking for. 00:20:59.920 --> 00:21:00.160 Right? 00:21:00.240 --> 00:21:03.039 It's instead that God changed something in her heart. 00:21:03.519 --> 00:21:09.599 I mean, guys, God sometimes changes us before he changes our circumstances. 00:21:09.839 --> 00:21:10.480 Amen. 00:21:13.440 --> 00:21:13.839 Right? 00:21:14.319 --> 00:21:16.319 Sometimes God changes the situation. 00:21:18.079 --> 00:21:20.799 Sometimes he changes us before he changes the situation. 00:21:21.920 --> 00:21:25.039 Sometimes he changes us even when the situation never changes. 00:21:27.359 --> 00:21:30.319 Guys, I just want to tell you this as a pastor. 00:21:30.640 --> 00:21:37.359 Don't assume that just because your circumstances haven't changed, that God isn't listening to you. 00:21:39.440 --> 00:21:52.240 What we see in Scripture is actually a lot of times things, prayer taking either a really long time, and sometimes immediately God says yes, right? 00:21:52.400 --> 00:21:57.920 Sometimes God actually just flat out says no, and sometimes God says slow, like this is gonna take a long time. 00:21:58.160 --> 00:21:59.759 And we're in the when we're in the midst of it. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:01.839 We don't understand any of it. 00:22:02.640 --> 00:22:04.880 And that's actually part of the human experience. 00:22:04.960 --> 00:22:10.480 And that does not, though, mean that there is an absence of God in the midst of this, right? 00:22:10.640 --> 00:22:18.400 Sometimes God's answer to us is to give us enough grace just to be able to keep walking, just to keep moving. 00:22:18.640 --> 00:22:18.960 Right? 00:22:19.200 --> 00:22:30.880 Even though we we feel like it's still dark, it's still cloudy, we still feel mostly like we can't see anything in front of us, but he just gives you in prayer just enough strength just to take a couple more steps. 00:22:31.039 --> 00:22:35.680 Sometimes that's what God does for us in prayer, right? 00:22:35.920 --> 00:22:40.640 Here we see in this moment, because I don't want you fast-forwarding in the story, okay? 00:22:40.960 --> 00:22:45.920 What we see where she's at in this moment is her circumstances haven't changed. 00:22:48.480 --> 00:22:51.200 Yet something in her heart has changed. 00:22:51.440 --> 00:22:51.759 Right? 00:22:51.839 --> 00:22:53.839 Do you guys remember that movie, Apollo 13? 00:22:54.000 --> 00:22:57.359 So in Apollo 13, it was originally a moon mission, okay? 00:22:57.440 --> 00:22:59.119 So they're going to a moon mission. 00:22:59.200 --> 00:23:05.680 There was an explosion on the on the shuttle, though, and so as a result, the whole goal had to shift. 00:23:06.079 --> 00:23:11.279 The original goal was to get these um American astronauts onto the moon. 00:23:11.759 --> 00:23:12.960 And then something changed. 00:23:13.119 --> 00:23:15.039 They said, okay, that's not gonna happen. 00:23:15.279 --> 00:23:19.200 The original goal, the original place that we thought we were going, isn't gonna happen. 00:23:19.279 --> 00:23:19.920 But you know what? 00:23:20.079 --> 00:23:27.759 There's something else that we can do instead, and there's something vitally important, and it's to get these folks home. 00:23:28.160 --> 00:23:28.559 Right? 00:23:28.720 --> 00:23:32.079 The initial goal wasn't gonna happen as we hoped for. 00:23:32.240 --> 00:23:37.680 And there's something new, though, that we have to focus on instead. 00:23:37.920 --> 00:23:38.319 Right? 00:23:38.400 --> 00:23:39.839 They they couldn't go back, right? 00:23:39.920 --> 00:23:42.160 The astronauts couldn't go back and repair everything. 00:23:42.319 --> 00:23:44.720 They can't have an unexplosion. 00:23:45.440 --> 00:23:49.039 But what they could do is say, let's get the guys home. 00:23:49.279 --> 00:23:49.680 Right? 00:23:50.640 --> 00:23:54.640 Hannah prays and says, God, this is what my life must look like. 00:23:54.880 --> 00:23:58.640 And in the midst of her prayer, something changed, and here's what it was. 00:23:58.880 --> 00:24:03.119 Because earlier on in the story, it says that she she couldn't even eat. 00:24:03.279 --> 00:24:04.400 She was so sad. 00:24:04.880 --> 00:24:15.359 And then after the prayer, it says she went and got something to eat, and basically it was um no longer just so incredibly downcast. 00:24:16.480 --> 00:24:23.039 And friends, what we all have to notice was it wasn't that all of a sudden now she'd become pregnant. 00:24:23.200 --> 00:24:24.240 It was in the midst of it. 00:24:24.400 --> 00:24:27.200 She somehow knew now God was with her. 00:24:27.359 --> 00:24:29.039 He she wasn't alone. 00:24:30.079 --> 00:24:30.559 Right? 00:24:30.720 --> 00:24:34.960 That all of her time as a married woman, she'd been saying, God, will you remember me? 00:24:35.039 --> 00:24:39.119 And then somehow in the midst of it, God changed her heart and says, I do see you, Hannah. 00:24:39.279 --> 00:24:40.480 I do remember you. 00:24:40.720 --> 00:24:41.039 Right? 00:24:41.279 --> 00:24:45.200 She thought her story was about a woman wanting a child. 00:24:45.359 --> 00:24:48.400 But God was doing something much bigger, right? 00:24:48.640 --> 00:24:54.960 Later on, it turns out she thought her story was all about just her having a kid. 00:24:55.119 --> 00:25:01.279 What she didn't realize was the kid that she would have one day, this little kid named Samuel, he would become a prophet. 00:25:01.440 --> 00:25:06.079 And Samuel would anoint this man, David, to become the king, right? 00:25:06.240 --> 00:25:11.920 And then David's kingdom would eventually become part of God's massive covenant story. 00:25:12.079 --> 00:25:16.960 And eventually from David's line would come Jesus. 00:25:17.440 --> 00:25:21.200 Hannah is seeing one chapter in her prayer. 00:25:21.359 --> 00:25:23.440 God is seeing the whole book. 00:25:24.079 --> 00:25:32.480 Friends, we so frequently in prayer, we have this tiny little lens we can see, and God can see everything and beyond. 00:25:34.160 --> 00:25:34.559 Right? 00:25:34.640 --> 00:25:39.279 That is one of the greatest mysteries in prayer in the Christian life. 00:25:39.359 --> 00:25:39.599 Right? 00:25:39.759 --> 00:25:45.119 We pray from our little story, but God answers from inside his great story. 00:25:45.599 --> 00:25:45.839 Right? 00:25:46.000 --> 00:25:53.839 Hannah's story is pointing toward a God whose salvation always seems to arrive through weakness and suffering. 00:25:55.519 --> 00:25:55.839 Right? 00:25:56.000 --> 00:25:56.720 Think about it. 00:25:56.960 --> 00:25:59.440 You have a woman who can't have kids. 00:25:59.599 --> 00:26:05.279 And then later on, you have a young virgin, and then a baby in the manger, and then a crucified Messiah, right? 00:26:05.440 --> 00:26:07.039 Weakness, suffering. 00:26:07.839 --> 00:26:08.160 Right? 00:26:08.240 --> 00:26:19.920 Maybe Israel, just maybe, Israel would have been able to see Jesus as the Messiah more easily if rather than only seeing Jesus as four fathers, they also saw Jesus as four mothers, right? 00:26:20.079 --> 00:26:27.039 It's hard to understand the idea of a suffering servant when you actually see a bunch of men who actually seem like everything's working out okay. 00:26:27.200 --> 00:26:28.880 If you those are the four fathers. 00:26:29.039 --> 00:26:36.480 The four mothers, we see these stories of women who God was working through through all of Israel's history, right? 00:26:36.640 --> 00:26:39.119 You have women like Leah, right? 00:26:39.279 --> 00:26:42.799 Leah, who was unloved, but then from her had Judah. 00:26:42.880 --> 00:26:45.599 And from Judah, eventually, we get to Jesus, right? 00:26:45.759 --> 00:27:03.920 We have women like Ruth, whose husband died, and she had to travel to a foreign land as a widow, not knowing if she had any real future or hope, but she did it because she wanted to be able to be a blessing to Naomi, and she wanted to be able to go to Israel to be able to trust in Israel's God. 00:27:04.079 --> 00:27:04.400 Right? 00:27:04.559 --> 00:27:16.000 We had a woman like Bathsheba, who was looked down upon so much that later on, by the time of Jesus, even Matthew doesn't want to write her name in the genealogy, right? 00:27:17.039 --> 00:27:19.920 And then we got Mary, right? 00:27:20.319 --> 00:27:26.880 Who throughout her whole life, people must have always whispered and said, Tell me more about the Immaculate Conception again, Mary. 00:27:27.279 --> 00:27:27.599 Right? 00:27:27.759 --> 00:27:45.839 And maybe as life went on and we saw more in her community, saw more and more and more about Jesus, maybe eventually in Mary's life, they were able to start coming around and saying, hold on, maybe for with how exceptional Jesus is, maybe this exceptional pregnancy that you told us about was true. 00:27:46.000 --> 00:27:52.480 But she lived a big part of her life with a story, with people probably questioning her. 00:27:55.920 --> 00:27:57.519 And we get Jesus. 00:27:58.559 --> 00:28:01.920 Born out of weakness, pain, suffering. 00:28:02.960 --> 00:28:08.880 Guys, God specializes in bringing life out of places where life doesn't exist. 00:28:10.079 --> 00:28:10.720 Right? 00:28:11.200 --> 00:28:15.680 And ultimately, God doesn't just simply answer a prayer. 00:28:16.640 --> 00:28:21.759 He doesn't just give this gift of one child, he gives himself as a gift. 00:28:22.079 --> 00:28:24.480 Hannah wanted a son. 00:28:25.599 --> 00:28:29.519 So God gave her Samuel, but but Samuel wasn't the final answer, right? 00:28:29.680 --> 00:28:33.039 Samuel pointed toward David, David pointed toward the promised king. 00:28:33.200 --> 00:28:35.039 The promised king is Jesus. 00:28:35.599 --> 00:28:39.039 Hannah gave God her beloved son. 00:28:39.839 --> 00:28:43.119 God gives us his beloved son. 00:28:44.799 --> 00:28:48.960 You know, as we're closing down, I want you to think about this. 00:28:49.359 --> 00:28:59.680 That when we look, so much of the time we think that the gospel is pray hard and God will give you your Samuel. 00:29:01.119 --> 00:29:01.440 No. 00:29:02.400 --> 00:29:10.480 The gospel is pour out your soul before the Lord because the Lord is present with you in Jesus. 00:29:10.799 --> 00:29:11.200 Right? 00:29:11.440 --> 00:29:22.640 Bring him the real thing, bring him the grief, bring him the longing, bring him the anger, bring him the unanswered questions, and then trust him with a part of the story you can't see. 00:29:23.920 --> 00:29:27.839 Because friends, we we might not know what God's doing. 00:29:29.279 --> 00:29:29.599 Right? 00:29:29.920 --> 00:29:32.400 You might not understand why you're waiting. 00:29:33.839 --> 00:29:39.599 You you might not even see how one little story fits into God's larger story. 00:29:40.240 --> 00:29:43.920 But we know who the story belongs to. 00:29:44.160 --> 00:29:49.680 And friends, that's enough to get up, to eat, to keep walking. 00:29:50.880 --> 00:29:54.319 Because just like Hannah, God remembers us. 00:29:54.799 --> 00:29:55.440 Let's pray. 00:29:55.759 --> 00:29:59.039 Father in heaven, thank you for your goodness to us. 00:29:59.200 --> 00:30:00.160 Thank you for your kindness. 00:30:00.400 --> 00:30:01.839 God, thank you for your grace. 00:30:02.720 --> 00:30:10.880 Lord, just like with Hannah, we come here this morning and we have a lot of different troubles. 00:30:11.200 --> 00:30:22.880 Lord, we have such weakness, we have such suffering, and at times we confess that it can feel like it's all meaningless, like it's all senseless, like there's no future or a hope. 00:30:23.039 --> 00:30:36.160 And God, we thank you that little by little, with these stories, that we see more and more of your revelation throughout scripture, and we we get to see Jesus more clearly because of it. 00:30:36.319 --> 00:30:48.160 And God, as we see your son Jesus, more clearly and where the story climax is, we actually realize we we find ourselves in that story. 00:30:50.240 --> 00:31:04.319 So Lord, would you help us remember that we're not forgotten, that you remember us on the darkest nights, in the coldest storms. 00:31:06.480 --> 00:31:07.599 God, would you be with us? 00:31:07.759 --> 00:31:08.799 In Christ's name, pray. 00:31:09.039 --> 00:31:09.680 Amen. 00:31:12.799 --> 00:31:14.319 Thank you for listening. 00:31:14.559 --> 00:31:19.839 Please join us in person for community worship, the breaking of bread, and prayer. 00:31:20.160 --> 00:31:27.599 We are located at 512 South Bernard Street, Spokane, Washington, 99204.