Journey Thru The Bible (1 Samuel 1-3)

Click on the above Scripture to read today's exciting text!

The book of Samuel tells of a spiritual turning point in the nation of Israel. Since the days of Joshua, Israel has been on a rollercoaster ride in their walk with God that has progressively leaned more towards evil than towards good. In fact, by now things had become awful! Look at how bad the priests had already become - 2:12, "Now the sons of Eli (the high priest) were scoundrels who had no respect for the Lord." Israel was in a sad state of affairs, especially since it's spiritual leaders were filled with greed and corruption!

Does that remind you of anyone else today? Maybe America?

Anyways...

Finally, God sends the nation a prophet, Samuel, who will be intstrumental in turning things around! Here are a few thoughts from the 3 chapters we've read today...

1) God answers earnest, heart-felt praying! Hannah had been humiliated enough! Penninah would use the feast time to ridicule and embarrass Hannah about her inability to have chilren. In a move of desperation, Hannah fell down on her knees within the Tabernacle and sought God in earnest prayer for a son! Eli, not being the spiritually-sensitive person he should have been, openly assumed and rebuked Hannah of being drunk. However, once he understood Hannah's humble prayer, he invited the Lord to hear and respond positively to her request. God did, and she happily gave birth to Samuel.

This earnest, heart-felt prayer of Hannah's reminds me of what God says through His servant James in the book of James 5:16, "The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results." Oh...how we ALL ought to pray in earnestness before God!

2) There are lessons to learn from answered prayer! When God answered Hannah's prayer, she did something so few of us do...she offered praise to God! How many times have you asked God to provide you with a safe road trip, or healing for your child who's sick with a cold, or for a particular event to occur, and failed to 'thank Him' for answered prayer?

Hannah learned 3 powerful lessons from answered prayer! Here they are:

- There's no sense in bragging, God knows the truth!
- God can radically change any situation!
- Everyone needs God...period!

What have you learned about God from answered prayer?

3) The stepping stones to raising a prophet of God! Hannah's prayer for a son involved making a vow to God - a vow to give her only son to serve in the House of the Lord for the rest of his life! How many women do you know that could have made a vow like that, then have the capacity to fulfill it? Hannah meant what she prayed! That's one of the reasons why God answered her prayer!

Once Samuel was weaned, Hannah took him to the Tabernacle to live with Eli, the high priest, and his two scoundrel sons. In spite of the wicked people who occupied his environment, Hannah gave Samuel to the Lord and consequently God protected Samuel from being infected with the wickedness of Eli's sons. Throughout chapters 1, 2, and 3, you can see the raising up of this great prophet of God! Here are the stepping stones of Samuel's walk with God and the raising up of a mighty prophet of the Lord:

- He's born out of prayer! 1:11
- He's raised by Godly parents! 1:3
- He served the Lord by assisting the priest! 2:11
- He grew up in the presence of the Lord at the Tabernacle! 2:21
- He grew in favor with the Lord and the people! 2:26
- He hears God's voice for the first time! 3:11-14
- The Lord is with Samuel! 3:19
- The Lord causes everything he says to be reliable! 3:19
- All Israel knew Samuel was a prophet! 3:20
- God gives Samuel more messages from Him! 3:21
- Samuel begins preaching the messages from the Lord! 4:1

Look at the progression of Samuel's life and walk with God! If only we can do the same for our children! We can! When we continuously expose them to church and to the teaching of the Bible in a good, Bible-teaching church, God will use those opportunities to speak to our children and mold and shape them into the type of servants He wants them to be!

May the Lord bless your children with the opportunity to grow in favor with Him and with the sensitivity to hear His wonderful voice!

Well, these are my thoughts for today. What are yours? Let me know if you have anything you'd like to add! Have a GREAT day in the Lord!