I Prayed for this Child

“I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.” (Hannah) - I Samuel 1:27-28

In the hill country about twenty miles north of Jerusalem, a young priest named Elkanah was raising his family
He had two wives – Hannah (whose name means “grace”), and Peninnah (whosename means “pearl”)
We don’t know why he had two wives, or chose to have two mother-in-laws
Maybe Hannah’s inability to have children prompted the second marriage

Peninnah had several children – she was a baby machine, but Hannah had none
And that issue dominated her life
Infertility is a very difficult burden to bear
Mother’s Day, Baby Dedication day, kid’s birthday parties
People smile at you and say well-meant things like, “When are you going to have a baby?”
It feels like a knife in your heart

Peninnah saw the look of pain in Hannah’s eyes when the subject came up, and she became merciless in her comments about Hannah’s inability to have children
Elkanah wasn’t much help – he was like a typical insensitive husband
“Sweetheart, why are you crying? Eat something.
Is it the baby thing again? Aren’t I worth more to you than ten sons?”

Guys, a little clue about talking to your wife
When she is upset, what she needs is someone to listen, not to give advice
You want to fix her problems, come up with a great solution
You don’t solve emotional problems with logic

“You can’t have babies? How about if I marry another woman and you can love her kids?
There, that will solve the problem! All right, stop the crying, I will ask Peninnah tomorrow!”

Emotional problems need a listener, not a solver

The family had a yearly tradition to visit the tabernacle in Shiloh
In one way it was an unbearable trip for Hannah – the kid thing would be brought up again
But in another way, it was the one chance a year Hannah had to pray at the temple
If God had closed her womb, as every religious expert seemed to think, then He was her best hope for opening it

She got up midway through the dinner and made her way to the temple
Through the gate, and past Eli the high priest
She found a quiet place, and began to pour out her heart
Bitterness and anger turned to pleading
Requests turned to bargains
“God, I’m so miserable. Please. Give me a son. I will give him back to you. He can serve you in this place. He can be all yours – no razor will touch his hair orbeard, no wine. Please God.”

What Hannah did not know
What Hannah could not know
Was that God was listening,
He had blessing ahead of her that she would never had imagined

Eli walked back into the temple and saw Hannah praying
She wasn’t praying out loud, but she was in obvious pain as she prayed
He thought she was drunk
“Don’t get drunk and come in here again”
She looked up at him through her tears and tried to understand why he was angry
“Oh, I’m not drinking. I’m beyond despair. I’m just praying.”
Eli looked at her thoughtfully, and said, “Go in peace. God will give you what you asked for”

Hope, blessed unexplainable hope
Hannah sang all the way back to the feast, sat down and began to eat like someonewho hadn’t eaten for days
Her eyes sparkled, she sang all the way home
That night as they were getting ready for bed she had that look in her eye that made Elkanah forget about everything else going on in his life
And, Hannah got pregnant

She named her little boy, Samuel, which means “I have heard from God”
For the next few years, Hannah didn’t go to the temple with her family, but stayed home with Samuel
When he was weaned, she packed all of his things into a bag, and told Elkanah about her promise and her plans
And she told her son goodbye
Literally, faithfully, she gave her son to God

If you have young children, then you have heard the statement, “Enjoy them now. They grow up all too fast.
”Someday they will move out (hopefully)
Begin a family of their own
Stop asking you for advice, stop checking to see what is in the refrigerator
You will be in the background of their lives
Still important, but not most important
When you die, they will mourn your passing, and go on

It felt like a death when Hannah walked her little boy to the temple that morning
He couldn’t understand her tears
He knew she was afraid, but he didn’t know what about
Hannah’s heart was breaking inside her
Giving up Samuel wasn’t the easy thing, but it was the right thing
How would he make it without her
Who would teach him the things he needed to learn as he grew up
Did God know how valuable this little guy was?
Yes he did

Solomon Rosenberg and his family were arrested and taken to a concentration camp
His mother and father, his wife and two boys were all with him
They had heard the terrible stories about what we now call the Holocaust
Life was cheap, the weak were taken away and never seen again
If you could work, you were worth something to the German guards
If you couldn’t, you exterminated

First they took his parents
And he knew that his youngest son David would be the next to be taken – he was small and frail
Every day Samuel would return to the barracks after a day of hard labor and search for his wife and boys
When he found them they would embrace and thank God for another day of life

Then the day came when he returned and didn’t see those familiar faces
Finally he saw his oldest son seated in a corner, sobbing
“Where is David?”
“They took him. He couldn’t walk back, and so they took him.”
“Where is your mother?”
“When they came for David, he was afraid, so mom took his hand and went with him”

There is no love greater than a mother feels for her children
And there is no risk more worth taking, than to relinquish them to the only One who loves them more than you
To offer them as Hannah offered Samuel
"God, I prayed for this child, and you granted me what I asked of you. So now I give him to you. For his whole life he will be given over to you.”