For Peace, Pray

“I have poured out my soul before the lord”…“Go in peace”…
“She went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad”… I Samuel 1.15-18

Lets just walk through this moment with Hannah, it may sound familiar to your own experience at some time.

First we see her deep in prayer her spirit oppressed which means hard pressed, severe; it is a picture of a woman who is at her end.

She then says to Eli the priest, “I have poured my soul” She has held nothing back, she has laid it all out on the table before the Lord. She goes on to tell Eli she is just very sad, very heartbroken over her situation.

David says this in Psalm 62.7-8
On God my salvation and my glory rest; the rock of my strength, my refuge is in God. Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.

In those times when our hearts are heavy, hard-pressed go ahead and let God know, He can handle it. If you can’t tell him where else can we go to, He is our refuge!

Eli tells her, “Go in peace”. This connection between prayer and peace is clearly seen in Philippians 4.6-7:

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Then Hannah does something that is important, she “went her way”. It is one thing to pour out our heart before the Lord, its another to get a mop out afterwards and pick it all back up and carry it home in a bucket.

Peter encourages us to “(Cast) all your care upon him; for He cares for you.” But our cares are not to be attached to a bungee cord. Cast them… and let them go. If they come back, and they may, cast them again (the word “cast” means "keep on casting").

Should we ever doubt about the ability or the desire of the Lord to tend our deepest needs we need look no further than the nail-scarred hands in which we place our cares.

Should we ever be concerned about his heart toward us when we pour out our heart to Him remember what Isaiah said:

Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. Isaiah 53.12

And the peace comes form entrusting our lives to the Prince of Peace, the one who loved you so much, He willingly laid His life down so you could live. I think it is save to assume that He continues to care about that life of your that He has saved.

Go in Peace!

Snap judgments, bad idea

So Eli thought she was drunk. I Samuel 1.13b

The story goes like this:

Now it came about, as she continued praying before the LORD, that Eli was watching her mouth. As for Hannah, she was speaking in her heart, only her lips were moving, but her voice was not heard. So Eli thought she was drunk. Then Eli said to her, “How long will you make yourself drunk? Put away your wine from you.” But Hannah replied, “No, my lord, I am a woman oppressed in spirit; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have poured out my soul before the LORD. “Do not consider your maidservant as a worthless woman, for I have spoken until now out of my great concern and provocation.”

That is quite a conclusion to jump to! How a praying woman could look like a drunken woman, I don’t know? Perhaps, considering the state of the nation, it was as normal to see someone drunk in the temple as it was abnormal to see someone praying there.

Whichever the case it was a quickly compiled conclusion and a harshly delivered judgment that Eli pronounced on Hannah. But he had assumed the worst about Hannah and he was wrong.

I can be to! The Bible teaches, and Jesus certainly models that we are to think the best of each other. And even if there are flaws and shortcomings, and who doesn’t have those; we are to focus on the good… assume the best.

Philippians gives us such instruction in 1.10

“approve the things that are excellent” and in 4.8 “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”

Dwell on “these things”. It is not that the flaws don’t exist, we are just focus on other parts.

I am challenged by this story to be careful about coming to conclusions about people by the way they look or act or “seem”. There is always much more going on in them and in their lives than what is apparent on the surface.

What I do know is that the One who did know exactly where people were and who could have judged people perfectly, did not. I think of Jesus with the woman at the well, or the woman caught in adultery. Jesus was “a friend of publicans and sinners.”

Lord help us to give people the benefit of the doubt, help us to "believe all things" about one another, that is what love does.

A Mothers’ Gift, a Mothers’ Love

…then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and a razor shall never come on his head.” I Samuel 1.11b

It is phenomenal really, if a person takes a minute to really allow what Hannah did to sink in; that a mother could give away her child, her first child at that, a miracle baby to boot. Abraham is honored for his great act of obedience and faith in offering Isaac, as well he should; is this any less an act of faith, of devotion, a sacrifice on par with what took place on Mount Moriah?

Samuel was a gift from God to Hannah, given back to God by Hannah.

There will not be many of us, if any who will be asked to make such a sacrifice, but I believe each parent is asked to make the offering; to truly give our children to God, dedicating them individually to the Lord for His purposes. We entrust them into the hands of their heavenly Father, acknowledging that we are mere stewards of these precious treasures.

Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them; they will not be ashamed when they speak with their enemies in the gate. Psalm 127.3-5

Samuel had a specific purpose

God had a design for Samuels life; we can read it in I Samuel. Hannah had a part to play too in preparing him for what lay ahead. We are told that Hannah made a vow to hold Samuel to the standards of the Nazarite vow. The vow had three elements generally: No touching anything dead, no eating or drinking anything from the vine, no cutting of the hair.

Samuel was obviously too young at the beginning to know what that meant or to be disciplined to keep the vow, it would be up to her parents to assure this. This is a real key element of parenting; God has a plan for your child, you have dedicated him to the Lord, but your little guy or darling can’t process that, this is where you come in mom and dad.

It is our privilege as parents to teach and instruct our children and keep them from evil. It is our job to encourage them in the direction of God, to model godliness before them, to be sure that at the earliest age they are learning the stories, hearing of God’s love, beginning to assimilate the truth’s of the Word of God.

Hannah couldn’t take Samuel the whole way

In her case, once he was weaned Samuel was turned over to Eli at Shiloh. We will have to turn our kids over too; we can’t take them all the way, they have to come to faith on their own. But Hannah had a lot to say about whether on the day of the transfer Samuel had been brought as far as he could be. So do we.

We can’t do it all as parents, sometimes it seems like we can barely accomplish the minimum. But may I encourage you to keep up the fight, don’t give up! The Lord is there every step of the way. And, by the way, he cares for and loves your children even more than you do.

May that reality give us all confidence to place our children in His tender care.

A Double Portion

When the day came that Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and her daughters; but to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved Hannah

I Samuel 1.4-5a

Isaiah 61

1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners;

2 To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn,

3 To grant those who mourn in Zion, giving them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.

4 Then they will rebuild the ancient ruins, they will raise up the former devastations; and they will repair the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations.

5 Strangers will stand and pasture your flocks, and foreigners will be your farmers and your vinedressers.

6 But you will be called the priests of the LORD; you will be spoken of as ministers of our God. You will eat the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast.

7 Instead of your shame you will have a double portion, and instead of humiliation they will shout for joy over their portion. Therefore they will possess a double portion in their land, everlasting joy will be theirs.

8 For I, the LORD, love justice, I hate robbery in the burnt offering; and I will faithfully give them their recompense and make an everlasting covenant with them.

9 Then their offspring will be known among the nations, and their descendants in the midst of the peoples. All who see them will recognize them because they are the offspring whom the LORD has blessed.

10 I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

11 For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes the things sown in it to spring up, So the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.

We too have been robed as a bride; we have been seated at His banquet table to feast with him with great joy.

Ephesians 1.3-4 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.”

John 10.10 says, “I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.” (TMSG)

That sounds like a double portion to me. A blessed, purpose filled, abundant life now and eternal life with our Lord then.

This is what our bridegroom has placed before us.

When I pray, why the delay? Pt. II

It came about in due time, after Hannah had conceived, that she gave birth to a son; and she named him Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked him of the LORD.” I Samuel 1.20

Why the delay indeed!

Lets look at the story working backwards.

The story of I Samuel follows right on the heels of one of the darkest periods in Israel’s history. The time of the Judges was at an end; the people, we are told, “did what was right in their own sight”.

God was about to change things. The nation was soon going to be asking for a king. God would begin to speak through the prophets giving direction and counsel and, at times, outright commands to these kings.

Israel’s first king would be a man by the name of Saul and the prophet that the Lord would use to speak into his life was about to become the answer to a humble woman’s prayer.

What I want you to consider is that there was a huge plan in motion, plans that would affect a nation. It was a significant turning point in the history of God’s chosen people.


Samuel was at the center of it all.

Samuel would anoint Israel’s first king. Not long after he would remove the scepter from his hand and place it in the hands of a shepherd boy with a sling.

• Samuel whom the Psalmist and the great prophet Jeremiah would both esteem alongside of Moses.
• Samuel, a man of prayer and passion and vision who stood in stark contrast to a compromising generation.
• That… is the boy the Lord was planning on sending. The one whose name means “asked of God”

So now back to Hannah.

For so long she longed for a child, year after year she yearned but no answer came. “Did I do something wrong Lord?”, “am I out of favor?”, “have I missed the blessing?”, “Is it that God doesn’t answer the prayers of a person like me?”, “how long Lord will You be silent, don’t You care?”

But, you see, it had nothing to do with any of that! God’s plan was in motion and the time would soon be right. What must have seemed like forever to Hannah was right on time to God.

AND…

Though Hannah in her simplicity and humility was simply asking for a son, the Lord had far more in mind for her. A son Hannah? I am going to give you Samuel… Samuel Hannah! A mighty man, an anointer of kings, a spokesman for the Almighty. Oh Hannah, not just any little boy but a special one.

Why does God delay at times?

Did you notince in our verse above that is says, "in due time"? Could it be that His plan and our part in it that plan have not yet intersected? When it is time for God’s plan to unfold nothing… nothing can stop it from taking place.

Could it be that the Lord wants to do far more than we are asking for? He loves us too much to allow us to settle for less than His best. And sometimes the best means we will have to wait a little longer.

When I pray, why the delay? Pt. I

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 son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and a razor shall never come on his head.” I Samuel 1.11

Hannah was a woman in need, a woman who had a barren womb, how she longed for a child.

Not only was there a cultural stigma attached to a childless woman but she was hearing it in her own home. Peninnah, the other wife of Hannah’s husband Elkanah, was making life miserable for Hannah as she “provoked her bitterly to irritate her”.

I think it is safe to assume that Hannah had prayed many times over many years that the Lord would grant her the desire of her heart and give her a child.

Her prayer was about to be answered, but why now, why after so long is this the day the Lord answers?

Vs 11 is the prayer that got answered. Was there something different in it than in previous prayers? Well, we can’t say for certain if it was different but we can see some distinctions:

• Once she had received the gift, she would give it back
• She made a commitment to dedicate her new son, from birth, to the service of the Lord (Nazarite vow)

Whatever you ask in My name

Jesus said, “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do”; the “in My name” means “according to my will”. You see prayer isn’t only about God filing out my grocery list; it is about moving my heart into alignment with His purposes.

Have you ever noticed that as you tarry in prayer over days or weeks… even months or longer, that your prayer has a way of changing over time. This is the work of the Holy Spirit directing our prayers (Romans 8.26-27) until they are in alignment with His perfect plan.

Is it possible that what made this prayer of Hannah’s different than the ones before? Was this the time she was finally at the place the Lord wanted her to be in order to receive the answer she so desperately sought.

Do you have a long longed for request that remains unanswered?

May I suggest you ask the Lord to reveal His heart to you, His desire, ask Him to search out your motives; see if it might be possible that you are not yet truly centered in His will.

And watch and see what will happen when we truly pray, "in His name."

Good Brothers, Good Time!

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren (or sisteren - my addition) to dwell together in unity! Psalm 133.1

We just had our Friday morning S.T.A.N.D. study and man was it a great time.

Just a few guys getting together to share what the Lord has shown them in the word. "Tag-teaming" off of one anothers' observations, making applications from our own lives; it was rich.

There really is no substitute for fellowship. It is imperative that we get together, on Sundays and Wednesday night for sure... but anytime, as often as possible to just speak with one another about the Lord.

There is a really cool verse in Malchi that says:

Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD gave attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the LORD and who esteem His name. Mal 3.16 (ever notice how many great verses are "3.16's"... but that is for another time)

He gave attention, or paid attention... "quiet, my kids are talking", he heard it, and he wrote it down. In my minds eye I can see the Lord with a writing tablet... "oh. that was a good one, man that's great, way to go Bob, good application Rob", just thrilled with what He is seeing and hearing.

Do you have a friend or two that you get with during the week, do you take time with your spouse in the Word, do you make an effort to spend time in the week with a brother or sister and just talk about the Lord.

I can't encourage you enough to find a partner or two, or join one of the small groups that are meeting almost every day somewhere, it will bless your heart.

And, oh by the way, He is listening, it blesses the Lord's heart too.

God Has Set Things Right

What Moses and the prophets witnessed to all those years has happened. The God-setting-things-right that we read about has become Jesus-setting-things-right for us. And not only for us, but for everyone who believes in him. For there is no difference between us and (the Gentiles) in this.

Since we’ve compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ.

God sacrificed Jesus on the altar of the world to clear that world of sin. Having faith in him sets us in the clear. God decided on this course of action in full view of the public—to set the world in the clear with himself through the sacrifice of Jesus, finally taking care of the sins he had so patiently endured. This is not only clear, but it’s now—this is current history! God sets things right. He also makes it possible for us to live in his rightness.


So where does that leave our proud Jewish insider claims and counterclaims? Canceled? Yes, canceled. What we’ve learned is this: God does not respond to what we do; we respond to what God does. We’ve finally figured it out. Our lives get in step with God and all others by letting him set the pace, not by proudly or anxiously trying to run the parade.


And where does that leave our proud Jewish claim of having a corner on God? Also canceled. God is the God of outsider non-Jews as well as insider Jews. How could it be otherwise since there is only one God? God sets right all who welcome his action and enter into it, both those who follow our religious system and those who have never heard of our religion.

Romans 3.21-30

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Preparing for the Day of Distress

If you are slack in the day of distress, your strength is limited.
If you fall to pieces in a crisis, there wasn’t much to you in the first place. Proverbs 24.10 (NASB/TMSG)

Oh, I am not trying to be a pessimist, but life does happen; "in this world you will have tribulation", right?

And it can come at us fast too. A phone call, a doctor visit, a meeting with the boss and what was a moment ago relative calm immediately becomes a very distressful situation.

Is there a way to prepare for the unexpected? I believe there is and we are given a couple examples in Scripture.


The first is of Abraham in Genesis 14

There was a war taking place in the area near where Abe lived. Five kings of the Canaanites went to war against another group of four kings that were nearby. Well the four kings won and one of the cities they earned as a prize was Sodom.

Well it happened that Lot, Abe's nephew was living in Sodom at the time so... Abraham "led out his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and went in pursuit..." Gen 14.14

Its that word trained that catches the attention. These were his everyday household helpers, his shepherds, his cooks, etc: but when the call came to armor up and go to battle the men were prepared both in arms and in deployment.

Abraham made sure that he was prepared lest a day came that would require him to go to war.


The second lesson is Jesus in Luke 17

Jesus was coming down from the mount of transfiguration when he encountered quite a comotion. A father had brought his demonized son to Jesus to be healed but with Jesus gone, the disciples tried, to no avail, to deliver the young boy from his condition.

Jesus, always prepared, dismisses the evil spirit with word. What He says to the disciples is the noteworhy part as fas as it relates to our discussion.

In Verse 21 it says, "This kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting". Now that instruction on the part of Jesus only makes sense if He is talking about a discipline of prayer and fasting. In other words the work done here and now was made possible by care taken earlier.


Hit the weights

You could use the illustration of an athletic event requiring practice ahead of time, time in the weight room, etc. Or, as Lynn and Ruben did earlier this summer; spent months running steps at Hayward field so they would be ready when the day came to climb Sisters.

Am I preparing, bulking up, building up, training myself, for the day of distress? Am I being nourished on the Word? Getting the needed rest in the Lord? Being made aware of the "wiles" of the opponent? Being encouraged by God's promises? Exercising my faith so it is strengthened?

Today is the day to prepared for that day!