Prayer and Sacrifice

What would you be willing to give up if God answered the deepest prayer of your heart? That's the question that springs to mind when I read about Hannah at the start of 1 Samuel.

Hannah had a deep desire to have a child. She prayed for it earnestly for a long time, but it didn't happen. That didn't keep her from praying and offering a sacrifice to God. That sacrifice was the very thing she deeply desired. 1 Samuel 1:11 says, "And she made a vow, saying, “LORD Almighty, if you will only look on your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget 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.”

God heard Hannah's prayers — all of them — and he answered them. And when her son, Samuel, was born, she fulfilled her promise and gave him back to God. I have heard this story plenty of times, as I'm sure many believers have, but that is incredible when you stop to think about it.

Hannah's deepest desire was to have a child. She prayed fervently for that blessing, and it finally came. It would have been natural for her to feel like that was it. Given that, how hard would it have been to give that child to the service of the Lord? Yet that's what Hannah did.

We have the benefit of seeing the whole story. We know Samuel was an important prophet, and that the Lord blessed Hannah with other children. And I think sometimes that can throw off our perspective of her sacrifice and obedience.

For all Hannah knew, Samuel was the one and only child the Lord would bless her with. She waited years for that child, patiently praying. She promised God that, if he blessed her with a child, she would dedicate that child back to God. God blessed her, and she followed through on that promise.

Hannah's story is an amazing example of the power of prayer, but it's an even more amazing example of the find of faithful obedience we all talk about wanting to have but few deliver.