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August 19, 2025 26 mins

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The waiting periods of our lives often feel endless, but Hannah's story reveals the profound purpose hidden within these seasons. For years, Hannah endured the pain of barrenness while facing cruel taunts from her husband's other wife who had many children. Her worth seemed diminished in a culture that valued women primarily for childbearing, yet this extended season of waiting was preparing the way for something extraordinary.

When God finally answered Hannah's fervent prayers, she bore Samuel—not just any son, but one of Israel's greatest prophets who would later anoint David as king, establishing the lineage through which Jesus would eventually come. What appeared as barren ground became the fertile soil from which God's redemptive plan would advance.

Hannah's powerful prayer recorded in 1 Samuel 2 provides a striking revelation about God's character. "Those who are full hire themselves out for food, but those who are hungry hunger no more. She who is barren has born seven children, but she who has had many sons pines away." Her words proclaim God as the great reverser of circumstances—the one who fundamentally transforms situations, raising the poor to sit with princes and exalting the humble while bringing down the proud.

This transformation isn't limited to Hannah's ancient story. The same God who opened her womb offers spiritual rebirth to us today. We are designed to host His glory, to carry His divine life within us, becoming citizens of His kingdom when we simply believe. Just as Samuel's life foreshadowed Christ, our lives can reflect Jesus to a world desperate for genuine hope.

Whatever barren situation you're facing today—whether relational, financial, spiritual, or emotional—remember that with God, nothing remains permanently barren. Your current waiting period might be the very preparation ground for something far greater than you can imagine. Share this episode with someone who needs encouragement during their season of waiting, and subscribe to receive more insights from God's transformative word.

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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
So we've been taking a little closer look at the book
of 1 Samuel and it'sinteresting that it takes a
person roughly two and a halfhours if you were to read it out
loud, but it took approximately100 years 100 years for it to

(00:31):
be lived out, and so sometimeswhen we're reading we can kind
of look at it as though ithappened quicker than it really
did.
And sometimes in life it seemslike things can sometimes drag

(00:52):
on.
It's like is there anythingreally happening and is my life
even counting for anything?
Because we live in the realm oftime and space and 100 years to

(01:18):
us seems like a relatively longperiod of time.
And when we look at thescriptures once again, it can

(01:41):
seem like things were alwayshappening.
But in all reality things werespaced out often and time-wise,
and it's a point ofencouragement for us that if it
doesn't seem like there'ssomething happening right now,
it doesn't mean like anything'snot happening or like nothing's

(02:02):
going to happen or likenothing's going to happen.
It's because of us being inthis time and space continuum
that we have a sense ofsometimes things blagging when
in all actuality they're not.

(02:23):
And Hannah is a prime example ofthat One of Elkanah's two wives
, hannah and Penina.
And Hannah, for most of heradult life, or for a lot of it
many years, plural years she wasa barren woman.
She could not conceive a lot ofit.
Many years, plural years shewas a barren woman, she could

(02:50):
not conceive.
And in that culture at thatpoint in time, a woman who was
barren, it was really a hardthing to bear, because their
worth was wrapped up in bearingchildren, especially sons, and
Hannah didn't have a capabilityof bearing any.

(03:15):
And Penina, elkanah's otherwife, bore many children.
Alcana's other wife bore manychildren and she reminded Hannah
of her barrenness often, andespecially when it came time for

(03:37):
them to go up and presentsacrifices before the Lord.
That Peninnah would tauntHannah horribly, to the point
that Hannah would be in tearsand at one point she couldn't
even eat because she was soupset.
And this went on for years andif you've ever felt like a penny

(04:00):
waiting for change, someone whois not really worth much Kind
of worthless, hannah couldrelate.
That's how she felt Until Godheard her prayers and answered

(04:25):
them and opened up her womb andshe bore a son by the name of
Samuel, who is one of Israel'sgreatest prophets.
In fact, he was the prophet whowas used by God to anoint David
to be king.
So Samuel held a high placeconcerning the kingdom of God, a

(04:53):
place of high honor, and hecame out of Hannah's womb.
And so we're picking up thisstory, and, and so we're picking
up this story and that's whywe're at least that's one of the
reasons why we're looking intothe book of 1 Samuel, because
it's so full of stories, andthis is a true story, and so it

(05:21):
carries some additional weight.
And in chapter 1, verse 28, weread that Hannah had now given
Samuel over to the Lord.
In fact, she said so now I givehim to the Lord for his whole

(05:45):
life.
He'll be given over to the Lord.
And then it says and he,meaning Samuel, worshipped the
Lord there and there, meaningShiloh, where Eli and Hophni and
Phinehas were the priesthood atthe time, he worshipped the

(06:14):
Lord of the air Interesting.
From the onset of Samuel's life,worship was a high priority,
and that speaks volumes to ustoday, because worship, the

(06:35):
worship of God, the one true God, is our highest priority.
We were created to worship him.
He is central and he is worthyof our everything.
It was just the other day, as Iwas conversing with God.

(06:57):
He reminded me of something hesaid David all I want is
everything.
All I want is everything, andthat's what worship is giving
God everything.
And so Samuel, from the age ofthree, probably right around

(07:18):
three, three years old wasdedicated to the Lord.
Hannah gave him over to theservice of God in the temple of
God at Shiloh at the age ofthree, and so Eli was
responsible for raising him.

(07:41):
But after Hannah gave him over,in chapter two the scripture
says then Hannah prayed and saidmy heart rejoices in the Lord.
In the Lord, my horn is liftedhigh, my mouth boasts over my

(08:06):
enemies, for I delight in yourdeliverance.
There is no one holy like theLord.
There is no one beside you.
There is no rock holy like theLord.
There is no one beside you.
There is no rock like our God.
Do not keep talking proudly orlet your mouth speak such
arrogance, for the Lord is ourGod and he knows and he takes

(08:31):
delight in the deeds and heweighs them out.
The bows of the warriors arebroken, but those who stumbled
are armed with strength.
Those who are full hirethemselves out for food, but
those who are hungry, hunger nomore.
She who is barren has bornseven children, but she who has

(08:56):
had many sons pines away.
The Lord brings death and makesalive.
He brings down to the grave andraises up.
The Lord sends poverty andwealth.
He humbles and he exalts.
He raises the poor from thedust and lifts the needy from

(09:27):
the ash heap and he exalts theworld.
He will guard the feet of hissaints, but the wicked will be
silenced in darkness.
Those who oppose the Lord willbe shattered.
He will thunder against themfrom heaven.
The Lord will judge the ends ofthe earth.

(09:48):
He will give strength to hiskings and exalt the horn of his
anointed.
Then Elkanah went home to Ramah, but the boy ministered before
the Lord under Eli the priest.
That was chapter two, versesone through 11.

(10:15):
Hannah verses 1 through 11.
Hannah, hannah, the barren oneprays this powerful prayer that
we have to this very day.

(10:37):
When Elkanah heard this prayer,he couldn't get it out of his
mind, so much so that we have ittoday.
You see, back in those days,people had incredible memories

(11:08):
because they didn't have as manydistractions as we have today,
many distractions as we havetoday.
Many of the things that tookplace that were significant were
passed on through what's knownas oral tradition, meaning they
would tell stories, and thethings that they would tell

(11:32):
would be the high points, thethings that really stood out,
and they had the ability to dothat in part because they didn't
have as many distractions.
But also when the Spirit of Godwants something to be recorded,
when he wants it to beremembered to be recorded, but

(11:58):
he wants it to be rememberedhe's going to come upon the
situation with an anointingthat's very strong, and Hannah
experienced the anointing of theLord to pray a prayer that has
within it so much potency, thathas a prophetic power to it,

(12:19):
that when we look deeper into it, we find a revelation
concerning the very characterand nature of God.
And one of the things thatstands out to me, one of the
primary things in this prayerthat Hannah prays, is that

(12:41):
things change, situations change.
Things that are one way becomea completely different way,
become a completely differentway.
In verse 5, she says those whoare full hire themselves out for

(13:12):
food, but those who are hungryhunger no more.
She who is barren has bornseven children.
Verse 6.
Verse 7.
Verse 8.
Verse 7, the Lord sends povertyand wealth, he humbles and he

(13:35):
exalts.
Verse 8, he raises the poorfrom the dust and he lifts the
needy from the ash heap.
He seats them with princes andhas them inherit a throne of
honor, for the foundations ofthe earth are the Lord's.
Upon them.
He has set the world.

(13:58):
Things don't stay the same Ifyou're in a place that is barren
right now, if you are in aplace that is poor, financially

(14:20):
poor, if you're in a place whereyou are destitute, forgotten.
It's not going to stay that way.
God has a way of changing thingsthat we can't, and one of the

(14:45):
things that connected change inHannah's life was the fact that
she earnestly, with everythingshe had, prayed to God so that
she could conceive.
And God gave her an answer tothat prayer.

(15:08):
And the answer that he providednot only changed Hannah's life,
but it changed the things allthroughout Israel because of the
power of the Lord upon Samuel.

(15:30):
But the Spirit of God came uponHannah to pray this prayer, and
there are some prayers that wepray to God, but there are some
prayers that come from God andthey come through us, back to

(15:51):
God.
He uses us as conduits to seethings take place.
God used Hannah even though itlooked like she was going to be
barren for the rest of her life.
And sometimes it can feel likethat, that the situation that

(16:13):
you're in is going to be the wayit's going to be all of your
life.
But it doesn't have to be.
God loves you, he has a purposefor you that's far greater than
what you can even imagine, andsometimes the things that we go

(16:36):
through are designed in a waythat, on one hand, they look
barren, but on the other hand,god is preparing something.
He's preparing something fargreater than we could do on our
own.
See, the Lord opened Hannah'swomb.

(16:59):
It was a supernatural act ofGod because he wanted to do
something significant.
He wanted to introduce Israelto something that was going to
be a forerunner of the Lord,jesus Christ.

(17:24):
The scarlet thread of the lifeof Jesus, the forerunning of
Jesus, is found in the book of 1Samuel.
Samuel is a picture of Jesusbefore Jesus was born, and

(17:44):
Hannah delivers a child that wasgoing to change the course of a
nation, just like Jesus came tochange the course of this world
.
And so we get pictures of Jesuscoming through, but also Samuel

(18:10):
is going to anoint David asking, and from David's lineage,
literally the seed of God waspassing through and the

(18:36):
genealogy would lead to Jesus,and David was going to be one of
those who carried that seed andSamuel was going to anoint him.
And so we have this wonderfulpicture of Jesus being shown to

(18:59):
us, given us.
There's a glimpse of him foundall throughout the Old Testament
.
When we look at it, we can findJesus.
We don't have to make it up,it's right there and God has a

(19:22):
plan to have Jesus enter intoyour life.

(19:44):
You are one who is designed tohost the glory of the Lord.
You are one who is designed tohave within you the divine seed
of God, his life, plantedsupernaturally in you that you

(20:07):
would be born again,supernaturally born again, one
who carries with you the verylife of Jesus, of Jesus, because
he has cut covenant with youbefore you were even born, while

(20:30):
you were still dead in your owntransgressions, in your own
ways of living dead in them.
Christ died for you so that youcould receive newness of life,
literally meaning you could see,you could receive the life of

(20:50):
God, new life, true life,spiritually born again, so that
you can become a citizen ofGod's kingdom and an heir of
righteousness man.
And when we recognize that andwe respond and say I believe.

(21:15):
That's our first step.
That's not the only step, butthat's our first step to be
involved in a lifestyle.
That is something that Jesuspromised we would walk in.

(21:43):
He said that we would dogreater things than him because
he goes to the Father, and hewent and sent us his spirit to
dwell within us so we canfunction under the unction that

(22:07):
Hannah and Samuel functionedunder.
We can walk in it because it'swithin us when we believe.
That's powerful, that's hope,that's the transformative work

(22:27):
and then from there, thingsbegin to change.
Does it happen overnight?
Sometimes?
Is it a process?
Sometimes Sometimes.
But God is faithful.
That's what Hannah declared inher prayer His faithfulness and

(22:54):
how he changes things from oneway to another.
Same goes for you, same goesfor me.
He changes things.
We're not stuck in thesituation that we're in right
now.
If it's barren and difficult,if it's barren and difficult,

(23:24):
it's going to change.
That's free Father.
God, I absolutely trust you, Iabsolutely love you, I worship
you, you, I worship you, weworship you, we honor you, we

(23:46):
give you thanks for who you are,for what you're doing, for how
you're doing it, the fact thatyou're doing it within us right
now.
Holy Spirit, thank you, thankyou.
Thank you within us right now,holy Spirit, thank you, thank
you.
Thank you for establishingwithin us the very character and

(24:09):
nature of Jesus, for puttingyour word, your law, your ways
in our hearts.
We can live them out, not justperform them.
Thank you, god.

(24:34):
Jesus, we honor you, we liftyour name high, we submit
ourselves to your lordship anddeclare you King of Kings and
Lord of Lords.
We look forward to your soonreturn.
In the meantime, empower us todo your will and we stand here

(25:02):
in your name and we say amen,amen, amen, amen.
All right, folks, we love you.
If you have any thoughts,questions, concerns, feel free
to drop us a line at life aroundthe fire, at gmailcom.
That's our email address andyou can type in life around the

(25:24):
fire and look us up on the web.
We would love to hear from youin the meantime.
God bless you.
Adios amigos.
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