““Why are you crying, Hannah?” Elkanah would ask. “Why aren’t you eating? Why be downhearted just because you have no children? You have me—isn’t that better than having ten sons?” Once after a sacrificial meal at Shiloh, Hannah got up and went to pray. Eli the priest was sitting at his customary place beside the entrance of the Tabernacle. Hannah was in deep anguish, crying bitterly as she prayed to the Lord. And she made this vow: “O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, if you will look upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you. He will be yours for his entire lifetime, and as a sign that he has been dedicated to the Lord, his hair will never be cut.” As she was praying to the Lord, Eli watched her. Seeing her lips moving but hearing no sound, he thought she had been drinking. “Must you come here drunk?” he demanded. “Throw away your wine!” “Oh no, sir!” she replied. “I haven’t been drinking wine or anything stronger. But I am very discouraged, and I was pouring out my heart to the Lord. Don’t think I am a wicked woman! For I have been praying out of great anguish and sorrow.” “In that case,” Eli said, “go in peace! May the God of Israel grant the request you have asked of him.” “Oh, thank you, sir!” she exclaimed. Then she went back and began to eat again, and she was no longer sad. The entire family got up early the next morning and went to worship the Lord once more. Then they returned home to Ramah. When Elkanah slept with Hannah, the Lord remembered her plea, and in due time she gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, for she said, “I asked the Lord for him.” The next year Elkanah and his family went on their annual trip to offer a sacrifice to the Lord and to keep his vow. But Hannah did not go. She told her husband, “Wait until the boy is weaned. Then I will take him to the Tabernacle and leave him there with the Lord permanently.” “Whatever you think is best,” Elkanah agreed. “Stay here for now, and may the Lord help you keep your promise.” So she stayed home and nursed the boy until he was weaned. When the child was weaned, Hannah took him to the Tabernacle in Shiloh. They brought along a three-year-old bull for the sacrifice and a basket of flour and some wine. After sacrificing the bull, they brought the boy to Eli. “Sir, do you remember me?” Hannah asked. “I am the very woman who stood here several years ago praying to the Lord. I asked the Lord to give me this boy, and he has granted my request. Now I am giving him to the Lord, and he will belong to the Lord his whole life.” And they worshiped the Lord there.”
1 Samuel 1:8-28 NLT
The desire for motherhood is a curious thing. It is strong enough to defy conventional reason. Any good mother must go through the pain and difficulty of losing her child, whether by death or simple aging. Yet women have a built-in desire for it. Here we see Hannah is no different. She understood and followed through with a resolve that if God gave her a child, she would give him up to a lifetime of service before the Lord. It is telling that this was her mindset in prayer. It is also telling that the despair of not having a child was so difficult that her prayer appeared to be drunkenness to the uninformed. Yet God granted this wish. She is one of many women who come before God wholeheartedly in a state of emotional wrought, whom God looks favorably upon. We must assume that this favor was bestowed because of the nature of that particular prayer. The text tells us that after it was finished, she left the temple in peace. The indication is that she had made her vow and was now resolved in whatever outcome would follow. It is this type of attitude that seems prescriptive for us and mothers in particular. Though we are emotionally in despair, God gives extra favor to those who choose to be at peace with his answers. Whatever they be.
Motherhood Desire: A strong desire that defies conventional reason, even with the pain of loss.
Hannah’s Prayer: A prayer of desperation and resolve, offering her child to God’s service.
God’s Favor: God favors those who come to Him with wholehearted, even emotionally charged, prayers and find peace in His answers.
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