Hannah was married to Elkanah but she had not had a baby while Peninah, her co-wife, had children. Han- nah was in a position in her life where she was not happy, because she did not have any children. She had a lot of things, yet she was barren. She had a husband who had a lot of riches; they had everything they’ve always wanted. They had good food and a good place to live in, but what Hannah missed was a child, and this grieved her soul. It grieved her spirit because she could not bear children.
We see Elkanah asking her, “Hannah why do you weep? Why do you not eat? Why is your heart grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons? Elkanah goes on to tell her, “I love you my dear wife, I have loved you the way you are. I don’t care about you having children, I just want you to be happy. I want you to enjoy life with me. Why are you so sad? When you are sad like this you make me sad.” Hannah does not answer Elkanah.
Let me encourage you: Hannah rose up from where they were eating and drinking. She could not enjoy life the way Peninah was enjoying life, or the way the others were enjoying their lives. She could not enjoy herself because of what was happening in her life. Hannah knew the only place of refuge was in the house of God and she stood up and left. The Bible says;
Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat by the doorpost of the tabernacle of the Lord. And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish.
You have been in prayer, waking up early in the morning to seek the face of God, and you have great sorrow in your heart and spirit. You have been asking the Lord for something and it seems like it’s not happening. Hannah was in the same position and she prayed saying;
“Oh Lord of hosts, if you will in- deed look on the affliction of your maidservant and remember me and not forget your maid servant, but will give your maid servant a male child.”
Hannah, at this point, is going to the Lord with a specific problem, just like you. She has been pray- ing and crying for years. The Lord revealed something to Hannah, something that she had not prayed for before. She thus comes and adds something to her prayer: She adds a vow to the prayer, and she tells the Lord,
“Remember me. I have been afflicted, I have gone through a lot of pain in my life, I have gone through a lot of things in my life. I have been ridiculed, and people have spoken ill about me, and I have been coming here praying every year to you Oh Lord, to remember me, to change my situation. But now I have come with something new. I want you to know Oh Lord that if you bless me, if you give me a male son…”
She is very specific, she not only asks for a child but a male child. She makes a vow to the Lord and says,
“if you can give me a male child I will give him back to you all the days of his life and no razor shall come upon his head.”
