Thursday Devo
Scripture:
1 Samuel 1:18-20
18 “Oh, thank you, sir!” she exclaimed. Then she went back and began to eat again, and she was no longer sad.
Samuel’s Birth and Dedication
19 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, 20 and in due time she gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel,[f] for she said, “I asked the Lord for him.”
18 “Oh, thank you, sir!” she exclaimed. Then she went back and began to eat again, and she was no longer sad.
Samuel’s Birth and Dedication
19 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, 20 and in due time she gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel,[f] for she said, “I asked the Lord for him.”
Commentary:
1:20 The most natural meaning of the name Samuel is “name of God,” or possibly “offspring of God.” Samuel bore the name of God, who gave him to Hannah.
Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 492.
Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 492.
Questions:
Something changed in Hannah before anything around her changed. After praying, Eli blessed her, and the Bible says she went on her way, ate something, and "her face was no longer sad." Her circumstances were exactly the same. She still wasn't pregnant. She still had unanswered questions. She still had a long journey home. But she wasn't the same.
Somewhere between pouring out her heart to God and walking away from the Tabernacle, Hannah found peace. She had entrusted her deepest longing to the Lord and left it in His hands. The next morning, Hannah's family got up and worshiped before heading home. She worshiped before she had the answer she had been praying for. That is faith.
It's easy to worship when God has already done what we hoped He would do. It's much harder to worship while we're still waiting, but that's exactly what Hannah did. Her confidence was no longer resting in whether God would give her a son, it was resting in the God who had heard her prayer.
In time, the Lord gave Hannah a son named Samuel. The Bible says the Lord "remembered" her, not because He had forgotten, but because the right time had come for Him to act. God's timing may not always match ours, but His faithfulness never fails. Real peace isn't found in finally getting what we've been asking for. It's found in knowing the God who holds our future in His hands.
Somewhere between pouring out her heart to God and walking away from the Tabernacle, Hannah found peace. She had entrusted her deepest longing to the Lord and left it in His hands. The next morning, Hannah's family got up and worshiped before heading home. She worshiped before she had the answer she had been praying for. That is faith.
It's easy to worship when God has already done what we hoped He would do. It's much harder to worship while we're still waiting, but that's exactly what Hannah did. Her confidence was no longer resting in whether God would give her a son, it was resting in the God who had heard her prayer.
In time, the Lord gave Hannah a son named Samuel. The Bible says the Lord "remembered" her, not because He had forgotten, but because the right time had come for Him to act. God's timing may not always match ours, but His faithfulness never fails. Real peace isn't found in finally getting what we've been asking for. It's found in knowing the God who holds our future in His hands.
- What would you struggle to rejoice in if God never answered the prayer you're waiting on? When God's answer is delayed, what are you most tempted to believe about Him?
- Why is waiting often one of God's greatest tools for growing our faith? How does Jesus demonstrate that God's presence is our greatest need, even when our deepest desires remain unfulfilled?
- What outcome have you decided you must have in order to experience joy? What fear, demand, or expectation do you need to place back into His hands as an act of worship?
Prayer Topics:
- Confess the ways you've allowed waiting to become worry, frustration, or discouragement instead of an opportunity to trust God.
- Thank God that His peace is available even before your circumstances change and that His timing is always good.
- Ask the Holy Spirit to help you worship with confidence while you wait, trusting that God hears every prayer.
This Week's City 7:
Try to commit to memory!
2. Are there sources outside the Bible that confirm the Biblical account of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead? Many Roman and Jewish historians have confirmed that the apostles died as martyrs for preaching that they saw Jesus risen from the grave. No one dies for something they know to be a lie.
(Luke 1:1-4; Acts 26:26; 1 John 1:1-4, Josephus, Clement, Hegesippus, Tertullian, Origen, Polycarp)
(Luke 1:1-4; Acts 26:26; 1 John 1:1-4, Josephus, Clement, Hegesippus, Tertullian, Origen, Polycarp)
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