Title: Pain Begets Prayer
Contents
Suffering begets prayer (1 Samuel 1:1-11)
Before looking at the text given to us today, it will be somewhat helpful to understand the text by looking at the historical background of today's text.
It is necessary to know that the background of the times in which today's text is being written is in line with the period of Judges in the Bible. Anyone who has ever read the Book of Judges knows how dark and chaotic those times are. The words that show the situation of the times well are recorded in the last chapter of Judges. Let's try to find it together. Judges 21:25.
“In those days there was no king in Israel, so every man did what was right in his eyes.”
Here, “each did what was right in his/her opinion” does not mean the voluntary and autonomous behavior of mature people. The meaning of this word is that all people lived their own way because they did not have the right values to lead the society. If I'm right, I'm right. No one can interfere. I am the law, I am the king. So the world is a mess. So, the Age of Judges is a very dark time spiritually, socially, politically, and so on.
However, there is not much difference between the period of the Judges and the present age. This is because the most striking characteristic of people living in our time is “each doing what is right in his own eyes.” They don't like to interfere with each other. Everyone has their own thoughts and wants to live as they please. God is no longer silent about these turbulent times, but has been secretly preparing a new leader to lead this difficult time. God's preparatory work started from an unknown mountain. And it started with a troubled family there. Let's read verses 1-2.
1. A man named Elkanah lived in Ramadaim Zobim, in the mountainous region of Ephraim.
He had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. However, if we look at 1 Chronicles 6:22-23, we can see that a man named Elkanah was descended from a Levite. The only place they live is in Ephraim.
Among the Levites, they are descendants of honorable priests serving in the tabernacle of God. Seeing that he is in such a spiritual and social leadership position, breaking God's marriage principle and having two wives, we can see once again how turbid the times were spiritually.
In a society where people in the leadership class fail to set an example, and a society that is corrupt, morality and authority are likely to rapidly collapse. It's because it's easy to have thoughts of whether or not people like me do it when looking at the leaders. I wonder if the situation at that time may be similar to the situation in this age we are living in today.
Among the problems that make noise in our society these days, there are many corruptions of people in the leadership class. Those who are in the highest position, how much more will they do at the bottom? A good leader must emerge in our society soon. And good workers must be established throughout society.
In verse 3, Elkanah goes up to Shiloh to offer sacrifices every year, and it introduces the person who served as a priest at that time. Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas. However, as you can see from 1 Samuel 2, you can see how corrupt the priests of Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas. They are priests, but they are very bad priests who do not fear God. He is a priest who commits all kinds of sins. Since there was such a person as a spiritual leader, you can see how hopeless those times were. The whole country is rotten.
Everyone! What does deep darkness mean? In retrospect, it means that dawn is so near. This means that a new era has arrived. It is the fact that we are strongly calling for a new leader who will change something dark in the country.
Our country is at such a point right now. The country is a mess in politics, economy, society, culture and education. We really need a new leader. That's why this presidential election is so important. This time, you must become the person God really wants, a good person. Let's pray a lot for this work.
God was secretly preparing a new leader to renew the nation of Israel. But how will that leader be born? Today's text tells us exactly that.
If we go back to the text, there were two wives of Elkanah, but seeing that Hannah's name comes first, I think that Hannah is the principal and Peninnah is not the concubine. But there was a problem. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. In the society of that time, it was shameful enough to consider it a curse from God that a woman could not have children.
Moreover, his second wife, Peninnah, did not leave Hannah, who had such a weakness. He touched, ignored and despised Hannah's pride. In verse 7, it says that Hannah was so distressed that she wept and did not eat. That's how upsetting it is. It's not just a matter of getting upset once or twice. It's always like that.
It was a pity not to be able to have children, but it was very painful because I was ridiculed and made fun of it. Gastrointestinal disease or hair loss may have occurred because of stress. He may have continued to take neuropsychiatric medications.
Everyone! There is only one way Hannah can deal with such shame and pain all at once. What is it? You can leave the baby. Then all the pain will be resolved. But that doesn't work. If it seemed like something that would happen if I made up my mind, I would have done it already
2. Everyone! There are things we don't like. There are some things you shouldn't even try.
What should I do then? You must pray. I have to go to the person I can't do it. So, because Hannah is so distressed and struggling, she begins to pray to God. Let's look at verse 10. “Hannah was troubled and prayed to the Lord and wept…”
How do you pray to God? I cry and pray. I am so sad that my heart hurts so much that I cry and cry out to God.
May I ask you one thing? Had Hannah been at peace, if there were no problems, would she have cried and prayed like that? I wouldn't have prayed like that. You must have prayed! But perhaps it was a habitual prayer. It would have been a formal prayer. Such earnest prayers and fervent prayers would not have been possible.
Let's look at verse 12. How much did you pray? I prayed for a long time. I prayed for so long that I couldn't tell how long I prayed. Why did you pray for so long? It was so painful that I prayed for a long time. In this case, there is no time limit for prayer. 10 minutes to pray, 30 minutes to pray! There is no such limitation. I pray relentlessly. How long will we pray?
Perhaps you will pray until you come to peace in your heart, and until you are convinced that the answer has been given. why? Otherwise, there is no hope?
Everyone! What made Hannah pray like that? Pain made it so. That's right. Pain makes us pray. Make me a person of earnest prayer. So sometimes we need pain. Suffering is God's megaphone that awakens the deaf world. When there is pain, people come to their senses.
This kind of suffering is called providential suffering. What kind of pain is providential pain?
1) It is the pain that God gives to awaken our sleeping faith because He loves us.
2) It is the pain that is given to accomplish God's will through that pain.
Look at Hannah. The first purpose has been achieved. This woman is basically a woman who lacks nothing except the problem of children. Let's look at verses 4-5. Husband loved twice as much as other wives. Let's look at verse 8. She is such a loved woman. There are many people in the world who really lack nothing. Such people do not pray well. Even if you live a religious life, you are dry and dry. But when the pain comes, you become a new person. It is God's grace.
Second, God accomplishes His great works through suffering. When Hannah prayed to God in her pain, God heard and answered her prayer. And gave him a son. But who was the son of Hannah, who was born in the midst of suffering? Verse 20. The famous Samuel. This is Samuel, the great leader who made the dark Israeli society spiritually new. Although Hannah suffered, she prayed because of her suffering, and from that prayer, a great spiritual leader was born. This is providential suffering.
Pain has two sides. It is painful, difficult, and difficult to see from the front. However, if you look behind the scenes, you can see the providence of God. It becomes a beautiful faith through spiritual maturity. And God's holy will is done. So pain is necessary.
- The presence of pain and suffering in my life is God's sign to pray. Because we don't realize it when we are comfortable, God speaks through His suffering. When you are in pain, you should pray earnestly to God. Then you will receive great blessings.
- Is my life at peace? It means to pray more. It means not to pray when you are in pain, but to pray more when you are in peace. When pain comes, the person cannot do anything else. Only to overcome that pain, I focus my nerves on it. So speaking of peace means doing more of God's work. It means to be more loyal and serve because you don't have to worry about pain. We want to live a life of serving God to the best of our ability no matter where we are.