28th.: Hannah’s request
Hannah, the 2nd wife of two, asked God,
"O Lord of hosts. If thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid,
and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid,
but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child,
then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.” (1st Sam. 1:11).
Hannah was an ordinary person.
But she must have heard from many people
that the Lord was merciful. So she asked the Lord to:
1) Notice her difficult situation
2) Not ignore and forget her, and her problems
3) Give her a boy
She then promised to
a) Give her son back to the Lord
b) Raise him under the Nazarite vow (Num. 6:1-12)
Perhaps Hannah remembered the stories of the Nazarite Samson, who
went on to do amazing feats against the Philistines (see Judg. chapters 13-16).
Hannah was so desperate to have a son that she hoped that offering
to give away her son to the Lord - via the Nazarite vow - would
persuade the Lord to give her a son.
We can learn two points.
One, ordinary people can ask God for help.
Two, develop a plan when approaching God.
Take into account those things that interest God.
God can still say no.
Nevertheless, it is good to put thought toward ‘Biblical principles’ into our appeal.