The Power of Prayer Over Our Emotions - 1 Samuel START

First Samuel starts in a strange fashion. The story leading to Samuel's birth will highlight the travail of his mother long before. For certain, this woman Hannah has it pretty bad. She's in a polygamous marriage and has born the man no children while her "rival" wife (note the Bible's use of that term instead of modern pop-culture's 'sister' term) has borne sons and daughters.

As if the situation for Hannah was not bleak enough on the merits, she's surrounded by people quite clueless to her feelings. For instance, her rival wife "grievously" teases her:

1 Samuel 1:6–7 (ESV) And her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb. 7 So it went on year by year. As often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat.

Note her husband's typical "man" attitude, oblivious to her pain

1 Samuel 1:8 (ESV) And Elkanah, her husband, said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?”

What a situation Hannah was in! I cannot imagine a more discouraging state of affairs for a woman. Yes, Elkanah gave her double portions because she had no children and he did love her but this was no solace in a culture where the totality of a woman's value was tied to her ability to produce offspring. 

What does Hannah do? She pours out her soul to God in prayer. Now that's how we should approach our pain. We should call upon the Lord who can do something about it. Indeed, time with God in prayer is the prescription for fear, anxiety, worry, and stress from cover to cover in the scriptures. 

Yet look at what happens when Hannah does the Godly thing and seeks to pray:

1 Samuel 1:12–14 (ESV) As she continued praying before the LORD, Eli observed her mouth. 13 Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman. 14 And Eli said to her, “How long will you go on being drunk? Put your wine away from you.”

Could you imagine being in Church pouring out your heart to God and the "head Pastor" comes over and treats you the way Eli treated Hannah? How awful.

There seems to be a rhythm to the great men and women God used mightily in the scriptures. They suffered enormous injustice on many fronts A. W. Tozer once said, “It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until He has hurt him deeply.” I agree with that statement whole-heartedly. The reason it must be this way is that every human can identify with pain. So the more pain you've experienced and come through by God's power, the more audience you will find. Humanity hurts, and it's nice to know we aren't alone. 

Back to Hannah. She doesn't just pray. When Eli chastises her, she fights for her honor and tells him what she's doing. Then the final passage:

1 Samuel 1:17–18 (ESV) Then Eli answered, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to him.” 18 And she said, “Let your servant find favor in your eyes.” Then the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.

Did you see that? In spite of all that's coming against Hannah she prays, she fights through in prayer and she rises up out of the sorrow. Her face is no longer sad. What a picture of prevailing prayer. And what did she prevail over? Those nasty emotions she felt because of what people did to her. 

Today's generation is a sucker for emotions. "Trust your feelings" people say. What nonsense! Don't trust them, pray in spite of them! When you don't "feel" like doing that which is good for your soul, do it anyway. Force yourself. Your feelings may be lying to you. 

It's quite amazing that the book of Ruth and 1 Samuel share stories of women who didn't let feelings call the shots. They did what was right in spite of their unfair experiences. They are a testimony to us that feelings can't be trusted. God's Word must be trusted. And when we trust it, we benefit.