I waited patiently for the Lord; And He inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; Many will see and fear And will trust in the Lord.
Psalms 40:1-3 NASB
Wait for the Lord; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord.
Psalms 27:14 NASB
🌹Waiting is hard but so worth the end result. God is worth waiting for. Seek Him in prayer; reading and meditating on His word while trusting that He will answer at the perfect hour.
Continually Seeking Him,
Sharon
Sacrifice
Then the man Elkanah went up with all his household to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice and pay his vow.
But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “I will not go up until the child is weaned; then I will bring him, that he may appear before the Lord and stay there forever.” Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems best to you. Remain until you have weaned him; only may the Lord confirm His word.” So the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him. Now when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with a three-year-old bull and one ephah of flour and a jug of wine, and brought him to the house of the Lord in Shiloh, although the child was young. Then they slaughtered the bull, and brought the boy to Eli. She said, “Oh, my Lord! As your soul lives, my Lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you, praying to the Lord. For this boy I prayed, and the Lord has given me my petition which I asked of Him. So I have also dedicated him to the Lord; as long as he lives he is dedicated to the Lord.” And he worshiped the Lord there.
1 Samuel 1:21-28 NASB
God gave Hannah her greatest desired treasure. Hannah also returned that desired treasure, her greatest blessing back to God. Will be done
I admire Elkanah’s words to Hannah; “Do what seems best to you. Remain until you have weaned him; only may the Lord confirm His word.” Elkanah respected Hannah’s choice, that she had sought the Lord in her decision. He also gave her good advice: affirm that this decision is from God and ask God to help you to do His will.
🌹God is a giver of blessings. What blessing are you willing to give God? Your life for His service and purpose?
Continually Seeking Him,
Sharon
To Whom Do You Turn?
She (Hannah), greatly distressed, prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly.
1 Samuel 1:10 NASB
Hannah knew where to go. When you are
afflicted, agitated, anxious, anguished, distraught, or troubled, where do you go? When experiencing anxiety, the blues, desolation, discomfort, disappointment, grief, suffering or tribulation, where do you turn?
As for Hannah, she was speaking in her heart, only her lips were moving, but her voice was not heard. . .
1 Samuel 1:13 NASB
She told the priest, Eli, “No, my Lord, I am a woman oppressed in spirit; . . .I have poured out my soul before the Lord.
1 Samuel 1:15 NASB
To the Lord, is where Hannah went and she poured out her soul before the Lord.
Why do we not pour out our souls to the Lord in whom we can trust to hear, understand, console and direct our steps? The result of prayer is evident when you arise from the pouring out of your soul. . .
So the woman (Hannah) went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.
1 Samuel 1:18b NASB
🌹Let’s pour out our souls more often before the Lord so we can shine bright for Jesus instead of being a “Gloomy Gus”.
Continually Seeking Him,
Sharon
Living Up to Expectations
Hannah, wife of Elkanah, had no children because God had closed her womb. Elkanah’s other wife did have children and would provoke Hannah for being barren. (1 Samuel 1:2,5).
Societies expectations, and that of others, can hurt; but don’t we beat ourselves up even more by desiring to please and meet the expectations of others and failing to meet those expectations? Being a people pleaser all the time is impossible, so let us focus on pleasing God, living up to His expectations.
What is God’s expectation of us?
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
Deuteronomy 6:5 NASB
Trust in the Lord forever, For in God the Lord, we have an everlasting Rock.
Isaiah 26:4 NASB
But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.
Acts 5:29 NASB
🌹Let God’s expectation of us be our foundation. Trust that God has a plan. Seek Him and let Him rule in us.
Continually Seeking Him,
Sharon
Speak Boldly
And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.
Acts 4:31 NASB
Speaking the word of God with boldness.
Sharing the gospel without fear. How does this happen?
By prayer and the filling of the Holy Spirit. Time in the word of God and in prayer strengthens our knowledge of God’s word and our spiritual relationship with our Lord. We trust the Spirit to speak through us.
Who can you be praying for and sharing the gospel with?
🌹For it is not you who speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.
Matthew 10:20 NASB
for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”
Luke 12:12 NASB
Continually Seeking Him,
Sharon
Trust God When Life Gets Hard
As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.
Genesis 50:20 NASB
Life can deal some harsh blows. But God. Do you trust Him with your life? Do you set your sights on Him knowing He will see you through any and every situation? Do you believe that in all situations in life God has a plan? Teaching, growing, sanctifying. Can God take what seems bad or is, and turn it to your good and His glory?
God is amazing! He has a plan. Trust Him. Talk to Him. He cares. He is listening. Seek Him through His word and prayer.
🌹And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28 NASB
Continually Seeking Him,
Sharon
Do You Love Me?
He (Jesus) *said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus *said to him, “Tend My sheep.
John 21:17 NASB
Jesus asked Peter three times, “Do you love me?” and Peter responded 3 times with a yes. Jesus reponded to those three yeses with instructions to obey Him by serving. Serve by feeding others the Word of God. Serve by drawing the lost to Christ.
Our salvation is a gift. Thankfulness for that gift is serving God who entrusts us to love His sheep. Let’s excel in our love for God proving, to others and ourselves, by serving and obeying Him.
Loving Him more than family, friends, job, church, etc. Even ourselves.
🌹So take diligent heed to yourselves to love the Lord your God.
Joshua 23:11 NASB
Continually Seeking Him,
Sharon
Humbleness
And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Luke 18:9-14 NASB
Humbleness does not come easy. At least not for me. Being a “goodie two shoes” most of my life has bolstered my view of myself making me self-righteous. Yes, self-righteous. Anytime we think of ourselves above or better than another, we are self-righteous. Our real plumb line, the standard by which God’s children should live, and from which divine judgement is gauged, is Jesus. His righteousness is pure, perfect, and available to the humble. The only righteousness I have is Jesus in me. We can be perfect in our own eyes, as the Pharisee was, or we can be humble, as the tax collector was and live a justified life exalting the only righteousness in us, Jesus, in humbleness. Humbleness is hard work. Practice putting God first in ALL.
🌹And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God.
Luke 16:15 NASB
Continually Seeking Him,
Sharon
Humbleness = self less + Christ more
Self trusted righteousness = self more + righteous less
Miracles Through Prayer
Now there was a man at Caesarea named Cornelius, a devout man who prayed to God continually.
Acts 10:1-2
Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray.
Acts 10:9 NASB
Cornelius, a Gentile, prayed continually.
Peter, a Jew, prayed.
God moved and the gospel was opened to every living person until Christ’s return.
Two men miles apart connected by prayer. The faithfulness of God to move, for His will and purpose, in His people who pray.
🌹What miracles and movement of God are we missing out on because we do not pray regularly, earnestly, continually?
Continually Seeking Him,
Sharon
P.S. Please read the entire account of Cornelius and Peter in Acts 10. It is a wonderful testimony of the power and movement of God through prayer.
Prayer Changes Things
Then Moses entreated the Lord his God, . . . . . So the Lord changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people.
Exodus 32:11-14 NASB
God hears the prayers of His righteous ones. He answers them according to His will. He is near the one who calls upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of the those who fear Him; He will also hear their cry and will save them. The righteous cry, and the Lord hears and delivers them out of their troubles.
1 John 5:14/Psalm 145:18-19/Psalm 34:17 NASB
Then why are we not earnestly praying?
We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him.
John 9:31 NASB
And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.
1 John 5:15 NASB
🌹And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”
Matthew 21:22 NASB
Continually Seeking Him,
Sharon
Continually Seeking Him 