Our sojourn through 1 Samuel 1:4-18 to 1 Samuel 2:1-10, can be summarised as the woman who went from desperate prayer to a vow and finally to a prayer of rejoicing. Hannah’s prayers represented an appeal to her Maker to keep His promise of Genesis 1:28 (AMPC)—And God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it [using all its vast resources in the service of God and man]; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and over every living creature that moves upon the earth—and specifically for Israel, the inheritance of God in Exodus 23:25-26 (AMPC)—You shall serve the Lord your God; He shall bless your bread and water, and I will take sickness from your midst. None shall lose her young by miscarriage or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days. Exodus 23:25-26 has its New Testament equivalent in 2 Peter 1:3-8.
 
If you would please carefully go through our text for the day, which would be too long to transcribe here, you will understand that Hannah’s desire to be a mum did not become an idol, otherwise without the assurance of another child, she would not vow Samuel to God. In doing so, she toed the path of Abraham and received the reward of multiplied seed and a prophetic unction demonstrated in her song of praise. So, are you asking based on the right promise and for the right purpose?

To close today’s admonition we can speak the same of Jabez’s popular prayer of 1 Chronicles 4:9b-10 (AMPC)—but his mother named him Jabez [sorrow maker], saying, Because I bore him in pain. Jabez cried to the God of Israel, saying, Oh, that You would bless me and enlarge my border, and that Your hand might be with me, and You would keep me from evil so it might not hurt me! And God granted his request.

Who would want to carry such a name? Perhaps his supplication to the Lord was premised on these scriptures:

1. Genesis 35:10 (AMPC)—Again God said to him, Your name is Jacob [supplanter]; you shall not be called Jacob any longer, but Israel shall be your name. So He called him Israel [contender with God]—that the same God who changed the name of Jacob, giving a new meaning to Jacob’s  life could do the same for Jabez.
2. Numbers 23:3 (AMPC)—Surely there is no enchantment with or against Jacob, neither is there any divination with or against Israel. [In due season and even] now it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What has God wrought!
3. Proverbs 26:2 (TPT)—An undeserved curse will be powerless to harm you. It may flutter over you like a bird,but it will find no place to land.

Rightly premise your prayers, finding the right promises to plead your case before the Lord Elyon as these examples did and they got results. Beyond these, Psalm 37:3-8 works for all cases. 

Shalom.

Pastor Afolabi Oladele