A Desperate Plea for Help

Ephesians 6:18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit…(KJV)

            There was a man named Elkanah who had two wives. One was named Peninnah and the other Hannah. Peninnah had both sons and daughters, but Hannah did not have any children because she was barren. In Biblical times, women felt disgraced when they were unable to have children. To make matters worse, Peninnah taunted Hannah about her infertility. This cause Hannah to feel even worse than she already did. Her husband tried to comfort her, but there was nothing he could do to remove her pain. She suffered with a downcast spirit for years. Hannah decided to go before the Lord.

            She went to the temple and cried out to God. She wept and prayed…prayed and wept. She made a vow unto the Lord that if he would grant her a son, that she would give him back to the Lord and that no razor would ever touch his head. While she was praying, the priest, Eli, took notice that she was praying, but no sound was coming from her lips. He mistakenly thought that she was drunk. However, Hannah assured him that she was not drunk, but in deep distress. 

            Eli told her to go in peace and gave a blessing of God’s favor in granting her what she desired. Hannah left the temple with a renewed spirit that God had heard her desperate plea and was going to answer her. After some time, God answered Hannah’s prayer and she gave birth to a son named Samuel who later became a great prophet in Israel. 

            We are to pray to God for whatever we are in need of. Philippians 4:19 And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. (NIV) He is our provider and there is nothing that God cannot give to us if we ask as long as it doesn’t go against His will for our lives. Psalm 50:9-15 ⁽⁹⁾I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, ⁽¹⁰⁾for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. ⁽¹¹⁾I know every bird in the mountains, and the insects in the fields are mine. ⁽¹²⁾If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it. ⁽¹³⁾Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? ⁽¹⁴⁾“Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High, ⁽¹⁵⁾and call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.” (NIV) God owns everything and therefore, His resources never run dry. God is able to grant the most difficult requests that we can ever imagine if we simply put our trust in Him. Luke 18:27 Jesus replied, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.” (NIV) Just as He removed the infertility of Hannah because of a desperate plea, He can and will do the same thing in our life’s infertile situations. All we have to do is ask and wait patiently for His response.

            As a warrior in Christ, there will be times of conflict in which we will have to call the Commander to get more supplies. We are not able to handle things on our own. We must diligently pray and ask God to supply our needs. He is all too willing to help, but the request has to be made. Once we make our petition to God, we can wait with great expectancy. God loves us and just as earthly parents will give to their children, God will do the same for us because He is our Heavenly Father. Matthew 7:7-11 ⁽⁷⁾“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁽⁸⁾For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. ⁽⁹⁾ “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? ⁽¹⁰⁾Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? ⁽¹¹⁾If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! (NIV)