Hannah’s Prayer for Family

Timothy Keller Sermons Podcast by Gospel in Life

Tim Keller

Religion & Spirituality, Religion, Religion & Spirituality:christianity, Christianity, Spirituality

4.8 • 15K Ratings

🗓️ 10 May 2025

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Hannah is a woman in enormous pain. At the beginning of 1 Samuel, she is roaring with pain, roaring with grief. And yet, in Hannah, we have a case study of a woman at prayer, a woman who has a spiritual encounter with God. Hannah eventually becomes the mother of the prophet Samuel. And we can all learn something from her fascinating account. To understand this passage, we need to see 1) the anatomy of Hannah’s pain, 2) the change in Hannah’s heart, and 3) the secret in Hannah’s song. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 21, 2007. Series: Real Spirituality – Prayer and Beyond. Scripture: 1 Samuel 1:4-11; 2:1-10. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Gospel and Life podcast.
0:06.0	Today we have a special episode in which Tim Keller teaches from First Samuel on the encounter
0:11.2	Hannah had with God, in which she eventually became the mother of the prophet Samuel.
0:16.7	In this sermon, Dr. Keller highlights the cause of Hannah's pain, the change she experiences
0:21.6	in her heart, and the secret in Hannah's song.
0:31.4	Today's scripture reading comes from the book of 1st Samuel, chapters 1,
0:35.3	1, 11, and chapters 2 verses 1 through 10.
0:40.7	Whenever the day came for Elkanah to sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to his wife,
0:45.7	Penina, and to all her sons and daughters. But to Hannah, he gave a double portion because
0:50.7	he loved her, and the Lord had closed her womb. And because the Lord had closed her
0:55.5	womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her. This went on year after year.
1:02.3	Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the Lord, her rival provoked her till she wept and would not
1:07.9	eat. Elkanah, her husband would say to her,
1:11.6	Hannah, why are you weeping?
1:12.9	Why don't you eat?
1:14.4	Why are you downhearted?
1:16.1	Don't I mean more to you than ten sons?
1:19.0	Once they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh,
1:22.1	Hannah stood up.
1:23.4	Now Eli the priest was sitting on a chair by the doorpost of the Lord's temple.
1:28.2	In bitterness of soul, Hannah wept much and prayed to the Lord.
1:31.8	And she made a vow saying, O Lord Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant's misery
	...

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