Brother Gary Sunday Morning 11/23/14

Brother Gary Sunday Morning 11/23/14

1Sa 1:9  So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the LORD.

1Sa 1:10  And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the LORD, and wept sore.

1Sa 1:11  And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.

1Sa 1:12  And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the LORD, that Eli marked her mouth.

1Sa 1:13  Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken.

1Sa 1:14  And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine from thee.

1Sa 1:15  And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD.

1Sa 1:16  Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial: for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto.

1Sa 1:17  Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him.

To Eli, Hannah’s prayer was silent.  Hannah was one of the wives of Elkanah his other wife, Peninnah, had born children and Hannah was barren.  There was a constant vexing by Peninnah who made life miserable for Hannah.  

Her testimony in prayer was that she was very grieved in her soul.  Her husband loved her and asked, “Am I not better than ten sons?” 

We understand as we look at one another.  You know what the burden of your heart is this morning.  We hear each other’s prayer request and sometimes someone says that they have a very special unspoken prayer request. 

Hannah was in the temple, there were needs all around her, but she had this particular heart cry.  Her husband was very good to her, gave her many gifts.  To Eli, she was praying silently. 

Eli was sitting by one of the posts of the temple.  As he was sitting there, this lady came in.  I would say (as my wife says of Chuck Kelly, he has a presence about him.  He is six foot six and he has a voice that when he speaks people know he is there.)  I believe that as Hannah walked into the temple that she had a presence about her.

I would say that each one of you has a presence about you.  This young couple had a presence about them when they were about to be married.  John wasn’t sure where he should be but the bride knew where she should be.  She had found her place and was waiting for her father. 

She had a presence about her.  She knew right where she wanted to be, had her dress ready, and had her flowers ready.  They knew exactly what they wanted the minister to say.  She wasn’t saying anything but was waiting right there ready for her father to give her away.

Hannah had a presence about her.  She had one desire on her heart.  Usually when I pray, there is a whole list of things that I pray about.  Because I don’t have a good memory, as you enter the house if you turn right then you will see the stairway.  On one of the steps there is a prayer request list.  The stairs and the basement is a wonderful way to remind me, “Let’s pray one more time.”

There are times that Karen and I agree in prayer for one single prayer request.  Kayla called, “It is hailing here.  Will you pray?”  I wasn’t praying for the snow on Jocho or the weather in Hawaii.  We prayed earnestly for one single prayer request.

As Hannah walked into the temple known as a house of prayer.  She was heavily burdened with one burden.  She wasn’t interested in telling Eli of Peninnah, or all the children that she helped with that were not hers.  She had one burden.

She walked into the temple, known as a house of prayer, and the priest was sitting by the door.  All that have read the book of 1 Samuel know how terrible things were in the land in that day and how terrible Eli’s sons were.  There were a lot of women drunken around the temple at that time. 

She walked into the temple, maybe didn’t even see Eli, she had one single burden, a heavy single burden.  She was there full of grief.  She had tangible things, a husband and a home.  She knew how to worship.  She walked into that temple with one single burden on her heart.  She was full of heartache.

Us Americans have been taught to live with many masks to not let anyone know how broken we are.  When you are dying of whatever, “Everything is fine.”  When you are so lonely; loneliness is a tough thing to deal with.

Some of you have known grief and heartache, tangible losses that there would be no way to measure.  Only God himself would be able to measure them.  Come into the temple before Him for God to know, “This individual has, as Hannah, bitterness of soul.”

Sometimes bitterness of soul is such disappointment.  As long as God is chastising us, we are His.  I am not going to read you the scripture, but if you live a life without chastisement then you are not His.

We all as parents and grandparents know how it is when there is no correction in a life.  Hannah was very loved by her husband.  He loved her so much that he said, “Hannah, am I not better than ten sons?”

He was hurting with his wife.  He was trying to help Hannah to see, “I love you so much that I give Peninnah 5 goats, but I give you a hundred.”  Hannah went into the temple with a presence about her, “I am so burdened.”

Do you believe that Hannah knew that God was going to send a Samuel that would change the course of thousands, maybe millions of lives?  There are in this audience a congregation of people who hold the possibility of great changes taking place in the lives of I am not going to limit to a number, 10, or 1,000, or any other.  I am not going to limit God.

Hannah prayed and wept.  One burden.  God had planned all this and she was in the perfect plan of God.  Our former pastor in the movement when I was a child used to sing a song, “You hold the keys.”  There is a key here this morning and it is not just for the pastor: one burden. 

God knew what He was doing.  Hannah was not the only lady without children.  There was something in her that cried out to God. 

I won’t be offended if you pray that I am humble before God.  I must be humble before God.  Hannah prayed, “I am just a handmaid.”  Can you feel the presence in this account in the scripture? 

1Sa 1:11  And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.

Quite a bit of time lapsed:

1Sa 1:12  And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the LORD, that Eli marked her mouth.

Her prayer was silent:

1Sa 1:13  Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken.

And Eli thought she was drunken. 

1Sa 1:14  And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine from thee.

1Sa 1:15  And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD.

She said, “I am so full of grief and sorrow on the inside; don’t think me a daughter of Belial but I have poured out my soul before the Lord.”

There are right times for us to be heavily burdened.  I love her approach.  “I am here to make contact with God.  I am not here telling anyone how I am mistreated and vexed or how hard I work.  I am here because there is grief and sorrow in my heart.” 

This lady carried a burden that God himself had left there.  God chose to move upon Eli:

1Sa 1:17  Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him.

1Sa 1:18  And she said, Let thine handmaid find grace in thy sight. So the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad.

They rose up early, went back and worshiped again and then went home.

There is something about God witnessing that He has heard prayer.  I don’t know how many years ago it was; I came to the church to do whatever while we were in meeting.  While I was here I decided I would pray and I began to pray.  If you are sick, or burdened, the thing to do is pray. 

I was physically sick.  The rumor that was out there was that I was on heavy drugs.  I was not, I never took them.  Whoever said it and all that repeated it lied. 

I was sick, I was a father, a husband, and I was very sick.  I was over here praying and someone heard me praying unbeknownst to me.  Sister Davis is the someone.  I don’t know when it was but before they went back to Idaho she found me and said, “Brother Kelly I want to tell you something; you will be healed.” 

It didn’t happen that day and it didn’t happen the day after that, but I was healed.  Thank the Lord.

Eli said, “Go in peace.”  The bible says that her countenance changed.  There is something about a heartache, they don’t make masks to hide it.  They don’t make masks that hide sorrow.  That is not how it is.

There is something about God, when He witnesses, “I heard prayer; I am going to answer prayer.”  Eli said, “Go in peace.”

They worshipped, they went home, and four years later Hannah was back at the temple and Eli was there.  Hannah’s answer to prayer was with her, Samuel.”

1Sa 1:26  And she said, Oh my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the LORD.

1Sa 1:27  For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of him:

1Sa 1:28  Therefore also I have lent him to the LORD; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the LORD. And he worshipped the LORD there.

God has a burden for each one of us to carry diligently.  It is vital that you know that your burden is from the Lord.  Everyone can call us for prayer.  Each one of us in this audience is a particular individual before God.  God has a specific plan for you. 

You can fill your prayer with all sorts of things that are all around us; that is not bad.  What this message is about is that there are things, one thing in particular.  For every individual in this service this morning, there is one particular burden that God wants you to carry.

There are some things that only you can carry.  I believe that because you are a unique individual before God. 

There may be things in your family that are not perfect.  You may wear, “The perfect family” mask.  Throw it away and give it up.  You may be burdened for your family or your wife’s family, but every one of us is called to have a very specific burden. 

When you walk into the presence of Almighty God, the high priest, Jesus Christ, realizes, “That saint has a presence.”

She knew her soul’s burden. 

These little children in this audience, God could be dealing with them at a young age about the mission field.  If God is speaking to you about going to Africa, He is right. 

She refused to be distracted.  You may be here and gifted to do several things at a time.  I cannot.  She refused to be distracted by gifts.  She refused to be distracted by needs. 

She walked into the temple at Shiloh and I don’t want to tell you what I think that she saw on the way.  It was not a pretty sight.  Eli’s sons were bad.  She had other things to think about.  Just suppose Elkanah had given her 100 rams what was she going to do with them?  If had given her money, what if someone stole it?  My whole thought is this: other things.

Hannah let her soul feel the weight of the burden.  Sometimes we don’t want to feel the weight of the burden especially when it deals with eternity.  Eternity is very heavy. 

We want to hear the solemn footsteps of eternity.  It makes everything different.

Hannah promised to give God back the answer to her burden.  “God help me to have a burden and then when you give the answer to bring it back to you.”  She enjoyed little Samuel for four years and then she brought him back.

She wanted a son to give back to God, a son to train to God, a son to stand in the gap, a son to be used of God.  God remembered Hannah.

What is your petition before God?  It is alright to walk into this country church whether someone is here or no one is here and pray, bring your petition before God.