We are already a full week into our Advent series! Thanks for joining us again for this series on “Thanking Jesus.” Today we jump forward in history, now to the book of I Samuel. The story opens with a young woman who is struggling with infertility.
Hannah is one of two wives of Elkanah. The other wife is a fertile myrtle, each season giving birth to yet another child. Hannah is in despair and falls deep in depression, weeping and not eating. In a time of fervent prayer, she asks God to grant her a son. The priest mistakes her for a drunkard and reprimands her, but when she explains her request, Eli assures her that God will grant her petition.
Hannah responds immediately by giving thanks: “Thank you, sir!” Before she ever received the tangible answer to her prayer, Hannah gives thanks by faith. Then, a year later, when her son Samuel was born, she gives thanks again. In 1 Sam. 2:1, she prays, “My heart rejoices in the Lord! Oh how the Lord has blessed me!”
If you are at all like me, you often pray for needs of those you love. But how often do we thank God by faith, expressing our gratitude before we actually receive the answer to our prayers?