Interview with Old Testament Figures – Hannah: Our guest for this edition of the interview series epitomises resilience in adversity. She also models for us, the art of prevailing prayer. She is none other than Hannah, the wife of Elkanah and mother of Samuel the prophet.
Shepherd Heart: We are glad to have you with us dear Hannah.
Hannah: Thank you for giving me an opportunity to share my story with your readers.
Shepherd Heart: Kindly give us a pen portrait of yourself.
Hannah: I was one of the two wives of Elkanah, an Ephramite from Ramathaim Zuphim, in the hill country of Ephraim. My husband’s father was Jehoram, the son of Zuph of the lineage of Tolu.
Shepherd Heart: What was your daily life like as a wife?
Hannah: It was not stressful because my husband showed me much love. Of course, I was engaged in farming like most ancient Israelites. It was not a challenging occupation though. I also kept some domestic animals, mostly for food.
Shepherd Heart: At what point did you realise that you were barren?
Hannah: It was not something that stole up on you. When you are married for three to four years and have no child, you start to worry. I did that for a long time.
Shepherd Heart: Scripture says that your rival, Peninnah provoked you unceasingly over your plight, causing you to fret. Would you have prayed so earnestly to the LORD for a child if she had been sympathetic to your plight?
Hannah: (Laughs) Of course not! I believe that the devil used her to push me into my destiny. What the wicked satan meant for evil, God turned it into good as always. When she started mocking me, I was actually very angry. I had to restrain myself several times from getting physical with her. It was God’s grace that kept me from crossing the line into violence or saying something nasty to her.
Shepherd Heart: What was the turning point? Why did you decide to take the matter to God?
Hannah: The prayer at Shiloh was just a culmination of my daily supplications. I prayed and cried myself to sleep many nights before that day at Shiloh.
Shepherd Heart: What was it Eli the priest said that made you believe that God has answered your prayer?
Hannah: It was not merely, what the priest said. I knew right within my heart that my petition had received a favourable response from God. The burden of bareness was lifted from my shoulders.
Shepherd Heart: Bareness is also a very serious issue in our time. Many Christian women have ship-wreaked their faith by turning to native doctors and the occult in search of children. In Africa, many tribes treat barren women as sub-humans. What advice would you give to those experiencing delayed pregnancy or bareness?
Hannah: Psalms 127:3 says that “Children are an heritage from the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is His reward.” I do not want to argue with the LORD and His word by asking how this would have applied to Peninnah and not to me. We must accept God’s word and trust Him to work out His purposes in our lives. When He gave me Samuel and blessed me with five more children, I came to realise that even Peninnah was not an enemy.
She was God’s instrument to bring forth a Samuel. He was no ordinary child as everyone came to find out. So, my advice to anyone having difficulty conceiving a child is to seek God’s face in earnest. No child is from the devil as God is the only source of life. The problem with most women is that they just resign themselves to fate, believing satan’s lies that God meant them to be barren.
In Exodus 23:6, God gave a sure promise to ancient Israel that “No woman in your land will miscarry or be barren.” Has He changed His mind? Certainly not! Anyone who has this kind of challenge should remind God of His promise and trust Him to fulfil it in due course.
Shepherd Heart: Thank you for your wise counsel. We pray that our readers, especially the women folks will take it to heart. God remains faithful to His word always, through to eternity.
Hannah: Thanks once again for having me.