Listen Here

If you enjoy this episode, please subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts, and don’t forget to rate and review on Apple or Spotify. When you rate and review the show, you help Jaime reach more people.

About the episode:

Jaime Luce’ testimony has daunting personal mountains and treacherous financial valleys. She was trapped in day-to-day stress and couldn’t see a way forward. But how she started is not how she finished! And she wants you to know God has a plan for your life too, no matter how tough it seems. Today, Jaime has been married to the love of her life for almost three decades, owns two companies, and has become an author and podcaster. God’s way is always the blessed way!  Learn more.

Related reading:

• How To Heal Through Responsibility and Faith
• How To Use Your Kingdom Authority In Prayer
• Plug Into A Warfare Prayer Source
• Have a Different Spirit
• Be A Good Gardner

Support the podcast:

• When you sign up for the Free Charisma Plus App, you help support this show. Get your subscription at: https://bit.ly/CharismaAppJaime
• Are you looking for Spirit-filled articles, teachings, insights, prophetic words, and the tools to gain intimate knowledge of the Holy Spirit? Charisma magazine empowers believers to live life in the Spirit. Each issue of Charisma Magazine contains articles, teachings, and insights to gain a more intimate knowledge of the Holy Spirit. https://bit.ly/CharismaSubJaime
• To purchase the Spiritual Warfare Bible. https://bit.ly/CharismaBibleJaime 

Full Transcript

This transcript is auto-generated and not perfect. We hope it blesses you.

0:00:01 – Jaime Luce

Welcome to the Jamie Luce podcast. I’m your host, jamie Luce. Thank you for listening today. All of my blogs, social and YouTube links can be found on my website, jamieloucecom. If you enjoy this podcast, you can support it by liking, subscribing, getting notified and sharing this broadcast. Another way you can help is by rating and reviewing on Apple Podcast. My hope and goal in every episode is to give you tools found in Scripture, either by teaching, discussions, testimonies or interviews that encourage and equip you as you navigate living a real Christian walk in a difficult world. I would love to hear from you Whether you have a comment, question or prayer request. You can email me at mail at jamieloucecom. If you’re watching on YouTube, drop me a comment. I’d love to partner with you on your journey of faith. If you’re listening today on any podcast platform, take a screenshot and tag me and I’ll post it to my Instagram story. And now join me for today’s episode. Welcome to the Jamie Luce podcast. How is everybody today?

I wanted this episode to be a real encouragement to you. I know many times we have whether it’s a word from the Lord, a promise or a difficulty we’re dealing with and we’re in a waiting season or a period of time. It seems like it’s taking too long, or we don’t understand why, lord, why haven’t you answered this prayer yet? Or, lord, I know you said this, or I believe you, but I’m not sure what I should do in the meantime, while I am waiting to see this or see if something is manifest. And I just wanted to bring a word of encouragement to you. Today We are going to be reading out of first Samuel, and I will be talking about the life of Hannah, and before I jump in and do that, i want you to definitely get out something to write with, because I’m going to give you some real thoughts to digest. I want you to really think about some things that I’m going to be giving to you a perspective that maybe you have not thought of before, and maybe a fresh look at the story, in a way that you have not seen the story before, because Hannah’s life really speaks to me. It really there’s so much value in it, more than just the face value of the story, because if we look at Samuel, who is Samuel? I actually have a daughter named Samantha, and the name Samantha is derived from the name Samuel, which means that either he hears she hears the Lord, and we named her that on purpose. I liked the name, of course, but I always would look at the meaning, like what does that mean? And the meaning of her name meant so much because I knew I was calling that forth over her life that she would be one who could hear the Lord. But what do we know of Samuel?

Samuel served his whole life. He’s a hero of the word. So many important things took place under Samuel’s watch. He was a prophet, he was an advisor to nations, he was oh gosh, what’s the other word I’m looking for? It’s slipping my mind. Anyway, he was one who was invaluable and he served from the time he was a child, from the time he weaned from his mother. He was taken to serve, really to be prepared to replace Eli. Now, he didn’t know this when he began service. He just knew he was giving his life, or that his mother was giving his life in service.

But he is replacing a man who did not serve. By how do I say this? He did not command, nor demand even of his own children that people truly follow the Lord in his instructions, his commandments, how things should be done, And he lost his life because of it. His son’s lives were lost because of it, the Ark was stolen because of it. And Samuel is the one that God chooses for this very, very special task of coming in. He’s the one who anoints the very first king of Israel ever. He’s also the one who anoints King David, who today is still. King David is the one that the Messiah who came, our Jesus who came, had to be in the lineage and line of King David. Samuel’s role was so important And his beginning comes through Hannah. So we need to look at Hannah, we need to look at how this great hero of the faith, this great example of one who follows after the end, who follows after the Lord in boldness, and we need to take a deeper look. We need to take a deeper dive and look, and that begins with the life of his mother.

And so I want you to turn to first Samuel, and I’m going to actually read most of this story, and then I’m going to go back and I’m going to make some very specific statements about the things that we have read. And so I want you to bear with me. I know this is a lot of scripture, but there’s nothing more powerful than the Word of God. There’s nothing that speaks truth above the Word of God. In fact, god says that he holds his word even above his name. This word is infallible. The attacks that have come against this word are to try to dismiss this word, because this word is truth. All truth comes from this word. Every truth that is known is first known and based off of God’s truth. There is no other truth but this truth. So the word is powerful all on its own. I’ll let the word speak for itself And I want you, while I’m reading this, to begin Really focus on what I’m reading, really focus on the Word of God, because the Lord can start speaking to you truths for you before I ever begin giving you what he gives me. You can hear from God too. You’re his children too, and you can hear a personal impartation, a personal word from the Lord. That, of course, lines up with this word. It’s not contrary to this word, but the Lord can speak to you truths through his word and bring encouragement to you before I ever say anything encouraging to you. So I want you to be an active participant today. So if you have your Bibles, you can just read along with me. I am reading, for sake of ease of reading out of the New Living Translation. But anyway, i want you to focus in on the story as we begin. So I’ll start in verse one.

There was a man named Elkenna who lived in Ramah in the region of Zuf, in the hill country of Ephraim. He was the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuf of Ephraim. Elkenna had two wives, hannah and Panina. Panina had children, but Hannah did not. Each year Elkenna would travel to Shiloh to worship and sacrifice to the Lord of Heaven’s armies at the Tabernacle. The priests of the Lord at that time were the two sons of Eli, hopni and Phineas. On the days Elkenna presented his sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to Panina and each of her children And though he loved Hannah, he would give her a choice portion because the Lord had given her no children. So Panina would taunt Hannah and make fun of her because the Lord had kept her from having children. Year after year it was the same Panina would taunt Hannah as they went to the Tabernacle. Each time Hannah would be reduced to tears and would not even eat. Why are you crying, hannah? Elkenna would ask Why aren’t you eating? Why be downhearted just because you have no children, you have me. Isn’t that better than having ten sons?

Once, after a sacrificial meal at Shiloh, hannah got up and went to pray. Eli, the priest, was sitting at his customary place beside the entrance of the Tabernacle. Hannah was deep in anguish, crying bitterly as she prayed to the Lord, and she made this vow O Lord of Heaven’s armies, if you will look upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you. He will be yours for his entire lifetime and, as a sign that he has been dedicated to the Lord, his hair will never be cut. As she was praying to the Lord, eli watched her, seeing her lips moving, but hearing no sound. He thought she had been drinking. Must you come here drunk? he demanded Throw away your wine. Oh no, sir, she replied. I haven’t been drinking wine or anything stronger, but I am very discouraged and I was pouring out my heart to the Lord. Don’t think I am a wicked woman, for I have been praying out of great anguish and sorrow. In that case, eli said go in peace. May the God of Israel grant the request you have asked of him. Oh, thank you, sir, she exclaimed. Then she went back and began to eat again, and she was no longer sad. The entire family got up early the next morning and went to worship the Lord once more. Then they returned home to Ramah. When Al-Qaeda slept with Hannah. The Lord remembered her plea and, in due time, she gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, for she said, i asked the Lord for him.

The next year, al-qaeda and his family went on their annual trip to offer a sacrifice to the Lord and to keep his vow. But Hannah did not go. She told her husband wait until the boy is weaned, then I will take him to the Tabernacle and leave him there with the Lord permanently. Whatever you think is best. Al-qaeda agreed Stay here for now, and may the Lord help you keep your promise. So she stayed home and nursed the boy until he was weaned.

When the child was weaned, hannah took him to the Tabernacle in Shiloh. They brought along a three-year-old bull for the sacrifice and a basket of flour and some wine. After sacrificing the bull, they brought the boy to Eli. Sir, do you remember me? Hannah asked. I am the very woman who stood here several years ago praying to the Lord. I asked the Lord to give me this boy and he granted my request. Now I am giving him to the Lord and he will belong to the Lord his whole life. And they worshiped him there. And I’m going to go ahead and read Hannah’s prayer and then we’re going to dive in to a breakdown of this story, just because this is her afterthoughts.

Okay, then Hannah prayed. My heart rejoices in the Lord. The Lord has made me strong. Now I have an answer for my enemies. I rejoice because you rescued me. No one is holy like the Lord. There is no one beside you. There is no rock like our God. Stop acting so proud and haughty. Don’t speak with such arrogance, for the Lord is a God who knows what you have done. He will judge your actions. The bow of the mighty is now broken and those who stumbled are now strong. Those who were well fed are now starving and those who were starving are now full. The childless woman now has seven children and the woman with many children wastes away.

The Lord gives both death and life. He brings down to the grave but raises others up. The Lord makes some poor and others rich. He brings some down and lifts others up. He lifts the poor from the dust and the needy from the garbage dump. He sets them among princes, placing them in seats of honor. For all the earth is the Lord’s and he has set the world in order. He will protect his faithful ones, but the wicked will disappear in darkness. No one will succeed by strength alone. Those who fight against the Lord will be shattered. He thunders against them from heaven. The Lord judges throughout the earth. He gives power to his king. He increases the strength of his anointed one. Then Alcana returned home to Ramah without Samuel, and the boy served the Lord by assisting Eli the priest.

There is so much here and I won’t be able to give all of it to you today. My hope is to give you enough that you dig into the story as well and you see what the Lord presents to your heart about this and how this applies to you. But sometimes, because we look at Hannah’s life and there was this great waiting period of years, so many years that Panina had many children, so this is a long period of time Hannah has. She was loved. It wasn’t that she wasn’t loved, she was loved, but she was in a circumstance that was a constant poking, a constant pricking, a constant irritant, a constant reminder, and you might be someone who’s living with a situation like that, where you are just constantly reminded of the painful thing or the loss of something, or the lack of something, or a dream that’s not fulfilled or a hope that is still unmet, a promise that has not come to pass yet. And in that waiting there is so much to learn about God, about his working in our life, about his character, about what he’s doing in us, about us. There’s so much to learn through waiting.

Waiting isn’t always a curse. I know it can feel that way. I know the waiting can be painful. If you think of the children of Israel, before the Messiah comes onto the scene, before Jesus is born, there was 400 years of silence. There were no priests giving words, there were no prophets giving words. It was silent. It was a deafening 400 years. I mean that’s a long, long time to wait on a promise and to lose hope. A lot can go on in 400 years. I mean the United States is only over 200 years, so we’ve got a whole nation that is a superpower in the world, and yet we aren’t old enough to even compare to the amount of time that they had to wait to have an answer Waiting in our lives.

When we look at our lives, we shrink it down and make it personal, make it very obvious. I mean, we’ve only got so much time right. I mean, according to scripture, it depends on how you read it. I know there are many thoughts on this, whether you think you have 70 years or whether you think you have 120 years. We really don’t have that much time. We don’t have 400 years, that’s for sure.

And when you look at a female’s physiology, the way that God made us and the way that time has progressed, the way that things are now in our society, we only bear children up to a certain age. It is very unlikely, it would take a miracle to have a child after a certain age, and so there’s only so much time to see certain promises come to pass. And we’re looking at the life of Hannah, who feels like she is watching those around her live the dream she wants, the thing that she cries out for, the thing that vexes her, the thing that establishes her, the thing that she would hold on to as what is her purpose, all of these things. Her whole identity is locked up in something that has not happened.

And you could be somebody that God has spoken to you and said you’re going to be a business owner or you are going to have a particular ministry, you are somebody who’s going to have a doctorate and you haven’t even started your first year of college and all this time is in front of you and you think how much time will this take and will I even be able to do this? And on top of that, you don’t even know your questioning do I have what it takes? And all the while, you have someone who is living under the same roof as you, so someone in close proximity, somebody who has a voice to be able to be speaking in your ear regularly, and you hear that voice constantly telling you haha, you’re never going to see it, you don’t have it, you’re less than. This is never going to happen for you. You know too bad. I’ve got it all. You don’t have any.

I mean the constant taunting, the constant I wish I had a stronger word for it, but it’s just that constant pushing down and depressing, that constant forcing you down into a place of limitation and keeping you bound in a place that you don’t want to be. This is we deal with this in every kind of way all the time. I mean we do. We deal with this kind of struggle regularly and sometimes God does make you wait.

Now, why would he make you wait? Why is a waiting period sometimes necessary? What? Why would God allow? I know we asked this. I’m sure you’ve asked God why. I’ve asked God why, in circumstances in my life, and I’m sure you have too Why, why do I have to wait? Why is this taking so long? Why can’t you just do this, god? I know you’re able. Why won’t you do this? Have you ever asked that question? Why the waiting? Many times, and I’m going to give you lots of stuff, so I want you to hear me out, please. I want you to be patient with me. I want you to to, as best as you can, open your spiritual ears And I want you to hear me out to the end. Sometimes this isn’t always, and I’m going to give lots of different things, but sometimes he’s waiting for you. Now, what would he be waiting for you on? He’s waiting for you to ask him for his purpose in your life and not your own. We know and I should have looked it up for you. I didn’t take the time. You can Google it, you can look it up. You’re smart learners.

You can do this yourself, but there is a scripture and a passage that tells us it’s in the New Testament that there are reasons sometimes while we don’t get our prayers answered and it’s because we don’t ask them according to the right will. Really, we’re not saying God, your will be done. We’re asking for things for our own purpose, for our own will, and it has nothing to do with God. Okay, so many times that’s the case and the Lord is waiting. He wants to actually give it to you. I believe that the scripture I believe it’s in Psalms that says. It is in Psalms I don’t know which one, i’d have to look that up too He gives us the desire of our heart. Now, there are many circumstances around that. I’m taking that one scripture and pulling it out, but I believe that the Lord is the one who implants. He gives you the desire. So it’s like giving a gift He gives you the desires of your heart.

I think many times now we can have hear me out. We can have wrong desires, we can have wrong wants. I’m not saying everything you want is from God, but there are some desires that run deep in our spirits and we can’t get rid of them. We try to get rid of them. There’s been things that have been in my heart and I’m saying Lord, take it out, take this desire out of me. And if he takes it out, then I know it wasn’t him, he didn’t give it to me, but there have been times when I’ve asked him Lord, i really don’t want this, i don’t want this. You know, it’s a desire and I’m saying I don’t want the desire. Please take this from me. It hunts me. It won’t turn loose of me, and we sometimes have that. And when the Lord doesn’t take it, i have to realize all right, lord, you want me to want this. What do I need to do with this? What am I not seeing about this? What do I? where are my eyes? Where do I need to see? What am I not hearing from you about this that I need to? So we have to sometimes adjust what we think, we know about the desire we have.

But many times we’re wanting something that’s not lining up with his will and he’s waiting for you to ask him Lord, what is your purpose in this? What do you want in this? Is there a reason that you’re waiting? Is there something you’re wanting me to do? Is there something you’re wanting me to do? Is there a purpose? and maybe he’s not going to answer that fully, maybe he’s not going to tell you fully, but instead what he’ll tell you is my grace is sufficient.

I want you to have patience, I want you to wait on me. I want you to exercise the fruit of the spirit and I want you to be patient. I want you to truly trust me in this. I want you to learn trust, because so many times we don’t ask God for his purpose, because we are bent, we are determined to have our way and we are frustrated. And the reason we’re frustrated is because we can’t make it happen. You can’t make a miracle happen. God is the giver of those things, and so we can frustrate ourselves, we can be disquieted in our own spirits because we are determined to not wait on God. And if I’m not willing to wait on God, i’m actually saying I don’t trust you.

Being unwilling to wait says I don’t trust your plan, i don’t want your plan, i want mine. Well, that’s an evident problem then. Whose will I want to live for? That’s an evident problem, then, and we need to address that and we need to not be afraid to look at the truth of our hearts. Let our hearts be exposed. Let the Lord show us what is in our hearts so that we are able to deal rightly with them, so that we can actually desire what’s right and receive what it is that he has for us, because he has something for us. He’s not holding out on you for nothing. He’s not a cruel person, he’s not taunting you. He’s not hanging a carrot in front of you and constantly yanking it from your face. That’s the enemy. But God. If he’s waiting, there’s a reason he’s waiting. We have to settle that in our spirits. If God is waiting, there’s a reason for the waiting.

Hannah wanted a son, but God needed now please hear me in this God needed Hannah’s son. He not only wanted to answer Hannah’s prayer. God needed Hannah’s son for his service, not for her own need. Did you hear me? God needed Samuel, not for Hannah’s sake. God needed Samuel for God’s service. There was a purpose already for who would be Hannah’s child. There was a purpose far beyond that lasts to us today. He had an eternal purpose. Please hear this. He had an eternal purpose and need for Samuel, who would be Hannah’s son.

So God had a need, if we can put it in those terms God does not need anything. I should say God had a purpose. God did not have a need, he had a purpose. I correct myself. God does not need anything. He is fully sufficient and has need of nothing. However, god had a purpose. God had a purpose And His purpose was to come, through Hannah, to birth Samuel, who would anoint King David, who would establish the bloodline for his son, jesus Christ, to come. The Christ to come and be manifest in the earth to reconcile us, to take our place, to die for our sin and rise from the dead, to bring eternal life where there was eternal damnation, and to do that for us to now live in eternity with Christ, with God the Father. That is a pretty big, powerful purpose And God had that purpose.

Waiting for Hannah Now we have to understand the great timing in this Here. Hannah is in this position, just thinking that I’m just waiting and I have nothing. This is what she’s thinking. When it’s God, okay. When the thing you want or the thing you need is God, and it’s not just your purpose, it’s his purpose, his answer will meet your need, okay. His answer will meet your need, the thing that you’re crying out for, the personal part of you that cries in pain, the part of you that agonizes over the purpose, yet fulfilled, that you’re holding this thing that weighs on you and draws on you and puts pressure on you and gnaws at you, when it’s God, his answer to that need, to that problem, will meet your need, it will meet his purpose and it will silence your enemy.

Hi, my name is Jamie Luce. I wanted to share with you some information about a brand new book entitled You Don’t Need Money, you Just Need God. It’s a playbook for miraculous provision And I want to share it with you because it solves the problem we are all facing right now. The economy is going crazy, gas prices are soaring, there’s wars and rumors of wars. We’ve got everything hitting us all at once, with interest rates rising. You need to know what to do, and so many times we think we need the money, but you don’t need money. I’m telling you the answer is you need God, and that’s exactly what we want to teach you through this book. We’ll give you practical ways to know what to do and how to do it, so that you get answers now. You can find my book on Amazon. You can also go to jamieloosecom. You can also find this book at You Don’t Need Money. Youjustneedgodcom. This book is available today.

So you know how I spoke to you about that thing that’s constantly nagging you. It’s so close, it’s always in your ear, it’s always prodding you, it’s always poking at you, it’s always an irritant, it’s always a reminder. God’s answer not only answers your need, it fulfills and answers his purpose and it silences your enemy. And there is a beauty that God gives. And many times we miss this And I want you to get this, because this is part of the encouraging if you are in the waiting season, while you wait, god will give you blessing during the time of waiting. And what is that blessing? For Hannah, it was the double portion, the blessing. Now, depending on what translation you read, they changed the wording. I really like the King James, the new King James.

Alcona. Her husband wanted to bless her And because she didn’t have children, instead of just having her little portion, he gave her a blessed portion. He gave her a double portion. He wanted to show her honor, even though she did not have the honor yet of having children. And here you see this portion going to, because that portion came from the offering that was offered to God. This was very special, these offerings that were giving and the sacrifices that were giving. They were then to eat this meal. That was a sacrifice And these portions were doled out to all these others, just emphasizing how much this enemy of Hannah had.

And she’s crying And she’s so wrapped up in her pain. She is so wrapped up in the anguish of the waiting that she would weep and then not eat. She couldn’t even enjoy the blessing that she was receiving during the waiting. God does give a blessing during the waiting. He will be with you, he will bless you until he will see to it that you are not left lacking. You have to know that your God is good, his purpose is good. He’s not going to abandon you in the waiting. He has not left you alone. He is your sustainer, your provider. He will provide for you during that time.

But you’ve got to open your eyes. You can’t be grateful and wait with a right heart, a right attitude of trust, if you’re in anguish and you’re ignoring it. There has to be a heart of gratitude And that’s hard for people because they’re saying how do I be grateful for something I don’t have? You are grateful that you know God sees you. You are grateful that you know he is good. You are grateful because you know I mean. That’s why I read you Hannah’s prayer, her hindsight okay, we all love 2020 vision, but we usually don’t have it on the front end. We have it on the back end. We have that hindsight And she says I rejoice because you rescued me. No one is holy like the Lord. There is no one beside you, there is no rock like our God. She’s saying you can’t build on anything but him. So she’s understanding all of this on the back end And all of that is recorded for us so that we don’t have to wait till then, that we can have hope now in the waiting, that we don’t have to wait and give praise and thanks on the back end. We can do it now. Now she did. I love this because she did exude and use her faith and change her heart and her posture into gratitude before becoming pregnant. She did, and so I want us to look at that, but we’ll look at that in just a minute.

But what God’s goodness is? I heard this wonderful story once from. she was a missionary. Her name was Joy Dawson. She recently passed.

She was in her 90s, a preacher. She went all over the world into some of the most difficult places in the world, into little villages and they had no comforts. She would travel I mean, you know, to get the finances just to go was one thing, but then the travel was very difficult And she told the story once of being in this very difficult place And it was just like dirt and grime and no comforts of any kind. And the Lord had done something for her and made this particular trip comfortable. He did something for her and made it, gave her a comfort in the middle of all this discomfort, and she said it was like having a velvet cushion to sit on. And that was like you know, when you just need to rest and have something beautiful and comfortable and soft and warm and something that brings you comfort. And for her the picture of that was that velvet cushion. And that’s what God will do for you If you will put your trust in him during the waiting. It’s as if in that very hard, dry, uncomfortable place of lacking, that you’re able to sit on a velvet cushion, because God is working out our will as he is working in his will. It’s that partnership we have with the Holy Spirit and with his grace. He has, by his grace, worked something in us and we are working it out of us. He teaches Hannah to look to God during this time and not to Elkana.

Now, how do I know that she was looking to Elkana? Because Elkana says to her why are you crying? Am I not better to you? This whole like, like, give me a child and your portion that you’re giving me isn’t enough, and I weep at even what you give me. What she’s saying is these people are not enough. Well, what we don’t realize is that that’s a work of the Lord, because God has to teach us that people can never be the answer. People flesh can never satisfy, Flesh can only go skin deep, as we like to say. The real answer to your soul, the real answer to your spirit, is not something a human can give you. If you’re looking to a person to satisfy you, if you’re looking to a person to give you what you lack, you’ll never find it. You will always be frustrated. It is only God who can satisfy that. So we have to understand that Panina was this enemy in the midst of a husband who did love her, but Elkina was not any help. These people could you either had one who could do nothing for you and the other one who did everything against you, and so imagine how she feels in this. But there’s a lesson to be learned in that waiting It is your answer will never come through people.

We don’t rely on the arm of the flesh for strength, we rely on the Lord. In fact, i was reading this morning really, maybe I’ll read that to you really struck me. I was reading in Isaiah, let’s see chapter. What’s it right here? Yes, chapter 30, isaiah, chapter 30. Now, this is a warning, obviously coming from the prophet Isaiah to Judah, and this is what he says, and he’s this word is from the Lord, okay. Says what sorrow awaits my rebellious children? says the Lord, you make plans that are contrary to mine, you make alliances not directed by my spirit, thus piling up your sins. It goes on to say you don’t consult me, you go down to Egypt to get help from Egypt. There’s also another and he’s saying you’re going to bring anguish on yourself. This is going to be terrible for you because you rely on the arm of the flesh and not rely on the strength in the arm of the God of Heaven’s armies. we have to make that distinction in our mind. We have to look and see. Am I putting my trust in my faith in man? am I looking to man for strength or am I looking to God? am I consulting him? am I asking him for direction in this? sometimes, when you ask now hear me with this sometimes, when you ask for a hard thing, what Hannah was asking for was a hard thing. Sometimes, when you ask for a hard thing, god requires a hard thing. now I want you to think about this because, with Hannah, god wanted to answer that prayer.

There was a very specific timing for Samuel to be born. He had to be born at an age that was appropriate for him to be raised and trained enough to then take the place of Eli upon Eli’s death. That is a very particular timeframe. He, his life had to be born at a certain time. That’s God’s purpose. Okay, that’s God’s purpose. And so this waiting had to be for a time. And why did she have to wait? and why did it have to be the first child? why did her first child have to be this waited on child? not only was it God’s purpose for this timing of Samuel’s life, but you have to look at how vital this was, because Hannah had to get to the point that she was so desperate for God to answer this prayer that her prayer became not just Lord, give me a child, but Lord, if you give me this child, i’ll give him back to you. That’s God’s purpose. His purpose had to be worked out in Hannah’s heart before he could give her the purpose. Otherwise she simply would have had a child and kept him. He would have never entered into God’s service.

God had a much bigger promise for Hannah than Hannah had for herself. You’ve heard people say you’re not asking God big enough. You’re not asking for something big enough. If you could come up with it on your own, it’s not big enough. This is kind of one of those stories. Hannah on her own would not have asked for the big enough promise. She would not have asked for a big enough dream for her son’s life. She simply wanted a son. That’s how the book starts. She wanted a son, but God had to let. Enough time and enough prodding. Now hear me out on this.

The enemy is an enemy, for sure, and God always judges righteously and he will judge an enemy. That was in Hannah’s prayer of Thanksgiving. She talks about how God judges the one who was haughty, the one who had an attitude, the enemy that stood against what God would do, that enemy gets dealt with. But you have to know God can use your enemy. If you look at the children of Israel when God, before he, took them out of Egypt, god says I’m going to harden Pharaoh’s heart. Why? why would he do that? why would he make an enemy an even worse enemy? because he was going to show his power and his might. He needed to show all of Israel how powerful he was and he used an enemy to do it. So what? sometimes God will allow your enemy to poke and prod at you for a time. You might have to deal with that enemy for a while. Now don’t get me wrong. God will judge that enemy. God will have his purpose and silence the enemy and get his, get the victory over that enemy, silence that enemy. But he may use an enemy in the meantime to work out in you the right purpose, in you it.

Without that enemy, without that taunting, we don’t know how desperate Hannah would have been. It’s speculation, we don’t, we don’t know. But we do know she had an enemy who taunted and tortured her and she’s crying out in bitter tears to God and in her bitterness of tears, in that anguish and bitterness, she says God, if you’ll give me a son, i’ll give him back to you for his whole life. Well, that’s what God was waiting on for the will in hers to become his will. When her will lined up with his will, then what was the beauty? what happened in the beautiful time frame, the time frame that hand happened there.

People don’t understand that you. They don’t understand your prayers. I mean, even in this, in this agony of prayers, the man of God, eli, thinks she’s drunk. He doesn’t understand her prayers and people won’t understand you during this time. So just settle it in your heart. Don’t worry what others think. At this time. They won’t understand your prayers. They don’t understand your anguish. They don’t understand the purpose. That hasn’t been birthed yet, but you’re carrying it.

Before her pregnancy she was pregnant with this desire. She was pregnant long before she couldn’t birth it. That’s an anguish all on its own. So she people won’t understand that. They won’t understand the pain you’re in. They won’t understand the struggle you have. So you have to turn loose of this. This falls in line with not relying on the arm of the flesh. I cannot think that I’m going to be understood. Part of me is wanting flesh to comfort me by at least understanding me. They won’t. Alcana didn’t understand her. Even the godly man, the man of God that the spokesperson of God did not understand.

The beauty, though, is that, at the point that the man of God saw there was a purpose of God involved, when he recognized, based off of what Hannah told him, what the anguish of her soul was, how she was going to God and relying on God for that answer, then, then, god gives the answer, and I’ll read that to you again. In that case, eli says go in peace. May the God of Israel grant the request you have asked of him. Oh, thank you, sir, she exclaimed. Then she went back and began to eat again, and she no longer was sad.

So this was the faith shift. This is where she went from not having faith, from being unconsolable, from being someone who could not recognize the blessing of God in the waiting, who could not recognize the work that had to be done in her in order to birth something even greater than what she wanted, to answer her deepest need, above and beyond what she could have ever asked or thought. I mean, hannah died not even knowing how great, how great and how wonderful God was to her in making her wait and the promise that he was giving her, that this shift, this faith shift, changed her attitude. It changed her belief system. She no longer believed her enemy, the taunts of her enemy, she no longer believed in the lack that she felt. She did not believe in the loss of what she didn’t have or the lack of what she didn’t have. She now had a change of not putting her trust in the Lord. She heard the word of the Lord, she believed it And in that belief she now trusted God. And that belief produced intimacy with her and her husband. And that intimacy produced a son. And when she no longer expected her son, her husband sorry to provide what only God could produce she could now receive.

So there’s this whole change of attitude, right? Not only that, i mean I even skipped the first thing She immediately goes back is rejoicing, is joyful, and eats. She went from being so upset that she couldn’t eat and couldn’t receive her blessing to now going, rejoicing, singing, no longer bothered by her enemy, no longer tortured by this thing, eating, receiving the now blessing in the waiting, the now blessing in the waiting. It’s so freed her up that in her intimacy, in the thing that she needed freedom and she needed breakthrough in, she receives the gift of God and becomes pregnant. She was able to become pregnant with that thing She’s so desired.

Joy and expectation produce results in our life If you will grab hold of the word of God and the promise he’s given you and understand that he is faithful to his word and you will not allow the anguish of the waiting to pull you away from God’s purpose, if you will do that with joy and expectation. Joy and expectation, that is what will produce the results that you’re waiting on, because in that joy and expectation you have said yes to God, yes to his plan, yes to his will. You have aligned your spirit with God’s spirit. You are no longer relying on the flesh to answer that prayer. And then God. It opens the floodgates, it opens intimacy, it opens ability. It opens capacity for us to receive what God has for us.

When God is birthing something through you that is far bigger than just you or your need or your desire, it is a burden and not just a desire. It draws greater criticism. So I want to leave this with you today. I want to prepare your mind. If you are in the waiting season, expect these things, expect this. Expect that you will have a burden. Expect that it is. It will be criticized, it will be misunderstood, it will be a taunting. The enemy will use every opportunity to poke and prod and poke at you Just to overwhelm you. He will do everything he can to press, depress, to draw hope away. Hope deferred makes the heart sick. He’s going after that. He doesn’t want you to place faith in and trust in God. So you have to get the right mindset. I’m hoping to date that this encouragement sets your mind right so that you can know God will bless you. In this waiting There is purpose that is even bigger than you know. In this waiting He’s working something out of you. He’s working something in you. He’s working a purpose greater than you. In this Don’t lose heart. Don’t lose heart, child of God. He sees you. He knows the plans he has for you. They are good. They are good And they’re worth waiting for. They’re worth waiting for.

In Hannah’s prayer of thanks it says the one who had no children now has all these children. So the speculation is that, even though we don’t know the end of Hannah’s story, that she had many more children after this, but God did the work in her first. There’s a first work that needs to be done, but, boy, when the first work is done, then the floodgates can be burst open and the blessing of God can pour And you will receive all that God has for you. Let me pray for you today, father. I thank you for your children, those who have waited on you with great expectation, who have carried a burden, those who have gone forth weeping shall again come rejoicing, bringing their sheaves with them. Lord, there might be a time of mourning, but you said that joy comes in the morning.

Father, I pray over each one that they would have a new faith, a new strength in their faith, by a new grace that you’ve given them today. I pray that this word suits them the way Eli’s word had suited Hannah, to say God hears you and he will answer you, and they can go rejoicing and they can go in faith and hope. Today, let them eat and rejoice and sing and know that God has great purpose in their waiting and he will be faithful. Thank you, father, for what you’re going to do in their lives. We will give you all the glory and all the praise, for you are worth and it is due you. Thank you, jesus, for the work you’ve done for us already, and we pray all of these things in Jesus’ name Amen, amen. Well, i do pray that this has been an encouragement to you. There is so much there. Go back, read it, dissect it, take notes. Let the spirit of God speak to you and begin or keep on in your journey of faith. God will be faithful. We’ll see you next time. Bye-bye.

0:54:05 – Jaime Luce

Thank you for listening to the Jamie Loose podcast. If you enjoyed today’s episode, please rate and review the show on Apple or Spotify and subscribe wherever you listen. For more, visit jamieloosecom That’s J-A-I-M-E-L-U-C-Ecom. You’ll find a free chapter of her new book. You Don’t Need Money, you Just Need God and a fresh word from Jamie on the blog each week. See you next week.