The prophet Samuel is a type of today’s holy generation, a prepared body of believers who rise out of the ruins of the old, decadent church.
Hannah, Samuel’s mother, birthed her son through bitter tears and much prayer. “And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish” (1 Samuel 1:10, NKJV).
Here’s the scene: Hannah was at the temple every day, on her knees before the altar, crushed and broken because she was childless. As she wept, her enemy—her husband’s other wife—made fun of her. “And her rival also provoked her severely, to make her miserable, because the Lord had closed her womb” (1 Samuel 1:6). There are three important things to note in this passage.
• The generation that Samuel represents is born in grief and intercession.
• Those who pray will be provoked by adversaries.
• God will always be misunderstood.
Notice what Hanna did. “And it happened, as she continued praying before the Lord, that Eli watched her mouth. Now Hannah spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she was drunk. So Eli said to her, ‘How long will you be drunk? Put your wine away from you!’” (1 Samuel 1:12-14). Eli and his sons represent the dying, corrupt church that has forsaken the Lord’s way. Eli was so dead in his spirit that he thought Hannah was drunk.
Hannah was filled with grief and desire for a son, and all she could do was move her lips and groan in the Spirit. She prayed, “If you will indeed look on the affliction of your maidservant and remember me, and . . . will give your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life” (1 Samuel 1:11).
Here are two distinguishing marks of this holy generation: They pray with passion, and they give themselves to prayer every single day. Like Hannah, they make it their priority to seek God’s face.
God wants you to be able to touch and hear from him as Hannah did. He wants to give you a ministry to others who will come to you with their burdens and trials. As you pray, his Word will come forth!