The Desperate Heart

My sister told me about a series of pod casts on the heart. I haven't had a chance to listen to them all yet, but I did listen to the first one and thought it was excellent! The Desperate Heart

This is based on 1 Samuel: Chapters 1 and 2.

Chapter 1:

Hannah has a desperate heart. She desperately wants a son, but God has made her womb barren. She decides to pray to the Lord and says that if He will give her a son, she will give him back to the Lord, all the days of his life. The Lord hears her prayer and gives her a son. Hannah then follows through with her promise and gives her son back to the Lord so that he can serve Him all the days of his life.

Chapter 2: vs. 1-10

Hannah sings a song of praise to the Lord for who He is and what He has done for her.

Now that you have the background of the chapters, lets see what all this means. 

In chapter 1, Hannah is very desperate. She understands this and turns to the Lord with her problem.

* These two steps are important. We first must recognize when we have a desperate heart and then turn to God with our problem. (no matter how big or small you think it may be)

*  The times that we are so desperate, so weak, and have no where to go, that's when he shows up in power.

* The great thing about the God we serve, he can bring GREAT things out of nothing AND there are no limits to what our God can do.

During Hannah's prayer, she made a sacrifice for JOY.  If she could have a son, then she would give him back to the Lord.

In verse 18, Hannah leaves a different person after saying her prayer. "So the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad."

* She left a different person just because her prayer was offered to the Lord. This shows that her desperate heart is becoming a dependent heart. (Dependent on God).

Having dependence on God means understanding that ALL of our things belong to HIM. (Children, marriage, money, job, etc.)

* All of our decisions belong to the Lord also.  (Marriage, finances, social life, entertainment, etc.)

*  To be totally dependent on the Lord doesn't just mean going to church, reading your bible or tithing. It means with everything you do, you are dependent on the Lord. With your time, conversations, money, energy and ambitions.

In Chapter 2, after Hannah's son Samuel is born, she says a prayer of praise to the Lord.

* Hannah understands that a desperate heart is only satisfied by knowing the Lord. ( This prayer is of praise!- She knows the Lord)

* She also understands who God is and what he has done for her.

* Hannah also prophetically spoke about the future and the king the Lord would give His people. ( Hannah gave her son to a God who would one day know what it was like to give his son, Jesus, to the world.)

Hannah's heart through these two chapters went from a desperate heart to a dependent heart to a delighted heart.

Desperate heart ---- Dependent heart ---- Delighted heart 

 

In what areas of your life do you need to start being fully dependent on God?