Elementary Level, Block 6—Samuel to David
Week 51
Hannah—Cooperating with God by Prayer
Point to Emphasize: We can pray to God because He listens to our prayers.
Reference Reading: 1 Samuel 1:1-20
Memory Verse: You will pray to Him, and He will hear you… (Job 22:27a)
Story Sample
Have you ever been sad before? Have you ever been happy before? Have you ever been scared before? Have you ever been so happy that you wanted to start jumping up and down? Throughout your life, at one point or another, you experience all kinds of emotions. Sometimes you decide that it is better not to get mad or not to be sad, but your face might have already expressed that emotion and it is too late to hide it!
When you feel sad or scared, it is always good to talk to someone. You can talk to some of the people who are around you. You can talk to your dad, your mom or your siblings. You can even ask your mom to call your grandmother who lives far away and talk to her on the phone. Isn’t that wonderful? It is SO good that we can talk to others. Sometimes you don’t even have to feel sad or scared, you might just want to talk to someone to tell them about your day or maybe share with them about your new pet. You might want to tell them what you had for lunch that day or sometimes you simply just want to talk to them! It is wonderful that we can talk to someone who cares for us, right?
Well, in the Bible, there was a woman named Hannah. Hannah had no children. Other women around her had children, but not Hannah. This made her sad; really, really sad. She was so sad that she cried and cried and wouldn’t even eat. But let me tell you what Hannah did. Hannah prayed to God and asked Him for a son. Hannah could not rest until she had a son. But do you want to hear her prayer? She simply said, “O Jehovah…give your female servant a male child.” She was very simple and told God just what she needed. This was Hannah’s prayer.
So, what is it to pray? To pray is simply to talk to God. We can talk to God! We can simply talk to God and tell Him how we are feeling. We can tell God when we are happy or when we are sad. We can tell God when we are afraid or when we are happy. When we pray to God we don’t have to speak good-sounding prayers, we can just simply tell God how we feel. And the most important thing is that God listens to our prayers!
When I was a little girl my dad flew to Taiwan. He was supposed to be there just for a few weeks. But he ended up being there a lot longer. I really missed him and I was very sad. My mom found me crying, and she told me she was sad too. We both started to pray for God to care for my dad while he was away and to make time go fast. After we prayed I felt much better. Since then, I’ve been praying to God and telling Him how I feel. I know God listens to all of our prayers. [Storyteller, insert a personal experience of praying to God.]
Hannah prayed to God, and God listened to her prayer. Actually, Hannah wanted a son, and God also needed Hannah to have a son. Hannah was praying for what God also needed. God gave Hannah a son, and she named him Samuel. We will hear more about Samuel in the coming weeks. Samuel was a very special boy.