Leave It At the Alter

I often call Hannah the gift that keeps on giving because there is so much that can be learned from this woman. She is a real woman that has struggled with faith and possibly depression. She is a woman that had to share her man because it was the social norm of her time and she is a woman that struggled with being unfulfilled. Hannah got what was supposed to be her prize. She had her husband’s affections, but that was not enough for her. She wanted something that only God could give her and that was a child.

As women, some of us make the mistake of thinking that marriage will fix all of our problems. We think that a man is supposed to save us and we wear his last name as a badge of honor that is supposed to make us complete in some way. Hannah found out over time that her husband could not complete her and she realized that her inner most desires were not in his hand.

Hannah became a wife, but she wanted to become a mom. she had what so many women pray for today. She had her “Boaz”, but he could not impregnate her with purpose. Hannah did not just want to be a mom, she needed to be one. It was a desire that was God given, but somewhere along the way, she became disconnected from the One that had placed that desire on the inside of her in the first place. Like Hannah, many of us allow our unanswered prayers to disconnect us from God instead of allowing our hearts and our will to line up with His. Hannah’s got so depressed that she allowed her desires to take over her life instead of allowing her situation to drive her closer to God. There was even an instance in which she could not eat.

Hannah was hungry for something that food could not fulfill. She was hungry for purpose. Hannah became discontent with the regular day to day activities of her life. The people around her felt her frustrations. I’m sure her husband become frustrated because she wanted something that he had no control over and her sister wife used this as an opportunity to taunt her. Both woman had their “Boaz”, but only one of the woman desired more from God.

God loved Hannah. He saw her condition, but He was waiting for her to give Him her heart and her trust. Hannah was a woman chosen to bear purpose, but desperation had to drive her to Jesus. This woman became so overwhelmed that she released her own personal desires so that she could carry the purposes of God. She no longer wanted to fit in. She no longer desired purpose so that she could be selfish with it. Hannah got to a place where she was ok with being used for the Father’s glory. It was in a state of brokenness, faithlessness, discontentment, and uncomfortableness that God answered this woman’s prayer. He was waiting for her to lay herself and her will down at the alter so that He could move through her.

We can all learn how to release our lives to Jesus from Hannah. Hannah went to the alter. She poured her heart out to God in brokenness and submission, and then she got up and ate. When Hannah gave her discontentment and unhappiness to God, she left it there with Him. When Hannah left God that day, she was a different woman. She was a free woman ready to bear and release her purpose to Jesus.

We are vessels that God desires to use, but we must know how to lay our lives at the alter in submission to Jesus Christ. God wants to move through us, but He will not allow our flesh or our will to get in the way of the things that He wants to release in the earth.

Will you be that broken vessel? Will you be like Hannah, a woman that cried her eyes out to God and received refreshment for her spirit?

Lord, I pray to be a woman that can release everything I am to you so that you can make me into who you want me to be for your glory. I pray to know how to sit and wait from you. I pray that my faith will be made complete in you and I pray to leave every burden on my heart at your feet. Lord I pray to get up and eat as Hannah did when she left your presence. She did not allow distractions or other people’s opinions of what they thougt she was doing to take way what you had given her. I pray to leave your presence with a face that is no longer sad as Hannah did and I pray to have joy in knowing that you hear me. Help me to submit to your timing and to your will. Help me to have your heart and your desires, in Jesus name, amen.

Recommended Reading: 1Samuel 1-18, Psalm 56:8, Mark 11:24

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