Will you please turn to 1 Samuel? First Samuel, chapter 1. We will read the first chapter.
And there was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim, of the hill-country of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite:
and he had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.
And this man went up out of his city from year to year to worship and to sacrifice unto the Lord of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, priests unto the Lord, were there.
And when the day came that Elkanah sacrificed, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions:
but unto Hannah he gave a double portion; for he loved Hannah, but the Lord had shut up her womb.
And her rival provoked her sore, to make her fret, because the Lord had shut up her womb.
And as he did so year by year, when she went up to the house of the Lord, so she provoked her; therefore she wept, and did not eat.
Then Elkanah her husband said unto her, Hannah, why weepest thou? and why eatest thou not? and why is thy heart grieved? am not I better to thee than ten sons?
So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest was sitting upon his seat by the door-post of the temple of the Lord.
And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore.
And she vowed a vow, and said, O Lord of hosts, if Thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of Thy handmaid, and remember me, and not forget Thy handmaid, but wilt give unto Thy handmaid a man-child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.
And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the Lord, that Eli marked her mouth.
Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken.
And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine from thee.
And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I poured out my soul before the Lord.
Count not thy handmaid for a wicked woman; for out of the abundance of my complaint and my provocation have I spoken hitherto.
Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thy petition that thou hast asked of Him.
And she said, Let thy handmaid find grace in thy sight. So the woman went her way, and did eat; and her countenance was no more sad.
And they rose up in the morning early, and worshipped before the Lord, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah: and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and the Lord remembered her.
And it came to pass, when the time was come about, that Hannah conceived, and bare a son; and she called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the Lord.
And the man Elkanah, and all his house, went up to offer unto the Lord the yearly sacrifice, and his vow.
But Hannah went not up; for she said unto her husband, I will not go up until the child be weaned, and then I will bring him, that he may appear before the Lord, and there abide for ever.
And Elkanah her husband said unto her, Do what seemeth thee good; tarry until thou hast weaned him; only the Lord establish His word. So the woman tarried, and gave her son suck, until she weaned him.
And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bullocks, and one ephah of meal, and a bottle of wine, and brought him unto the house of the Lord in Shiloh: and the child was young.
And they slew the bullock, and brought the child to Eli.
And she said, Oh, my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the Lord.
For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of Him:
therefore also I have granted him to the Lord; as long as he liveth he is granted to the Lord. And he worshipped the Lord there.
Let us pray.
Dear Lord, we want to praise Thee for the privilege of being invited to Thy table. How we praise and thank Thee for the immense love that Thou hast toward us. Thou who art the greatest, the highest God, the only God, and yet Thou hast given Thyself to us totally.
Dear Lord, we are grateful, and we just come to Thee and say thank You with all our hearts. As we continue in Thy presence, Lord, we pray that Thou wilt open Thy Word to us, speak to us, and enable us to see Thy heart and Thy plan, that we may join ourselves to Thee today and allow Thee to work out Thy purpose even in people like us. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.
Well, brothers and sisters, my burden is still with the theme that we had during the summer conference: God is looking for an epoch-making vessel.
We know that we are at the change of a tremendous age. God is going to change this age of grace, which has lasted for over two thousand years, to the age of the kingdom of heaven. Every sign indicates that this change is imminent.
As we are living during this tremendous transition, what is it that God is looking for? He is looking for that epoch-making vessel—not any individual, but a corporate vessel.
And I believe this is something tremendously essential and important to each and every one of us. God is looking for you, for me, for every one of us, to be that vessel through which He is able to make that change.
So this has been with me all this time. This morning I am thinking of Hannah. But before I do that, I would like to share with you something that happened at the beginning of the last century.
We know that in 1904 to 1905 there was a tremendous revival that affected the whole world. It was the Welsh Revival. God was working in such a tremendous way.
In many places, the judges had no cases to judge. Many miners came to the Lord, and after they came to the Lord, they no longer cursed. You know, they used to curse when they were using their donkeys. But after they believed in the Lord Jesus, they no longer cursed, and the donkeys could not understand them.
It was such a tremendous revival. So many came to the Lord.
But the instrument that God used during that revival was a young miner. He was twenty-six years old: Evan Roberts.
While he worked in the mine, he always brought his Bible with him. Whenever he had opportunity, he would read the Word of God.
He was never absent from any meeting, especially prayer meetings. Why? Because he was afraid that should the Spirit of God come upon the people and he was not there, what a loss it would be. So he never missed a meeting.
Once, a number of them were praying, and the burden of the Lord came upon him. He cried out to the Lord, “Bend me, bend me, bend me.”
And after that he prayed, “Bend the church and save the world.” Out of such prevailing prayer, the Lord began to work in such a marvelous way.
In 1970, I was invited to New Zealand to speak to a group of people. And these people were the remnants of the Welsh Revival.
So, brothers and sisters, the Lord is looking for epoch-making vessels. And what can the Lord do with such poor people as we are? This really stirred me up, and for that reason I was thinking of Hannah.
If you are familiar with the history of Hannah, you know her husband was Elkanah. Even though he lived in Mount Ephraim, yet he was a Levite. It was the custom of that time that wherever the Levites lived, they were considered as people of that place. But actually, he was a Levite.
And he had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. But Peninnah had sons and daughters, while Hannah had no children.
Now, brothers and sisters, today with us this may mean nothing. But with the children of Israel at that time, it was a tremendous challenge. Why? Because according to the Old Testament, if you are blessed by the Lord, then the womb of your wife will be blessed.
You have many children. You are surrounded, as it were, with children at the table. That is a promise we find not only in Deuteronomy 28:4, but also in Psalm 128:3.
So according to Old Testament times, if you love the Lord, if you are loved by the Lord, you will be blessed with many children.
But here you find Peninnah. She was not a devout woman, and yet she had sons and daughters, while Hannah, who loved the Lord, had no child.
Now, of course, the name Hannah means grace. And in the Bible, you find that the name of a person has meaning. In other words, here you find Hannah: she was grace. Before God, she received grace. She was gracious. She loved God. She was a woman of grace.
And yet, in spite of her piety, she had no child. It was a contradiction. It seemed as if God did not keep His promise.
And while this happened to Hannah, it was tremendously difficult. Not only that, but Peninnah often laughed at her: “You have no child.” Especially when they went to the temple to offer sacrifice, she used that opportunity to stir up Hannah.
We do not know how many years passed by with such things happening. So Hannah was grieved. She was a praying woman, and she brought her case to the Lord, seeking the Lord and asking the Lord to correct the strange situation.
Brothers and sisters, how often will you find that when God is going to do something, He may do it in a very mysterious way? God always moves in a mysterious way, wonders to perform.
So here you find Hannah prayed and prayed and prayed, and there was no answer. But thank God, she did not give up. She continued to pray.
But thank God, somehow God began to reveal to her, as she was thinking of her own need, that God had a need.
So after all, she began to realize that God had a need just as she had a need. And most likely God was going to supply that need for her—but it was not for her; it was for God.
Brothers and sisters, how often in our prayer we are only thinking of our own need. But sometimes you find God does not answer, and you wonder, why is it?
Maybe, most likely, God has a need, and He wants to meet that need through you. So here you find Hannah began to realize that God had a need, and she began to pray.
When they went to the temple and the same thing happened to her, she was stirred, and she went to pray before the Lord. But she prayed silently. In other words, her lips moved, but no voice came out. Yet she was praying earnestly.
And she said, “Lord, if You give me a man-child, I will give him back to You.”
While she was praying, Eli the priest was there. He noticed that this woman’s mouth was moving, but no sound came out. So he thought that she must be drunk.
So he told her, “How long will you be drunken? Put away your wine from you.”
And then Hannah said, “I am a woman in sorrow. I am praying.”
And Eli said, “May the Lord grant you your request.” And she believed, and immediately you find her attitude changed.
She was no longer sorrowful. Her countenance was no more as before, and she ate. Then the story continued: they went home, she conceived, and she gave birth to a child. She called that child Samuel.
Now we know that Samuel was an epoch-making vessel, because he was the one who changed the age of the judges to the age of kings.
Now, often when our prayers are answered, probably we are so happy with the result that we forget that it is connected with God’s will. We begin to enjoy our answered prayer.
But not Hannah. Here you find Hannah was faithful to what she promised God. So she brought up the child until he was weaned, and then she brought Samuel to the temple and let him serve God in the temple.
So, brothers and sisters, what we learn from this story is that before God does anything, there needs to be travailing prayer.
Whenever God is going to do something, He is always waiting for travailing prayer from His people.
He will share His secret with those who are close to Him. As we find in Psalm 25:14:
The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him;
And He will show them His covenant.
God will reveal His mind, His secret, to those who are close and near to Him. Then His people will take up that burden and pray.
When they do that, it is like laying down railroad tracks so that the mighty train can run through that track. So this is what travailing prayer really is.
Brothers and sisters, as we look at the book of Revelation, we find time and again that before God is going to do something special, He is waiting for the prayer of His own.
For instance, if you turn to Revelation 5, we find that our Lord Jesus, as the Lamb slain, stood before God, receiving from God the scroll, which is the title deed of this earth.
And in Revelation 5:8:
And when He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having each one a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
In other words, it is the prayers of the saints that brought in the scene you see in Revelation 5.
You see how our Lord Jesus, in His ascension, received from God that little book which is the title deed of this earth. And He is going to open that sealed book—in other words, to bring this earth back to God.
And how did it happen? You find the prayers of the saints: those to whom the Lord has given that burden pray for it, and the result is that God is able to do what He intends to do.
And again you find in Revelation 8 the same thing. In Revelation 8, after the seventh seal, the Lord is going to open the seven trumpets. But before that, in Revelation 8:3:
And another angel came and stood over the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should add it unto the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
In other words, again you find the prayers of the saints. But because the prayers of the saints are weak, you find more incense was added to give efficacy to the prayers of the saints.
Now, what is that incense? Of course, it is the prayer of our Lord Jesus. He is the great High Priest. He is praying before the Father, and His prayer is added to the prayer of the saints. That causes the change of time from the seals to the trumpets.
So, brothers and sisters, here you find that whenever God is going to do something, whenever God is trying to change the time, He always shares His burden with those who are close to Him. Those who are close to Him will take up that burden and pray through.
This prevailing prayer is not just common prayer. Lord, brothers and sisters, when we come to the prayer meeting, sometimes we just go through the motions. We are praying, but our heart is really not in it.
And such prayer, well, avails nothing. Only prayer that really comes from the heart—from a heart that is touched by God—has a burden within it.
We try to discharge that burden through prayer, and this is prevailing prayer. That is what God is looking for.
So, brothers and sisters, I feel that by every indication we know that the change is imminent. This world cannot go on anymore. The Lord is coming soon.
But the question is: will all His people really travail in prayer? Are we so busy with our own things that we forget God has His need, and His needs can only be met by His own people?
Will we, His people, take up the burden of our Lord and really pray through, so that the change may come and not be delayed?
So, brothers and sisters, this is the burden of my heart that I want to share with you. And I do not think there is anything else I can say. So may the Lord give us such prevailing prayer.
Dear Lord, we praise and thank Thee because Thou hast saved us. But, Lord, Thou hast saved us not just for our own enjoyment. We believe that Thou hast saved us with a purpose.
Thou wantest to use us as instruments, as vessels, to bring in what Thou hast in Thy heart.
Oh, Lord, oftentimes we pray, “Come, Lord Jesus,” but our prayer seems to hit the ceiling. It does not go through.
We pray, Lord, that Thou wilt not allow us to just go through the motions. We pray that Thou wilt make us Thy people who mean business.
If Thy grace shall come upon us and open our hearts to see Thy calling—calling us to pray with prevailing prayer—oh, Lord, may it be so among us.
We believe Thou hast saved us with a purpose. Lord, we want to offer ourselves today for Thy purpose.
So do pray that Thou wilt share Thy secret, Thy burden, with us and enable us to really come before Thee and pour out our hearts in travailing prayer.
Lord, remove any hindrance that stands in the way of Thy imminent return. We pray, Lord, that Thou wilt come soon. We wait for Thee. In Thy precious name. Amen.