Hannah really wanted a child even though she didn’t have one. She asked God for a child. After Hannah gave birth to Samuel, she gave him to the Lord. Here is the story of how it happened.

There was a man called Elkanah who had two wives, one called Penninah and the other one Hannah. Penninah had given birth to sons and daughters, but Hannah was childless. On special occasions when they all came together to celebrate, Penninah made fun of Hannah, because she was childless. Hannah was in great distress and she refused to eat.

Then one day, Hannah couldn’t cope with it anymore. She made a decision and then she went into the special tent, where God was worshiped, to pray. She prayed silently, but she was full of emotion. Her lips were moving, so the priest thought she was drunk! ‘I’m not drunk!’ she said, ‘but because I’m so upset, I’ve been talking to God about all the problems that I have.’ Hannah went back home with her husband and God answered her prayer. She became pregnant and gave birth to Samuel. Hannah knew that God had given her this child in answer to prayer.

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After Hannah weaned Samuel, Hannah took him to the special tent and went to meet Eli the priest. She said, ‘This is the child I asked God that He would give me.’ Hannah presented Samuel to the priest, to bring him up in the special tent. Once a year, she visited Samuel. Each time she came she gave him clothes. Samuel grew up under the supervision of Eli the priest and God blessed Hannah with other sons and daughters.

One night, Samuel was lying down in the special tent. The Lord called him by name. Samuel did not realise that it was the voice of God, and ran to Eli’s bedside. ‘I did not call you’ Eli said, ‘I want you to go back to your bed and lie down.’ Three times this happened, but the third time, Eli realised that the Lord was calling the boy. He said to Samuel, ‘If he calls you again, say to Him, ‘Speak Lord, because your servant is listening to You.’

Samuel went back to bed again. The Lord came and stood there, calling as before, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ This time Samuel said ‘Speak to me Lord, because your servant is listening to you’- and the Lord spoke to him. The Lord showed Samuel things that would happen. The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up and everything happened as Samuel said it would. All the people understood that Samuel was a true prophet of the Lord.

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Samuel became the leader and judge among God’s people. Samuel was fair in all his dealings and refused to take bribes. He didn’t cheat or oppress anyone. He led the nation by listening to God and praying for the people. The time came when the people said they wanted a king so they could be like all the other nations. Samuel wasn’t pleased because he felt that the people were rejecting God as their king. But God showed him he should listen to the people and appoint a man called Saul. This is how it happened.

A man named Saul was looking for his father’s lost donkeys. They didn’t know where the donkeys were. They wanted to give up, when the servant suggested they should visit the prophet Samuel. ‘He might know what has happened to the donkeys.’ When they arrived Samuel invited them to a feast. Samuel invited Saul to be his special guest, and he gave Saul the best seat. The best piece of meat was given to Saul. It had been specially prepared, because God had told Samuel that Saul was coming.

‘Don’t worry about the donkeys,’ Samuel said,‘because they have been found. God’s got other plans for you. In the future, you’re going to become king.’ And that’s exactly what happened. All the people chose Saul to become king. Wonderful things happened when Samuel was around, because Samuel was a man who listened to God.

Material sourced from 1 Samuel 1 – 10

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