FAITH CAPSULE: When provocation follows you to the house of God, it is time for you to call upon the hand of God concerning your frustration.

1 Samuel 1:1-18
 
When going to worship God becomes convenient it is no longer a commitment. However, when it is commitment that is driving one to go and worship, the grace of convenience alwayscome to place.
Hannah, the wife of Elkanah, was barren. She kept going to the ground of worship with her husband and his second wife called Peninnah. She kept going despite provocation from Peninnah who had children. For Hannah, it was not convenient by virtue of her challenge but she kept on going. Hannah did not make any excuses not to go worship and offer sacrifices to the Lord of hosts at Shiloh. What is your excuse when it is time for fellowship? Going to church only on Sundays is not enough to carry you through. Also, going without a purpose of heart is act of emptiness. If Hannah’s going to Shiloh every year has been without a purpose of heart, provocation from being barren would have stopped her from going.
It is written, “So it was, year by year, when she went up to the house of the LORD, that she provoked her; therefore she wept and did not eat.” (1 Samuel 1:7)When provocation follows you to the house of God, it is time for you to call upon the hand of God concerning your frustration. Hannah sought the hand of God to divert provocation from her life. In seeking the hand of God, “Then she made a vow and said, ‘O LORD of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of His life, and no razor shall come upon his head.’” (1 Samuel 1:11) She made a strong vow, calling on God to look on her situation Hannah asked God to remember her and not forget her. God is a precise God. Hannah was precise in her request. She made it clear to Him that she desperately wanted a male child. Year after year, she went back and forth to Shiloh. Finally, God granted her request and gave her a son. Hannah responded to God’s blessing by naming her son Samuel, saying, because I have asked for him from the Lord. (1 Samuel 1:20) It could be that God is waiting for you to provoke His hand for your request. The word encourages us to ask and it shall be given. Take a lesson from Hannah’s approach. God is a faithful God and the same God that answered to Hannah’s persistent will answer to your persistent.
 
Prayer for today: Ask God to give ear to the crying of your heart just like He did to Hannah.