God is moving in this place and we're about to see a breakthrough this morning! Certainly the Lord is doing a work.

Now the world today, it has its systems and its structures in place to make sure that you never reach your destiny in the Lord. But He has great plans for you. The world tries to convince you that it's impossible, that things are never going to be different, that it's always going to be the same, and you're never going to be able to move forward. It's hard to escape and break free from the things of this world that convince you that mental illness cannot be cured, that your past is always going to have a hold on you, that generational curses cannot be broken, or that a young person cannot remain pure. But God is a God of impossible things, and the church is rising up, Hallelujah, in this season to come against those things that we have formerly been convinced of - that He can't move in you, that He can't use you - but today God is going to come through and do it.

Jesus was invited to Jairus' house where his daughter had become ill and she had died from her illness. But what did Jesus say? “She is not dead, but she is sleeping.” Hallelujah! He calls things that are not as though they were. And the Lord is calling you - who have not been maybe with the Lord, not empowered, not healed, not set free - and this day He looks upon his church and He says that she is free. That she is broken free from the things that once held her back. Our God is able. Our God is possible.

Last week, when I opened up the service, the Lord had given me a word. And He said, “Who is like Me?” And we answer the Lord, “There is no one like You in all of the heavens and the earth. There is none that have Your power and Your greatness and Your goodness”. Tell me this day, who has had an inheritance of goodness in store for you? Who has good things in store that they've been saving up for you for all of eternity to give to his children? God, my friends, is good. God has good things for you.

So today, we're going to be studying about somebody who had the courage and the faith to pray against these impossibilities in our life. Hannah, who was not afraid, but took courage to pray, knowing that God was the only One who was going to be able to break through her circumstances. She did not go to the world. She did not seek it in her husband, not into the priest, and not even within herself for her breakthrough. She sought God, who is the only One who could set you free this day.

Now, hopefully, my prayer is that somebody here today would have the audacity to pray like Hannah, that you would receive your breakthrough, and God would be fruitful in your life today. Amen?

So first, we, like Hannah, are in need of a breakthrough. And most of us are familiar with this story and we can find it in the book of 1 Samuel. If you'd like to turn there, we're also gonna have it on the board. So Hannah was married to Elkanah and he had two wives - Hannah who was barren and Peninnah who had several children. Year after year this family would go up to the place of Shiloh, where the house of the Lord was, and they would make sacrifices to God yearly. And that's where we're gonna begin our story.

So we have 1 Samuel 1:6. “Now because the Lord had closed Hannah's womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her. This went on year after year, and whenever Hannah went up to the house of the Lord, her rival provoked her till she wept and she would not eat.” Oh, poor Hannah.

The Lord Himself, it says in the Scriptures, had been the one to close her womb. And when we go through our trials and our tribulations, sometimes we think that God does not understand what we're going through, that He doesn't see it or that He doesn't hear our prayers. But God was aware of what Hannah was going through. My friends, the trials that you go through, God is using to purify your heart, to bring you closer to Himself. Do not resist the trials for God is bringing you on a journey to draw you into Himself. Not that we would turn away from Him, but that we would cling to Him as our source of life and our helper.

And so we have Peninnah and she was coming against Hannah at every step. She would ridicule her and she would come against her for her barrenness. She came to be a rival of Hannah. And I hope that I'm talking to somebody today because some of us have grown up with rivals. Some of us are very familiar with what that feels like. She was always trying to one-up her. In fact, a rival is someone who is always trying to be better than you. Someone who is trying to reach a higher place than you. Someone who is always trying to one-up you. And in fact, she was able to do this.

Peninnah is the perfect relationship to describe that which a Christian has with the world. The world comes to you, and it ridicules you to remind you of what you don't have, to remind you of what you have not accomplished, to remind you that these things will not come. It says, “Look at all that I have. Look at all that I bring. And I did not pine for it. I did not have to rend my heart. It came easy to me.”

"God was going to do something in her life to bring the breakthrough that only He could do."

But folks, we know that the things of God do not come so easily. They come with prayer and petition and with heartache before the Lord. Peninnah wants you to give up on the dreams that God has for you, that He has in store for your life. He wants you to throw in the towel and just say, “I can't do it anymore”. Give up and not wait for your breakthrough. But you must hold out just like Hannah did. She did not give in. For years she suffered through the same thing as they went to Shiloh. But she did not give in. God was going to do something in her life to bring the breakthrough that only He could do.

Now Elkanah loved his wife and he tried to comfort her. He would give her a double portion of food, as though that was going to make it better. He would have good words for her, kind words, but he brought her no solace. And so we read from verse 8. “Her husband, Elkanah, would say to her, ‘Hannah, why are you weeping? Why don't you eat? Why are you so downcast? Don't I mean more to you than ten sons?’”

And so Elkanah becomes very distressed about the state of his wife. And he sees that she's not eating, he sees that she's weeping, and that she has this terrible source of pain in her heart. But he truly does not understand the pain that her barrenness is causing her. And we're going to get there. He doesn't understand why he does not fulfill all of her needs. Leave it to the guys to say something like that.

But church, I don't want you to misinterpret the source of her pain. And I hope that we're going along here and that we're going to begin to get it. It wasn't just about wanting to be a mother. She - remember - was a Levite and she was born to the tribe of Israel that would go and every year make offerings to the Lord. She honored the law of Moses and her family would get up and they would bring their things all the way and make the difficult travel and journey there. And yet Hannah was in distress because she had nothing to give to the Lord from herself. Something that had cost her. Something that God had brought in her life against the odds. Despite the impossibilities. Despite what Peninnah or the world had said to her, she wanted to lay something before the feet of God - something that is of heaven, something that only God can do, something that only faith of heaven can produce.

The world is capable of getting a lot done through degrees and studies and Artificial Intelligence. The ability of man is: they get very far; they've gone to the moon. But for the Christian, we seek to be successful in the Lord, and He does the things of heaven. He makes a man who does not know the Lord, who does not carry the Spirit of God, to be able to hold the power and the treasure of the Lord inside of him. This is the breakthrough that we seek, to bring the Lord something that comes from ourselves.

And so she is going here year after year, desiring to bear something good to the Lord, that she would give back to Him in an act of worship. And it is all about giving back to the Lord to honor Him in the revelation of what He has done in our lives. How He has saved us, how He heals us, how He has provided for us. He has been so good to us.

And I understand that at first glance, you may think that it is a physical issue that Hannah has. But when you are spiritually unfruitful before the Lord, it is a spiritual matter, Church. God has to do something inside of our souls to break us and rend us and bring us to Himself. Let the Holy Spirit come and do a work inside of your heart this day, that you would bring something good to Him - the fruit of heaven, the gifts of the Spirit, the things that we are not able to do on our own - and bring Him something good.

"Everyone in America likes to say that they are saved, but it is important to show the evidence of Christ being birthed from within you."

For the Christian, it is not an option to bear the fruit of heaven. For a Christian, it is not okay for us not to bring something to God because it is the evidence that Jesus Christ is living inside of you. Everyone in America likes to say that they are saved, but it is important to show the evidence of Christ being birthed from within you. Christ in you, the hope of glory.

So you must bring forth the gift of God unto the world that all might see that there is a work going inside your heart like has never been done before. When the Lord saves you, you begin to change from the inside out and you no longer become about your own agenda. Where we used to be concerned about “my life” and “what I need” and “what I want” and “what I feel”. All of these different things: my kid, my job, my degree, my agenda, my commute to work. Those are the things that used to fill our mind. But God is calling us to change our prayer, to change your mindset this day. That we would pray just as Jesus did who said, “Let your kingdom come and let your will be done” in my life.

Submit yourselves before the Lord that He may have His way inside of you. And that is why the Scriptures also say, that whatever you ask in My Name, I will do. Because you are now about the will of God. You are about His desires. You are about His kingdom and not your own. You have given Him the authority and the kingship in your life. You've taken the crown off of your own head to determine what your future will look like, where you will go, what you will eat, what you will do, where you will work, and you allow yourself to be overtaken by God.

Too many Christians take their salvation for granted and the freedom and the blessings that come along with it, and they take it for themselves. But for us, we really, on a daily basis, should be saying with the same heart as Hannah, “How can I bless You?” Not just with a child, but “How can I honor You in my workplace? How can I bless Your Name and give honor to You in my household? How can my children be fully dedicated to You? Or just how can my life be given to You this day?”

It's not about a baby. It wasn't about a baby. It was about having something pure to give to God and not wanting to come to the house of the Lord empty-handed. Only God can break through our barrenness this day. Only God.

Seek the Lord. Come before Him. Present yourselves before God because He has a plan for your life. He has goodness in store for each one of us, to be children in the house of the Lord - to be worshiping him, to not worry about what the rest of the world is doing, but to be in God's house living out the destiny that you have been called to live.

Too many times, us as Christians, try to search out what the rest of the world is doing, but it's never going to bring you joy because you have been created by Him, for Him, to serve Him. And that's the only way that it will be well in your soul.

"There's a spiritual work that is going on and it must manifest itself in the physical…"

That transformation is coming in through the heart. There's a spiritual work that is going on and it must manifest itself in the physical so that other people may glorify God for what He has done in your life. God wants to be honored in our town. God wants to be honored in this nation. And it comes from those who have been transformed like you and me.

For Hannah, she came, she rendered her heart before the Lord, and it was going to result in something wonderful for her in the natural. And so let us not be overtaken by the world, by Peninnah's voice in your ear. “You can't do it. It's not going to happen. It's too late.” We will not lend an ear to her in that way. But God is going to bring about His vindication. He will be proven worthy in your life. He will be proven true in your life. For the Scriptures say in Psalm 35:24, “Vindicate me in Your righteousness, Lord my God. Do not let them gloat over me.”

Your Helper is coming. Do not be dismayed, Church. In this season, the church will be producing something good. Amen.

And so Hannah determines herself to pray. Hallelujah. She does not accept what the world is going to give to her. She won't accept the “no”. She won't accept the door being closed in her face. But she comes before the Lord with an urgency like she's never had before. Not for her own sake, but for the kingdom of God. And I tell you, this is not for the cowardly. This is not for those who are going to run away. This is for the audacious who are willing to risk it all to gain Christ this day, to lay it all before Him.

We are being called out of our comfort zones to put the Lord, to be able to do something in our life like never before that the world would see it. And so Hannah's prayer in the Bible, which we're about to read, is documented because there is something striking about her prayer that we have to pick up on this day. It is written in the Bible and under Jewish law regarding prayer - it says that it must be done in the manner of Hannah. That's what Jewish law says. It is a model for all prayer to be done in the manner of Hannah. And so we will see what is so special about the prayer before the Lord.

Hannah's Prayer

1 Samuel 1:10, “In her deep anguish, Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly. And she made a vow saying, ‘Lord Almighty, if You will only look on Your servant's misery and forget not Your servant, but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life and no razor will ever be used on his head.’” And just if that razor thing is throwing you off, it's just a matter of consecration for the child to be given to God all the days of his life. It was her making a vow before God to say, “This child will not belong to me, but will be used for only holy purposes unto the Lord.”

And so what is it that's so special about Hannah's prayer that gets God to move on her behalf? I'm sure there's somebody in the church today that needs to get God to move for them this day, to answer the prayers. And first we see that Hannah is poor in spirit. You see, she empties herself of everything that she thinks she has earned. She loses and throws the degrees aside, she throws the money aside, the cars aside, all of the things that we try to bring before the world to say that I have something to show. In the Lord, we must lose it all, we must become nothing so that He can become everything.

And so she goes before the Lord who allows her to see that she is poor in spirit. And that means that we are weak, that we have no ability to save ourselves, that we are sinful from birth and there's nothing that we can do on our own to change our situation. That's the very best place to be in, because God can move only for the one who knows that he is weak before the Lord; For the one that knows that they need God above all else. “I am helpless. I am broken. I am lost without You. Would You come through, oh God?” For a broken and contrite heart, God will not despise! Money, doctors, religion, none of it was going to do the breakthrough that Hannah needed. This was only going to come through the Spirit of God who is able to do all things.

In the Beatitudes, when Jesus preached, He said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God.” It belongs to those who have a heart that is empty before God, that says “Only You can do it. You alone can make me have something to bear You, something good. There's nothing good inside of me that can offer You anything that is useful for the kingdom of God. But You can do it, Lord, in me.” And we have Psalm 51, that that broken and contrite heart is what God desires. He desires humility above all else. It is not religion, it is not our accolades, it is not our degrees that we bring before the Lord, but a spirit that is poor.

Hannah also comes before the Lord bold, and this week I had to really understand; can you be both bold and poor in spirit? And certainly that answer has to be yes; that we approach the throne of God with boldness in what we're asking for, but we do not stand on our own righteousness. It is the righteousness of Christ who has earned our position to ask and petition God for whatever it is that we need. We come boldly before the throne of grace to ask God to “Give us something to give to You. Make me something useful, Lord. Do a transformation in me.” And we boldly come before the Lord with our petition.

Hannah was bold before God, very clear about what she wanted from the Lord. “Give me a son that he may worship You.” And this is very important for the day and the age that she was in. For Hannah, it was going to be a baby. She was a woman in the Jewish culture and tradition, and so that is what she could offer God. But for you, it's going to be something unique. What will you bring to the Lord this day? What will you ask Him for? Approach the throne of God with boldness in your heart.

Most importantly, we see in her prayer that her motivation is for God. Hannah comes before Him with a sincere heart, knowing that the Lord is a reader of hearts, He cannot be mocked this day. And I say to all of us that God knows where our desires lie. Our desire must be for the Lord so that your prayers may be answered. It wasn't going to be for herself. She didn't want a son to dress him up and go to Costco and parade his cute outfit. She didn't want a son for the family Christmas photo. She didn't want a son so that she could follow the status quo, what everybody was doing in their neighborhood. No, it was for the Lord alone! And this must be the motivation of our hearts - to desire God, to bless His name, and to give Him thanks for everything that He has done for us.

When I was young, my mother had taught me, don't go to anyone's house empty-handed. You have to bring a dish, flowers, a little gift, but whatever you do, don't go empty. You cannot show up before the Lord either without having something to give to Him.

Hannah could not bear the shame of showing up before the Lord with nothing to give back to God. And I know that that is some of our hearts this day. And so we, in this season, know that Christ is going to manifest Himself inside of you because the blessing is with Christ. Christ is the blessing to the whole world, and when you receive Him, He must come out. The fruitfulness is coming through the church this day - in you and in me, and we will bring forth the fruit that will last.

John 15:16, “You did not choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit - fruit that will last - and whatever you ask in my name, the Father will give you.” Hallelujah! Woo! There is power! Whatever you ask, what can God not give to you? What prayer can He not answer? What is it that we would ask God for and He would not give to you? There is power in the house of the Lord this day.

And so finally, we serve a God of breakthrough. We know how this story goes. As we read through it, we see that God does allow her to bear a son, and she names him Samuel, which means “I asked the Lord for him.” She fulfills her vows before God, bringing him to the temple that he would serve the Lord all the days of his life. And I really want you to focus on that phrase, “all the days of his life.” Because when it says all the days, it really means that she relinquished control over what God has given her. And that's really the key, because we like to have control over the things God gives, but He can only have His way and make it as beautiful as He wants to only if He has total control. We say we give our children to the Lord for His use, but then we have our hands meddling and interfering with what God wants to do. We say we want to glorify God in our job, but then we're still fearing the boss, and we're still sending the extra emails, and still staying the overtime to be able to win favor in the world. God wants you to trust Him with all of your heart so that He may have His way in the thing that He's using to show His magnificence to the whole world. God can't do it if our hands are still in it.

"...allow yourselves to thank God for all the good things in your life, not just come to Him when things are bad."

And so she was able to consecrate this little one to God and fully devote him to the Lord. People in the world like to use God. They like to ask Him for many different things, but as soon as they get it, they forget about God and they become complacent in their worship to the Lord; because now things are comfortable for them, and they're no longer begging God for the breakthrough, because He has gotten it. And I say that as a warning this day, because I know we are on the brink of some releasing of the Lord's blessing, and I want to say to the church this day the same thing that God said to Israel, “When you enter into the land flowing with milk and honey, do not forget Me.

When things get comfortable for you, when I bless you, when I give you the job, when you're able to pay for your groceries and not worry about it” - allow yourselves to thank God for all the good things in your life, not just come to Him when things are bad. Let the praises rise up, admonish Him, bring thanksgiving to Him, and remember the works that God has done. God must be a little reluctant to answer prayers because so many people have forgotten to come back and bring thanks. But this day I say to you, not Hannah, for she made good on her word, hallelujah, she brought him to the temple to praise God.

So my question is, “What will you do with what God has given you this day? How will God be glorified? How will your mouth give him honor? How will you share to the world of all the wonderful things that he has done?” Now in this story, we see the character of God in her life. Through her prayers and through her faith, the Lord was able to respond, and she was able to bear a son because she laid it all out and God moved in her life. Church, God is about to respond to your heartfelt prayers and your desire to bring something before Him. He is coming with fruitfulness and with a basket of abundance for you, for He's called you to have life and to have it in the fullness in this season. Who here is deciding to give a sacrifice to God? For when you decide to bring something good to the Lord, I want to tell you a little secret; He is going to provide the offering. Just as Abraham - who wanted to give something to God - God provided the offering in the form of a ram so that he would not come to the house of the Lord empty-handed. Just as parents give their children money to get them a birthday gift so that they will not come to the house empty-handed, your God is a good Daddy. He is a good Father that will provide the sacrifice.

Jesus Christ is our offering this day, whose body has been broken and His blood has been shed on the cross so that He would be your offering to the Lord this day. He is your good work, He is your goodness! Let the Lord Jesus Christ come forth in this season like never before, and may the children of God surround His table, giving memory, speaking of all that God has done. The barrenness must end this day and in this season. People must be blessing the Lord and recounting His goodness on the road, at the workplace, in the field, in the schools, wherever it is that you go; may God be glorified in each one of us. The Lord is bringing vindication in this season against Peninnah and against the world.

And you know, I want to tell you that Hannah prays a second time. She prayed for the son that God would give to her, and then she prays the prayer of victory. And you can find this if you just turn your page to chapter 2. This is the prayer of vindication, the work that only God Himself can do. And it says in 2nd chapter, verse 1, “Hannah prayed and said, ‘My heart rejoices in the Lord. In the Lord my horn is lifted high. My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in Your deliverance’” Hallelujah! This is - the horn lifted high is just a metaphor for a great victory that she's experiencing - nobody can steal this victory away from her. God had done it, and it was before the whole world to see what God had done inside of her. And no longer will the mouths be speaking, but they will be silenced in this place. For what did the mouth once speak? That nothing good would come out of Nazareth, but it did and God had the victory. And I say to you this day that something good is coming out of United Faith Church! Hallelujah! For He opposes the proud and He lifts up the humble in heart before Him.

And verse 2, “There is no one holy like the Lord. There is no one beside You. There is no rock like our God.” Who will come and find refuge in the one who is our rock, our strong tower, and our refuge - our source of strength? When we are weak, He lifts you up and you will not stumble. You will not die. He will be with you and the mouths of the enemy who gloated over you will be silenced. Do not be dismayed, do not be overwhelmed for the Lord your God is with you.

And so she continues in that song before the people, and she sings and rejoices in the victory that God had given her, but in verse 10 - I just want to take a special notice there - because she begins to prophesy about another king who is coming and whose strength would be upon us. In verse 10 she says “He will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed one.” And of course she is prophesying about the coming king, Jesus Christ, who has now come and who has given His life for us, that we would be strengthened this day, that you would boldly approach the throne of grace knowing the work that has already been done for you. Let Jesus Christ be birthed inside of you this day. The Lord is doing the work.

And we just know that, you know, this sermon today is for the one who doesn't want to show up in the house of God empty-handed any longer. And He has brought His salvation, He has brought healing, He has tended to our hearts, but in this season it should be the other way around. What can we bring to the Lord? How can we exalt him in this, you know, society? How can we exalt the Lord among our co-workers, and on the field, and among our friends? Would you come before the Lord with boldness and with the motivation of your heart to bring you something good. “Because of what You have done for me” in view of God's mercy, what will you bring to the Lord this day? For Hannah, it was going to be that baby, but for you this day, what will God give to you? That He would do a work in you this day, and that nobody could ever steal away from you, and that God would be glorified - That the Lord be glorified in this season.

“Sing, barren woman, you who never bore a child; Burst into song, and shout for joy, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who had a husband.” Do not be afraid, for you will not be put to shame. Do not fear disgrace, for you will not be humiliated! The Lord of your youth, remember Him, for you will remember the past no more.

Hallelujah.