From DISCOURAGEMENT into ENCOURAGEMENT
Turning DISCOURAGEMENT into ENCOURAGEMENT! Hannah said, “I am very DISCOURAGED, and I was pouring out my heart to the Lord.” 1 Sam 1v15 NLT. God does not want you living in DISCOURAGEMENT, worrying about your problem. God has the answer!
Hannah was a woman who was childless but believing for a child which in the natural looked impossible. But she does not give in to despair. Hannah needed a miracle breakthrough! She is in the tabernacle and “in deep anguish praying to the Lord.” Her lips were moving but there was no sound. James says, “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous person is very effective.” Hannah was not praying a pretty little prayer, she was desperate. Eli the priest observed her and thought she was drunk!
Hannah replied, “Oh no sir, I am a woman who is very DISCOURAGED, and I am pouring out my HEART to the Lord.” That is the KEY to answered prayer. You don’t give in to DISCOURAGEMENT! You pray more fervently to the Lord. Jeremiah said, “You will seek for me and find me, when you seek for me with ALL your heart.” God answered Hannah’s prayer. God spoke through Eli the priest “Go in peace and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him!” So, Hannah went her way, her countenance changed. She was smiling in FAITH knowing that God had answered her prayer. She was no longer DISCOURAGED; she was full of the joy of the Lord even though her child was not yet born. Hannah’s FAITH shone through DISCOURAGEMENT! Samuel was born! Hannah had turned being DISCOURAGED into the joy of being ENCOURAGED!
- Pastor John Morgan