The Household of Elkanah.1 Samuel 1:1-8 The impact of prayer, even in the dark days of departure, is felt in this book and should never be underestimated by us. At the beginning of this book, we are introduced to a dysfunctional family who lived in an obscure place and was far from being a happy family, yet still maintained a degree of devotion to God. Elkanah had not followed the basic principle of a home life of one man and one woman for life and was suffering the consequences and the difficulties he could do nothing about. It is difficult to keep family life as it should be, even in the best circumstances. Yet this man did take his family to the place God intended and observed what God wanted from him. We are not hopelessly abandoned because we do not do a good job in our families. But when we apply ourselves to what God intends to the extent we can, we must trust God to do what we cannot. Elkanah had a spiritual wife even though she seemed so sad and forlorn. No doubt she prayed in that home from a grieved spirit.
Hannah was likely Elkanah’s first wife, and when she didn’t have children, he took Peninnah, through whom he had children when this narrative began. People with faith may still become impatient, doubt themselves, and wonder if they understood what God intended for them. When people get married, they need to realize there is much more to marriage than affection, love, and having children. Some responsibilities and obligations will arise that we have not considered as we move through the seasons of life.
The marital problems of Elkanah's forbearers, like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, should have made him consider the consequences before taking two wives. And yet, we cannot be assured we will not have difficulties even though our marriages are as God intended. Any marriage needs more than natural affection to be fulfilling. Husbands and wives must share their full lives - body, soul, and together. We know what Hannah prayed about, and Elkanah took his family to the place God intended. A blended spiritual life of both husband and wife is fundamental to joy and contentment.
When a husband shares with his wife his commitment to truth and his goals in service for the Lord, she can sense she is a part of the most important things in his life. When there is spiritual discernment on the part of one, and hopefully both of them, those unknowns in life will be worked through when we accept divine guidance and act in harmony with each other.
This leads to perhaps the highest dimension of joy in a marriage relationship. When a woman shares her desire and devotion to God with her husband, they can pray together over the concerns of family life and all other aspects of life. Then, there is a special spiritual unity far more meaningful than anything else they do together.
This obscure family, living in an obscure village in the mountains of Israel when spiritual darkness and declension had come over the whole nation, would probably be the last place we would look for deliverance. But a man who didn't always do what was right but did honor God and an unhappy woman who didn't seem to have anything going for her were the ones God chose to begin a revival that reached the whole nation.
There are times when we are almost sure nothing more can ever be done because defeat is in the minds and hearts of God's people. We are sure the enemy has won, but unknown to us and likely anyone but God, in some isolated place, a broken-hearted woman kneels to pray. Angels watch as God bends His head low to hear what she says. In the corner of a simple house in a far and distant place, her voice is lifted, and tear-dimmed eyes look earnestly to the throne of grace to appeal on behalf of a nation that has turned from God to its own way. Very few saints with real concern take time to intercede and pray for others, particularly for a nation that seems to be hopelessly lost.
We are not many in number or important to those around us who have no interest in spiritual things. But who can tell what the Almighty God will do with the requests a few of us bring to Him as intercessors on behalf of our nation? By His grace, we will continue in prayer even though, in our smallness, we may sometimes doubt that it will make any difference. On the other hand, because of God's power and authority, He can quickly turn the bad things out. In a short time, He raises up a man or a woman who, in faith, believes fully in God, and they trust Him implicitly to do what man can't because He is the Master and Lord. In one plain answer, God can change things around so that all glory will be given to Him. The desired solution started to take form, which began with earnest intercession and prayer.