Live Boldly

  • Live Boldly

    Hannah’s Prayer – He Knows

    Hannah’s prayer continues with her acknowledging that God is all knowing. “Speak no more in your pride. Do not let proud talk come out of your mouth. For the Lord is a God who knows. Actions are weighed by Him.” (1 Samuel 2: 3) No doubt as Hannah said these words, she was thinking of Peninnah’s arrogance and chiding. Hannah did not have to get even with Peninnah. She knew that God is all-knowing and that He will judge all sin and pride and she wisely left judgement up to God. Hannah’s example reminds us that we need to resist the temptation to take justice into our own hands. God…

    Comments Off on Hannah’s Prayer – He Knows
  • Live Boldly

    Hannah’s Prayer – My Rock

    Then Hannah prayed. After worshiping the Lord and giving her son to serve Him all the days of his life, her next action was to pray. “My heart rejoices in the Lord!    The Lord has made me strong.Now I have an answer for my enemies;    I rejoice because you rescued me. No one is holy like the Lord!    There is no one besides you;    there is no Rock like our God.” Hannah was again pouring her heart out to God, but this time she used her voice. She let everyone hear the passion she had for God and the confidence she felt in knowing that God had ultimate control over the events in her life. She had come to…

    Comments Off on Hannah’s Prayer – My Rock
  • Live Boldly

    I Am That Woman

    When the time came for Hannah to take Samuel to the house of the Lord to live she brought him to Eli and said, “Pardon me, my lord. As surely as you live, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord.  I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him.  So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.” And they worshiped the Lord there.” Hannah was sharing her testimony with Eli as she presented him with her gift from God, her son Samuel. In these few verses she shared what made her a Godly Woman of Influence,…

    Comments Off on I Am That Woman
  • Divine Encounters

    Better Than Before

    I was sitting on my couch the other night looking out the window and reminiscing about the last few years at this house. Three years ago I stood at this window crying. We had just begun to move in and the house was in need of a deep cleaning and updating. It smelt like cats and I had lost count of the number of spiders that I had removed. The streetlight was shining brightly through the window that night just as it was on this night. Then it felt overly bright and invasive, but now it was more like a warm glow that gave a peaceful feeling of a restful…

    Comments Off on Better Than Before
  • Live Boldly

    Letting Go

    One of the many lessons that we can learn from Hannah is letting go. She understood that all we have and receive on this earth is on loan from God. She could have made excuses for keeping her young son and few would blame her if she became a possessive mother. But when God answered her prayer, she followed through on her promise and dedicated Samuel to God’s service. Hannah discovered that the greatest joy in having a child is giving that child fully and freely back to God. She entered motherhood prepared to do what all mothers must eventually do – let go of their children. The bible tells…

    Comments Off on Letting Go
  • Live Boldly

    Keeping Promises

    The Lord answered Hannah’s prayer and she gave birth to a son and named him Samuel. Imagine the joy she felt as she held the answer to her prayers in her arms. Kissing his sweet little cheeks, smelling the new baby scent as she rocked him to sleep. Counting all his fingers and toes as she gently rubbed each one. How many times she must have caught herself staring at the miracle before her. Then there were the moments of remembering her promise to God. She had promised that if He would give her a son, she would give him back to the Lord for all the days of his…

    Comments Off on Keeping Promises
  • Live Boldly

    A Remedy for Discouragement

    At the beginning of Hannah’s story she had been discouraged to the point of being physically sick and unable to eat and then in the middle of it she returned home well and happy. What changed? First she poured her heart out to God holding nothing back. Completely honest about her feelings and the desires of her heart. Next she received encouragement from Eli. Once he saw the truth of her earnest praying, he blessed her. Finally she resolved to leave the problem with God. Her example gives us the remedy for discouragement. As Godly Women of Influence we have the opportunity to participate in this remedy from both ends.…

    Comments Off on A Remedy for Discouragement
  • Live Boldly

    Snap Judgements

    A snap judgement is defined as a hasty decision or opinion and I’m sure that we all have made them at one time or another. Sometimes those decisions are spot on and other times they miss the mark. While Hannah was pouring out her heart to God, her lips moved but her voice was not heard. Eli the priest was observing her and made a snap judgement that she was drunk and rebuked her. But Hannah replied, “Not so, my lord! I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the Lord.  Do not take your servant for a wicked…

    Comments Off on Snap Judgements
  • Live Boldly

    Vows

    Please God! Help me! I will do anything if You will just help me right now! Have you ever felt or prayed that way before? In our desperation we are willing to do just about anything to get the help we desire but when the moment has past do we follow through with our vows? 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 remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his…

    Comments Off on Vows
  • Live Boldly

    Hannah Stood Up

    One time when Elkanah and his family had finished eating and drinking at Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on his chair by the doorpost of the Lord’s house. In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly. (1 Samuel 1:9-10) That was the moment when everything changed. She had been sitting down for a long time. For many years she had been down, allowing things to happen the way they came. Allowing things to affect her and people to hurt her.  But then came a day; the day Hannah stood up. We all have that moment deep within us when we cannot just sit any longer…

    Comments Off on Hannah Stood Up