Zach Peters' Podcast
A place for sermons, reflections, and general pondering on life and stuff.
Zach Peters' Podcast
The Potential of Normal Part One
The story of Hannah reveals how God transforms ordinary lives through dedication and persistence, ultimately changing history through a family experiencing common struggles.
• Israel was spiritually adrift with corrupt leadership when God began working through Hannah's story
• Hannah suffered from infertility and cruel treatment from her husband's second wife, Penaniah
• Despite years of pain, Hannah and her husband remained dedicated to worship
• Hannah's prayer at the temple showed her willingness to dedicate her requested child back to God
• Before seeing results, Hannah's demeanor changed through prayer and faith
• Dedication isn't a single moment but a lifestyle built through consistent choices
• We aren't asked to be dedicated without being equipped with every tool we need
• Small, seemingly insignificant decisions for God stack up to produce spectacular results
• Our dedication impacts not only our lives but potentially generations to come
• Living a life of dedication doesn't require perfection, just persistence despite challenges
Give God your normal life, normal problems, and faithful dedication—He can use them to accomplish extraordinary purposes.
If you enjoy the content, please leave a review and share it with others. Thanks!
We're going to read a scripture 1 Samuel 1, but before we get there, we've got to understand something that Israel is in a dangerous place in their history in this moment, and their leaders, which are these family clan heads, these older gentlemen of these greater, richer families, and the priests, they were all just living however they wanted to live. They were just doing whatever they wanted to do and they were normal people living life, but they were completely ignoring the guidelines that God had given them in the Pentateuch and the Old Testament and they were completely abusing the blessings of God that he provided for them. And so it's just sort of in a pickle. They're in a problem, they don't even realize it and, worst of all, the priest the priest, the people who are supposed to be most connected to God, people who are supposed to help people remember God and his ways and his wisdom and how God wanted them to live they're some of the worst offenders, they're doing some of the worst stuff and so, spiritually, they're in trouble, and at least a practical trouble. And so, while all of this is happening, the Philistines are is this perpetual enemy of Israel. They're growing stronger and they're growing bolder, and so trouble is brewing on multiple fronts for Israel and the people of Israel, and the vast majority of them don't even realize it. They don't know what's coming their way. They're sort of just floating along doing whatever they want to do. They don't even realize that they need help, they don't realize that they need somebody, something. And so this group of people, this country, this hundreds of thousands of people, at this point they're heading in the wrong direction and this is where our scripture sort of comes into play today 1 Samuel, chapter 1. And really it is the story about one normal family trying to work through normal issues with their life, issues that wouldn't be unfamiliar to people in our circles. But it's the story of Elkanah, penaniah and Hannah and eventually Samuel. If there was a title for this sermon and really, by the way, you guys are getting a treat because for this sermon and really, by the way, you guys are getting treat because originally this sermon was 12 pages long I had 12 pages of notes for this sermon, but I figured maybe you don't want to be here for two hours. So this is now three sermons, three sermons. There was a series title for this thing, which I don't normally do, but it would be the potential of normal, the potential of normal, because God does some great stuff through this normal family that we see here in 1 Samuel, chapter 1.
Speaker 1:Let's read there was a certain man of Ramathium Zophim, of the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah. He had two wives. Don't know what he was thinking. Men, don't say amen to that. The name of one was Hannah. You can laugh later. You can laugh later. Listen, the first time I ever told that joke I got tons of laughter. I think we just thank you. Yes, thank you. Now, it was only men laughing, but anyway. But he had two wives and the name of one was Hannah and the other was Penaniah. And Penaniah had children, but Hannah had no children.
Speaker 1:In this society you probably are aware of this, but in this society, you know, 4,000, 5,000 years ago, it was exceptionally detrimental to a woman's honor and a family's honor if they could not have children. Like on a legal level, on a cultural level, on a social level, it just was not good that a woman couldn't have children. So it's a pretty bad situation for Hannah. Now. This man used to go up, year by year he was consistent from his city to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of Hosts at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, hophniah and Phinehas, were priests of the Lord. We find out later that they were pieces of work. That's for a different sermon.
Speaker 1:But Elkanah and his family, they were dedicated. Everyone say dedicated. Nope, let's try that again. Everybody say dedicated, dedicated. They were dedicated, dedicated. They went all the time right. He was consistent, this was just what he did.
Speaker 1:And listen, I don't know, I got three kids now and just going to church is almost an act of God. I don't know how Tara I come before Tara. So Tara does all that by herself. It's a miracle. It's a miracle she gets to church with three kids by herself. And she's got a car right. She's got Veggie right. She's got Veggie Tales podcast. She's got car seats. We've got roads, nice roads right. This family, they got a whole host of people. They got some camels, maybe some mules, and they don't got paved roads, they got some dirt roads. They've got bandits. They've got bad weather. They don't have windshield wipers because they have no windshields right. So this is an act of sacrifice. This is something that took effort to do every single year. This wasn't a vacation right? This was an act of sacrifice that turned into worship right for this family. It's obedience, it's dedication. There's that word again.
Speaker 1:On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to Penaniah, his wife, and to all her sons and daughters. But to Hannah he gave a double portion because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb. Obviously, elkanah loved Hannah despite her childlessness which, again, this is a unique kind of love considering the cultural standards when it comes to basically what woman had honor. It was a woman had honor if she bore male children. And Pananiah had Hannah Hatton. And yet Elkanah, out of his actual, genuine love, gives her a double portion. So it's a special kind of love. Verse 6,.
Speaker 1:And her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her because the Lord had closed her womb. So Penaniah makes fun of Hannah. This is slightly interesting to me and I could maybe do an entire sermon just on this one little idea here. But maybe Penaniah sensed and understood that she was not loved like she deserved to be loved. Penaniah was producing children. Penaniah was producing children. Penaniah was doing what a good wife was supposed to do. Hannah wasn't. And yet clearly, elkanah clearly loved Hannah more.
Speaker 1:And so out of that, perhaps jealousy, out of that sort of I don't know what way to describe it. Out of that bitterness, he lashes out at Hannah because she's not receiving what she perceives she deserves. It's not an excuse. She still shouldn't be doing it and in fact, this is sort of a warning for me and maybe for you. But don't let your bitterness at you not receiving what you think you deserve make you lash out at the other people around you who are receiving things that maybe you think you need. Don't be the bitter person, right? Bitterness produces horrible, horrible things. Fight the urge to do that.
Speaker 1:And so this went on year by year. This is not a one-time struggle. This is not a one-time trip. This is not a one-time being made fun of. This is not a one-time waking up and realizing that you're not pregnant again. This is a year by year thing. All the time, as often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she used to provoke her. This is Penaniah towards Hannah.
Speaker 1:Therefore, hannah wept and would not eat, and Elkanah, her husband, said to her Hannah, why do you weep, why do you not eat and why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons? This is a classic case of a husband not catching a hint. That's what this is. Elkanah clearly loves Hannah, but basically he's saying, well, I love you. Is that enough, hannah? He's not getting the point and that can be frustrating. I know that. I know for 100%. I did some stuff to terror like that where I'm just not getting it right, and it can be hurtful when the people that you love the most and people that love you the most just don't understand what you're going through. Ever had a moment like that before? People around you just didn't get it right. It's frustrating, it's very frustrating.
Speaker 1:Verse 9, and they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh. After they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh, hannah rose and now Eli, the priest, was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the Lord and she was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly. All she had left were tears and prayers, which sounds like the name of a soft rock band album in the 90s and she vowed a vow Thank you, tara. And she vowed a vow and said O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look upon the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your, you'll notice that dedication Dedication started before the child was even there. Before the child was even born, hannah went ahead and decided this child is for God. As she continued to pray before the Lord, eli observed her mouth. Hannah was speaking in her heart, only her lips moved and her voice was not heard. Therefore, eli took her to be a drunken woman.
Speaker 1:Eli, this man of God, is so out of place. He's so used to drunk people showing up at the temple at this point. That's how bad it is. It's not out of character for someone to show up drunk, so he just assumes this woman is drunk. He's so out of touch. Things are so bad. This is just a little glimpse, a little hint about how bad things were that people were showing up drunk to church and it was just a normal thing for him to experience.
Speaker 1:He doesn't recognize the desperation in Hannah, verse 14,. And Eli said to her how long will you go on being drunk? Put your wine away from you. But Hannah answered no, my Lord, I'm a woman troubled in spirit. I've drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I've been pouring out my soul before the Lord. Do not regard your servant as worthless woman. For all along I've been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation. And Eli answered go in peace and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to him. And she said let your servant find favor in your eyes. Then the woman went away and ate and her face was no longer sad. Eli recognizes the mistake, blesses Hannah and then Hannah is changed right before that prayer is actually answered. I want you to catch this. You guys won't be here next week, but we'll talk about this next week. Before the child arrived, her prayers changed her situation. Before she was pregnant, she prayed and she walked into this moment not being able to eat. She walked into this moment weeping with tears and she walks out with her head held high and she went and ate. There's a change. Even before there was a miracle. There was a change because of prayer.
Speaker 1:We're not going to read the rest of the scripture, but guess what happens next? You guys know that's right. She gets pregnant, she gives birth to Samuel and Samuel turns into a priest. He turns into a prophet. He saves Israel. He leads Israel back into right, standing with God. He's a judge. He's sort of a warrior priest. He leads an army and, probably more importantly for the grand scheme of history and even connecting to Jesus. He's an anointer of kings, right. He anoints Saul, he anoints David and out of the house of David a Savior comes for all of humanity and then Hannah gives that miracle back to God, takes him back to the temple, like she said she would.
Speaker 1:And it's an interesting story to me and, besides being probably a good baby dedication story which we probably should have preached on last week, probably should have used this last week or maybe a couple weeks ago before, whenever Danielle and Brandon were dedicating their kids. But there's just some stuff here in this and, again, this used to be one sermon, it's now three sermons, so we're going to touch on some of this today. But there's just a lot here. There's a whole lot here and I'm going to focus on one thing this week. But I just think it's interesting that this story, this book 1 and 2 Samuel, are largely about sort of kings right, the birth of modern Israel, right.
Speaker 1:That's what this is and it's sort of grand and you've got David and Goliath, you've got all these great stories in 1 and 2 Samuel and it starts with this normal family. It doesn't start with David, it doesn't start with a king, it doesn't start with some ruling class or ruling family. It doesn't even start with a priest. It starts with Hannah, who's a normal woman dealing with a problem that many women face, and she's just trying to do her best. And out of that normalcy, out of her dedication, out of their dedication and their lifestyle, is produced something that changes the course of human history, eventually leading to Jesus Christ, and I think that's special. It's the potential of normal. The potential of normal, because while you might feel like you are normal and your problems are normal and your potential is normal, the reality is God can do something with normal. God can do something with normal.
Speaker 1:I also think it's interesting that this dedicated family is dedicated every step of the way, minus Penaniah. I guess she's dedicated to being a jerk to Hannah, but that's not what we're talking about. Okay, but they're dedicated every step of the way. And sort of my focus point for today, in sort of the grand scheme of this scripture, is dedication is bigger than one day. It's bigger than one day. Right Before there was a struggle to have a child, their family traveled and worshiped and celebrated God.
Speaker 1:That was dedication. During the struggle to have a child, they still traveled and worshiped and celebrated. That's dedication. Before there was a miracle, there was a decision to give that miracle back to God. That's dedication. When the miracle arrived, there was a choice to follow through that's dedication. And we go on to read in the story that out of that dedication, out of her following through, god blesses Hannah with five more children, because that's how good God is.
Speaker 1:But the dedication of Samuel was more than just one moment. It was more than just one decision. It was more than just one prayer. It was a lifestyle years in the making for this family. It wasn't just about that one prayer. That was just the one part where things started happening. There were years and years and years and years of problems and dedication. Before that, getting to dedicate Ivy last week made me start thinking about this process, and whenever we dedicated Brandon and Danielle's kids a couple of weeks ago, it made me think about this.
Speaker 1:But the choice to dedicate Ivy didn't just start with me. It started with my parents. They had to make a decision in their life years ago, before they even knew I was going to show up, that they were going to dedicate their lives to serving God. Now, my dad did that much later in life than my mom did, but at some point before I was here. They dedicated their lives to serving God and then, when I did show up, they continued that dedication in an effort so that I might have that same dedication one day as well.
Speaker 1:Was it always perfect? Absolutely not. There were some days they had to drag me to church when I didn't want to go to church. There were some days when they had to tell me no when it would have been much easier to tell me yes. There were some days when they had to tell me no when it would have been much easier to tell me yes. There were some days when I had to get some spankings or some whoopings right, because guess what? They probably didn't want to do that. If they're like me, I don't want to punish my kid, I don't want to do that. But you do what's necessary because you are dedicated to dragging your kids to God. Can all the parents say amen, amen. It was more than one day. Dedication was more than one day. It was a process for my parents. It's a process for me, for my parents. Same could be said about John and Denise, with Tara and all the gaggle of women. You had right. So it's the same. It's the same. You get it.
Speaker 1:And, by the way, just because maybe your parents didn't do a good job of this dedication process doesn't mean that you are now stuck in a life of non-dedication. It starts with you, right, wherever you are. My dad got saved when he was 27 years old. 27 years old, got married like a year and a half later and because he was such a baby Christian, I had the. I don't know. I guess maybe the grace and the mercy and the Holy Spirit was helping me, but I observed the fact that he grew in dedication to God. It was a process. Here he is as a baby Christian. My mom's been saved her entire life. I'm going to tell you that was the cause of some consternation, but they grew. That was the cause of some consternation, but they grew. They were dedicated to being dedicated. They were dedicated to God, and it started at age 27 for my dad. It started at age 8 for my mom. It doesn't matter what your parents did. It starts with you, wherever you are. It certainly helps if your parents are trying to do the right thing.
Speaker 1:And if we're really talking about where dedication starts, it starts with Jesus. Right, because we have nothing to be dedicated to unless Jesus shows up 2,000 years ago and dedicates his life to us, to everybody, not just us, but also the people who are going to hate him, also to the people who will never believe in him, to the people who will mock him and mock people who love him. And yet he still showed up and dedicated his life to them, for them, through his life, death and resurrection. That's where dedication starts, and so we are not asked to be dedicated without also being sort of invited into the dedication of Jesus and his life. But dedication just keeps going. It doesn't stop. After one day.
Speaker 1:Tara and I are going to have to struggle and fight and try every day to make this decision to dedicate our lives to God and help dedicate Ivy and the other kids to God. We're going to work through that every single day. I'm going to tell you I know it's tough. I was a youth pastor for 10 years and I saw a lot of parents struggling with this process of dedicating their lives to God and thus also dedicating their children to God. It is tough, it's tough. My kids are little, and it's already tough. They don't even have access to the Internet or phones or any of that mess right now, and it's already tough Already tough. By the way, this isn't just for parents, this is for us on an individual level, because I know there are days when I wake up and it is tough to keep Christ at the center of my life. I know it is, I just know it is. But dedication just keeps going and dedication will eventually produce results. And that's the challenge for us in this room, not just for parents, not just for grandparents, but for all of our lives as Christians, as people who love God.
Speaker 1:No-transcript. It's more than a Sunday thing. It's more than a Wednesday thing. That's our secondary night of worship down here in the South. I know a lot of you guys do Friday up North, but it's more than the four walls of the church sort of thing.
Speaker 1:Dedication is an everyday, everywhere, sort of all-encompassing thing, and it requires effort, it requires time and it is tough. Romans 12, verse 1 says this I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. That is a very packed little verse right there, but it's a living sacrifice, living sacrifice, and the thing about living is that it's happening all the time. If you are alive All the time, you are invited in your life to live a life of worship. In every phase, every season, every moment of your life, you have a chance to dedicate your life, which turns into, as the scripture points out, an act of worship to God, which once again jaws out the point that worship is more than a song.
Speaker 1:Worship is more than just a moment on a Sunday. It's more than just a Christian worship song on the radio, on on, I almost said on your, on your, oh, what was it? Ipod, I almost said iPod, that's a. Wow, I can't believe. That's old now. Yeah, way back when, just 20 years. But it's more than that. Worship is a lifestyle. It's a living sacrifice. You are invited to be a living sacrifice. And don't get me wrong Once again.
Speaker 1:I know this can be tough, I know it's not easy, I know it can almost be a burden to think about the fact that I've always got to think about Jesus. I've always got to have him at the center of my choices and my decisions. I've always got to try to do the right thing. That's a burden, that's heavy, that's tough, because half the time I can't remember what we're doing during a day. Tara's the calendar keeper. I don't know what we're doing, and so to think that I've got to remember something about Jesus as I'm trying to do something for work or I'm trying to have a conversation with somebody, that's a lot of pressure.
Speaker 1:But I hope you caught the words at the beginning of verse one here that says by the mercies of God. By the mercies of God that's the qualifier for being a living sacrifice. By the mercies of God. Let me tell you what that means. It means God will provide what you need to live a life pleasing to him. He's not asking you to do something and you just have to do it on your own.
Speaker 1:It's by his mercies. He's gonna give you grace, he's gonna give you love. He's gonna give you mercy. He's gonna give you the anointing of the Holy Spirit. He's gonna give you his word. He's going to give you the anointing of the Holy Spirit. He's going to give you his word. He's going to put the right people in your life if you'll let him. He's going to put you in the right church if you will let him.
Speaker 1:Once again, he's going to give you the Holy Spirit. Who is God living inside you? Who's going to help you every step of the way. Who's going to unlock things in your life that you need so that you can be dedicated to him? He's not asking you to do a job that you don't have the tools for. He says here's the job I need you to do. Be a living sacrifice. Oh, and, by the way, here's every single tool you need to get it done, right. There's nothing worse than showing up to a job site and not having the right tools, right? I did that to Dave one time going down to South Georgia. We showed up to do something. Dave was kind enough to help me out, do something and I probably brought like a hammer. I brought a hammer and we needed much more than a hammer. God's not doing that to us in our life to be a living sacrifice in our quest to be dedicated to him. Every single day, he is granting us and guaranteeing us the reality that we have the tools we need to get the job done. Amen. I'm thankful for that because I can't do it on my own. My dad couldn't do it on his own at 27 years old. My mom couldn't do it on her own, being saved from eight years old, right? So everybody, everywhere, when you step into this journey. You got the tools. You got the tools. Don't panic, don't fret, don't freak out. You've got the tools. Don't panic, don't fret, don't freak out. You've got the tools to get the job done.
Speaker 1:Often, what we don't understand or see when it comes to living a life of dedication are the seemingly minuscule gains that happen every time we make a decision for God. That maybe we don't necessarily notice or see in the moment, but what happens is that they stack on top of one another. Over and over Boring day, boring decision after boring decision, they stack on top of each other to produce spectacular results. We're not going to be able to finish breaking this entire scripture down today, but let me just point out that out of this dedicated family's life was produced a change for this one woman. Really, samuel was just the answer prayers to one woman, but this one answered prayer out of this dedication ends up being an answered prayer for the entire nation.
Speaker 1:But it was impossible to see that in the moment, in the process of dedication, you're going to miss some stuff, you're not going to be able to see the things that God is doing, but you keep going, you keep moving. You can't necessarily see in the moment of chaos and exhaustion, of getting your kids ready for church, getting your family to church, what that might mean for the future of your children and their children. You can't see it in the moment. You can't Right. Me and Tara both joked yesterday it'd be easier just not to show up to church. And I'm the preacher, right? You can't see. You can't see. I'll be honest with you guys. I spend four to ten hours a week preparing a sermon. That's how much time I spend on this thing, sometimes more, sometimes less. And while I appreciate every single person who comes here, you know there is a human side of me, a fleshly side of me, that gets disappointed whenever this place isn't packed out. God, what am I really doing this for? But it's not about that, is it? It's about stacking those choices, stacking these moments to see what will happen.
Speaker 1:You might not see the result of your prayer that you decide to pray every day whenever you're on your way to work. You might not see the result of what's going to happen when you decide to read a couple of verses every single day. You might not see that immediately, but we're not talking about immediate results. We're talking about a lifetime of dedication. We can't tell what all of that's going to produce in ourselves and outside of ourselves in the future. It's going to impact you. You'll probably feel better whenever you sing a worship song in the car. You'll probably feel better whenever you offer God a little prayer. You'll probably even feel better when you read a scripture, even though you might not understand what it's saying, which is me half the time, which is probably why I'm a preacher, because I have to sit there and figure it out and I can't move on until I do Right. But you probably feel a little bit better. But you might not see any sort of crazy spectacular result.
Speaker 1:In the moment and in a world where we do have instantaneous access to all kinds of stuff we've got Instacart, we've got Grubhub, we've got DoorDash, we've got all this kind of stuff where we can get stuff like this I think maybe we get a little discouraged whenever we're trying to live a life of dedication and we're not seeing the results that we want to see. But keep going. Something will happen from your dedication. Hannah kept going, year by year, it said, she struggled. Year by year she got made fun of. Year by year went by and Pananiah was giving birth again. And here Hannah is struggling and suffering and hurting and in pain and anxious and can't eat and all of this stuff. But she's living a life of dedication and then one day it all changed because of the dedication she had.
Speaker 1:When you start a strength training program, I like to work out. It doesn't necessarily look like it, but I've been working out for a long, long, long time. But when you start a program and you're trying to get into shape, you're trying to be healthy, trying to get some functional strength. So you don't, you know, break your hand every time you're trying to do something. You're joking. There you go, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1:I appreciate that it takes time to see results, matter of fact. So if you work out three times a week for at least 30 minutes, it will take at least this is on the generous side. It'll take six weeks for you to start noticing any physical difference and it'll be a slight Like oh, that little tiny muscle wasn't really there before, or there's a muscle there, right. Six weeks, so a month and a half before you start seeing anything, anything, right. Three times a week, 30 minutes right, that's not a lot of time, but it's. You know that when you're busy, that's a lot takes three, it'll take you up to 18 to 24 months to fully develop the muscles that you have.
Speaker 1:On a plan like that Two years, two years and you're not really seeing results for months and months, and months and even at the end because our bodies have a funny way of not noticing new things on our body you might not even notice a difference. That's a lot of 30-minute sessions. That's a lot of days whenever you're not seeing nothing. It's not like you lift a weight and oh, oh, you might feel like that you get a little pump going. That can happen, but you're not really doing anything. Oh, that muscle's a little firmer after that workout, well, yeah, but then next morning you wake up, it's back to normal again. It takes time.
Speaker 1:You can't see the biological and the chemical gains that you're making every time you lift a weight. You can't see what your cells are doing in the moment. You can't see what the muscle fibers are doing in the moment. You can't see what they're doing whenever you sleep and your body is telling, through hormones and through your nervous system, saying that these muscles need to grow because this person keeps working and so they need more strength to be more efficient in doing it. You can't see all of that happening. You can't see how your dedication is stacking on top of itself to produce a result that you want to have in your life.
Speaker 1:It is the exact same spiritually. You can't necessarily see the dedication and what it does in your life. You might struggle today. You might be trying to do your best today and you mess up. You make a mistake. Don't lose heart, keep going. Keep going.
Speaker 1:Day by day. Life goes on. Sometimes we're like Hannah and you know we're left with these tears and we're left with these prayers. That's all we've got left and we've got to believe that he's listening and that he knows what we're doing. He knows and cares what we're going through. Don't be so discouraged by life that you stop being dedicated to Him. Right, he's worthy. He's worthy regardless of what we're going through. It sort of ties in here. This is not a call of perfection, by the way. I'm not saying a life of dedication is a life where you're going to get everything right. It's a call to be your best, try your best and trust God that he will do the rest. Okay, that's what this is. That's what your walk with God is.
Speaker 1:So, wherever you are in your path with God, and I pray and hope that we all believe that we are still growing and getting better every single day because, unlike your body, there's no limitation, spiritually, to how much we can grow. I'm gonna tell you there's a limitation. I've already tried. I cannot. I tried my hardest, my entire life. I cannot get jacked. I can't. I've worked out hard. It is not in my biological nature to be able to get jacked. I'll be in shape. That's fine, right, I'm going to do it. Spiritually speaking, though, there's no limit, there's no plateau, there is no genetic sort of thing standing in the way of you being the best you can be.
Speaker 1:And so, whether you've been here just a little bit longer than some of us, or whether, like little Adeline in here who I pray she gets saved soon where there is no limit to the growth that you can continue to experience your entire life. And I know there's distractions and I know there's pains, I know there's temptations, I know there's stress, I know there's anxiety, I know there's problems, but I also know there's a Savior, I know there's a provider, I know there's a king, I know the author of life. I know all of these things about God. So, and hopefully you understand that and know that as well. So don't be discouraged, don't be stuck in a moment, in a season of pain, thinking that, well, I'm going to give up because there's no point Keep going. Stay dedicated, amen, amen.
Speaker 1:Let's pray real quick. Heavenly Father, thank you that you allow us your mercy and your grace and you invite us into this process of dedication. God, I pray that you would just encourage us in this moment. If there are people in here right now who are sort of maybe stuck in a season of stasis, a stagnation, lord, I pray that you would just I don't know just energize them, rejuvenate them, use their friends, use their family, use me, use a worship service, use a prayer, use a scripture to just incite some excitement about the process of being dedicated to you.
Speaker 1:Lord. God, if there are people in here who are walking through moments and they're sort of like Hannah and they're at the end of what they can handle, I pray right now, in the name of Jesus, that their dedication would produce a result for their life that would not only change their situation but change church, change a family, change a community. God, but I pray that your word, your word, would be in our heart and be in our mind, and that we would simply just keep this in our mind and no matter where we are on this journey with you, god, in this process, I pray that we would not grow weary of well-doing, that we would hold fast to you and to your goodness and to your mercy and to the calling that we have to share the gospel and to be a living sacrifice. In Jesus' name, I pray and we all said amen.