Perspective
The chief end of man is not just to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. This is the classical view.
The Biblical view is that given by Jesus as the Greatest Commandment which has 2 parts.
Matt 22:37-40; Mark 12:29-31; Luke 10:27
- Love God – with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength
- Love your neighbor – as you love yourself.
Our Goal at CrossCulture is to know God better. In so knowing Him to be able to worship and love Him with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. In doing so, God gets the glory and we enjoy Him. And our joy overflows enough to compel us to love our neighbor and to share Christ with others.
Prayer
What is your general attitude and expectation about Prayer?
1 & 2 Samuel – Background.
- Judges to Seer-Prophet – God’s choice
- Judges to Kings – Man’s choice
1 Samuel 1 – will enable us to know Him a little better and to enjoy knowing Him
Everytime we get to know something more about God, it should inspire us to both love and enjoy Him
- God closed her womb (v.6) – God has the ability to do what we normally presume to be bad or even “evil” things or actions.
- I Samuel 2:6,7
- Isaiah 45:7
- Exodus 4:11
- “Acts of God” in insurance waivers or disclaimers are normally "evil" disasters.
- God wants her to ask (v.10,-16). God wants to show that He is a responsive God.
Pouring my soul
- 1 John 5: 14 –“According to His will” simply means praying for something that does not contradict God's design or pervert His word. It is often misinterpreted fatalistically as "God will answer if it is His will" which is a meaningless oxymoron and definitely NOT the way God wants us to understand it. People who use and believe it wrongly, rarely get answers to prayer because it is like saying you want something from God but you since you don't know His will, you are not sure if He will answer. (Read Praying According to God's Will - The Right and Wrong Interpretations and Theology and "...according to your Faith...")
- John 14:13,14
- John 15:7
- John 16:23,24
- John 16:26,27 – relationship
- Matthew 7:7-11
- James 4:2,3 – You have not because you ask not.
- Hezekiah in Isaiah 38 and 2 Kings 18
- God wants her to make a special vow (v.11)
- This is a special dispensation for her because God had already pre-determined that he would change the leadership of
- Normally it is not advisable to make an oath or vow.
- Numbers 30
- Ecclesiastes 5:4-6
- Jephthah – Judges 11:30ff
- Saul – I Samuel 14:24,28 –
- 1 Samuel 14: 37ff - violated vow stops God from responding to prayer
- God wants her to worship, love and enjoy Him
- (v. 18-20) - Peace and assurance of answered prayer even before it is actually granted or realized
- Hannah fulfilled her vow (v.22,28)
- Hannah experienced the joy of the Lord and the joy of fulfillment
- (v.24-28) – remember to bring an offering to the Lord every time your petitions are actually granted by God
- (2:1-10) – Hannah did not forget to thank and praise the Lord
- (2:20-21) – 3 more sons and 2 daughters + the honor of being the mother of Samuel, the last judge, the first Prophet-Seer, anointer of King Saul and King David. Jesus, was called Son of David.
- God's "Trial-and-Error" Attempts to Create a People of Faith for His Kingdom
- Covenant-Relationship Theology in a Nutshell
- Relational Theology Makes Prayer Meaningful
- Relational Prayer that gets Answers vs. the Vending Machine God
- Prayer that God does NOT answer, NORMALLY
- The concept of Faith from a Relational/Biblical Perspective
- Relational Theology Makes Evangelism Meaningful and Critical
- Relational Theology Makes Finding God's Will a Meaningful and Useful Experience
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