A 'How Much More' Father

This morning I was reading out of 1 Samuel 1:11, 17-20 NIV:

[11]..."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 head.”

[17] Eli answered, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him. ” [18] She said, “May your servant find favor in your eyes. ” Then she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast. [19] Early the next morning they arose and worshiped before the Lord and then went back to their home at Ramah. Elkanah made love to his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her. [20] So in the course of time Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, “Because I asked the Lord for him.”

I was thinking about how interesting this move of God was in the course of Israel's history, and how it was initiated because of a deep personal need of Hannah. The birth of Samuel, and the resultant prophetic ministry, and leadership of Israel all came about because Hannah was being harassed by her husband's other wife, because she was barren. Hannah wasn't being all spiritual in her prayer, wasn't contemplating the coming spiritual revival her son would bring, or really anything more significant than she wanted a baby.

This encourages me, in that Hannah was just praying for her personal need. Sometimes I think we feel that prayers need to have some sort of Kingdom significance to really be heard. We think that the Lord answered her prayer, and our prayers because of what we commit to Him, in her case she offered her son to God's service. I believe that God was just as interested in meeting Hannah's need as He was in the deal she had made. He is a Father who love to bless His children. Jesus constantly revealed to us His Father's heart, and it was to bless and love and care for His children.

I may be weird, but I love it when my children come to me with requests for help. It gives me an opportunity to reveal my love for them in practical ways. I have an opportunity for outward expression of my love for them. I am reminded of a verse from Matthew: "If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" Matthew 7:11

Let us learn to turn to God, as a we would our earthly father (assuming your earthly father was good). Let us not shy away from asking for personal needs as we come to Him. He is more than capable of answering our prayers, and He can work the answer of any of those prayers into great moves of God on the earth. Everything God does has significance, we just need to ask Him to move. I heard someone describe the Lord as a "how much more" God, based on the verse above. He is not a God of 'just enough', but rather a God of "how much more"! God not only answered Hannah's prayer for a son, but added on so much more than she had prayed for, her son became one of the greatest leaders of Israel.

Let God demonstrate his "how much more" ability in your life!