1. Keep your word (21-23)

Hannah did not go up for the annual sacrifice; she stayed home with her new baby. Her husband reminded her of her vow. She must have struggled a lot, but she made a decision to keep her promise to God. She would take her son to the temple in Shiloh and leave him there to serve God all his life.

2. Hannah gives Samuel to the Lord (24-28)

Samuel was a very young boy when his parents took him to the house of the Lord in Shiloh. They might have found many excuses not to leave him there: Eli was an old man; he had not raised his own sons very well; Samuel was too young--he might get homesick. But they made no excuses. After offering a sacrifice to the Lord, Hannah told Eli that the Lord had answered her prayer and given her a son. Now she was giving him to the Lord for his whole life. She knew that the living God had answered her prayer. Hannah feared God and kept her promise.

Application: Lord, grant mothers of prayer like Hannah for our times.
One Word: Given to the Lord--for keeps