heaven's tree book club

A BREAKTHROUGH MOMENT
I read the title of this chapter and become very discouraged. It is now evening time today and my joint condition is worse than it has been for a week.It had showed signs of improvement for the past couple of days and today was like three steps back. I also woke up very tired and with little sleep. Stool elimination was very little today and overall health is down. Emotionally, today has been a discouraging day. I had no dreams of healing or hope. Yesterday's chapter about facing difficulties really was prophetic. I had the vision yesterday and my difficulties today seem now to put my dream to the test. I am quite discouraged today. O, that I would have a breakthrough moment. 
 "Hannah could be called "the First Lady of Prayer" because she's the first woman whose petition is recorded in Scripture. Her story is related in some detail, showing us how God uses deep human need as a springboard to accomplish his purposes. Whenever he does this, believers receive answers they can hardly believe.
Hannah lived in Israel during an era of great lawlessness, a time when no king ruled and "everyone did as he saw fit" (Judges
21:25). To make matters worse, she shared her husband, Elkanah, with an unpleasant woman named Peninnah, who was his second wife. Hannah's inability to have children made her the constant brunt of Peninnah's taunts.
Year after year this man [Elkanah] went up from his town to worship and sacrifice to the Lord Almighty at Shiloh Whenever the day came for Elkanah to sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters. But to Hannah he gave a double portion because he loved her, and the Lord had closed her womb. And because the Lord had closed her womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her. This went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the Lord, her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat (1 Samuel 1:3-7).
Constantly tormented, with no offspring of her own, weeping and unable to eat, Hannah seemed mired in a hopeless situation. In the midst of her pain, she didn't know what God was about to do. She had no idea that he was going to raise up a prophet who would lead his wayward people back to himself. Nor did she know that God would choose her, among all the women of Israel, to bear that child. God chose this heartbroken woman out of compassion and grace. And he used a remarkable method to bring about the birth of Hannah's son, Samuel.
Once when they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on a chair by the doorpost of the Lord's temple. In bitterness of soul Hannah wept much and prayed to the Lord. And she made a vow, saying, "O Lord Almighty, if you will only look upon 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" (1 Samuel 1:9-11).
This prayer, one of the greatest in the Bible, not only changed Hannah's life, but also altered the history of Israel. Scripture doesn't say what finally drove Hannah to stand and pray that day, but it led to a breakthrough moment with God. This is the process the Lord often uses—working out his plans through weak human beings who feel compelled by their need to pray.
Incredibly, we have the same potential in prayer that Hannah did. Like Hannah, our "breaking point" can lead to a "breakthrough" if it spurs us to call on God. Hannah asked for a son, but God gave her much more. The long, depressing cycle that had continued year after year was broken in just a few moments spent with God."
Hannah's situation cannot really be understood today in our western context. It is a part of many cultures still today to produce children and the high value placed on that. Not only did Hannah not have children, the other wife provoked her because of her inability to have a child. It was a deep emotional wound. Difficulties drive us to prayer. For Hannah, her prayer led to the birth of Samuel, a strong spiritual leader who would bring the people back to God. We often have deep human needs. Today, joblessness, health problems, singleness, and apparent purposelessness often weigh me down. These are basic and legitimate needs that God discusses. The author says when God answers, He brings about a response we can hardly believe. It appears difficult for me to believe today when my health situation is worse today than in previous days. It is difficult today when I go online and can't find any jobs I qualify for. I did receive four e-mails today addressing individually each one of my four biggest needs of health, companionship, vocation, and ministry though none of these e-mails contain any sort of certainty. The mere fact that all four e-mails came today signifies to me that God is aware of my four needs today. I continue to pray for breakthrough.
  
"Hannah's encounter with the Lord was not about emotional fanaticism. Her example assures us that a prayer- answering God can resolve seemingly hopeless situations. If we deny or doubt that fact, we are the losers. Many times, sons and daughters are wooed back to the Lord through a mom or dad breaking through in prayer. Great things still happen when we follow Hannah's example and appeal to the Lord.
Hannah's sorrow, tears, and anguish showed the earnestness and intensity of her petition. Rather than offering a superficial prayer, she prayed from her heart's deepest desire. It is tragic that heartfelt prayer is out of style in many churches because of a strong need to keep things decent and orderly. Of course, we should avoid shallow emotionalism, but we needn't throw out the baby with the bath water.
There is no reason to think that only quiet, controlled prayer is acceptable. Jesus knew what he was doing when "he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him" (Hebrews 5:7). If Jesus, the Son of God, sometimes prayed like that, why shouldn't wre? Many churches and denominations have become so lukewarm that they've produced teaching that reflects their own spiritual condition rather than the truth of the Bible." (p. 147)
Yes, heart-felt emotional prayers are absent in our churches today. Since the age of ten I have heard people pray. Chinese churches and American churches are the best at praying without emotions. Chinese pray with a very soft, low, and flat volume especially the men. I am not saying that it is wrong to pray in a soft voice, but what is lacking are men and women in the church who really cry out to God. Koreans, on the other hand, and the Korean churches I've attended are deep in emotions. The same can be said about African Americans. There are times when I feel like crying out to God, but in our church prayer, everyone is so much in a low volume that it becomes unnatural. I long to be at a church where people pray with deep emotion. In my experience, the most spiritually deep people I have met are ones who pray with emotions and deep conviction. There is one other thing to be said in the section called another secret of prayer:
"Hannah did something else that day in the temple that shows us how to succeed in prayer. She dedicated the son she prayed for before he was even conceived. Her request included this pledge: "Then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life" (1 Samuel 1:11). It seems at first glance as though she was bargaining with God, but that wasn't so. Hannah asked for a son and promised God that the answer would be consecrated to him. Mixed with her desire for a child was a desire to extol the name of the Lord.
A common problem in our prayer is that we focus only on ourselves with little thought to how God can be glorified. Paul tells us that the blessings of redemption through Christ are not merely for our benefit, but more essentially for "the praise of his glorious grace" (Ephesians 1:6). So it is with answers to prayer. We should pray for spiritual renewal across the land not so much for the blessings it will bring us, but so that God's name may be exalted.
Hannah received her answer, only to give her son up for the service and glory of God. To fulfill her pledge she eventually left young Samuel to be raised in the house of the Lord in Shiloh. But you needn't feel sorry for her, because there's more to the story."
God's glory must be the focus of our prayer. I do not merely pray to have a wife, but to have a companion and ministry partner in which we can serve God more effectively together than we can alone. I do not just pray for a job, but for the right place where God places me to be a witness of His love and Gospel. I pray not just for healing, but overall health to be able to serve God and not be a burden on others. The focus is not merely on what is for me, but that God is glorified in the asking.
The author closes once again with another powerful testimony. Vivian grew up in South America. Her father died when she was one. Her older brother and mother were physically abusive. She would get into sex and drugs as a teenager feeling lost, depressed, and suicidal. Once being intoxicated, her supposed friends had raped her. She feel further and further downward. She got involved with a man who was a leader of a violent gang. She then heard he was arrested for murder.
"Realizing he would spend years behind bars, my world came crashing down. That's when I wrote a suicide note, planning to jump out the window of my college dorm. A friend talked me out of it before I had the chance. But feelings of worthlessness and despair tormented me.
"That's when an acquaintance invited me to visit a church called the Brooklyn Tabernacle. Because I felt that some kind of religious ceremony might help me, I agreed to go. When the pastor gave the message, I realized I had never heard about the Jesus of the Bible. No one had ever told me about his love or about his power to lift me from the pit of pain I was living in. I had always thought religion was about traditions and ceremonies and rules that must be obeyed. I had no idea God could wash away the dirt of my sin and send the Holy Spirit to live in me.
"When the pastor asked people to come forward to pray and invite Christ into their hearts, I was among the first to rise from my seat. Oh, how Jesus met me that day as I gave him my sins, my problems, and my life! The peace I had been searching for was finally mine, along with a joy I can't even explain. It just filled me up. A life that was empty and so hurt has now become the place where Jesus lives."
Vivian rose up that day to pray, just as Hannah had risen up so long ago. The same God who had heard and answered the desperate prayer of a barren woman heard the prayer of a spiritually empty young woman whose life was spiraling downward. Like Hannah, Vivian stood up and experienced her own breakthrough moment of prayer. And the Lord supplied her need, filling her with joy and a deep peace about the future.
Why should any of us wait one more minute to receive what we need from God? Let this be our day to arise and talk to the Father from our hearts. Let this be our day to experience a breakthrough moment in which we will receive help through the loving power of our prayer- answering God."
Prayer:
Father, I want so much for there to be breakthrough in my life. I feel alone, empty, depressed, purposeless, and my health is a mess. Father, at times, You seem so silent. Today, I cry out for Your help and healing in my life. Dear Father, I want this depression to lift. I want this physical condition to heal. I desire purpose in vocation, ministry, and in life. I pray not merely for my own need, but that You place me in a ministry and workplace where You will use me to accomplish Your purposes and bring people into a healing relationship with You. I pray not merely for a wife to love and cherish, but a woman who is my ministry partner who You use to minimize my weaknesses and we are stronger as one than we are separately. Prayer is not about us, but the answer to our prayers is about Your glory. I cry out to You in my moment of difficulty. I pray for the breakthrough moment just like Hannah and just like Vivian, that You give to us in ways that go way beyond what we ask for.