What It Means to be Filled with the Holy Spirit # 60

The Natural Man Receiveth Not the Things of the Spirit" (continued)

And Each Man Did What Was Right In His Own Eyes" (continued)

Hannah can also be numbered among "they" who are with the Lamb as He overcomes all that is antichrist throughout each and every age; for Hannah, whose name means "grace," was used by the Lord to show His Everlasting Grace unto His people. Thus, after Hannah had taken the young child Samuel to the house of the Lord and dedicate him to serve the Lord all the days of is life: "Hannah prayed..." (1 Samuel 2:1). Hannah prayed "in the Spirit," and in her prayer we find the first occurrence of the Divine Title "Christ," or "Messiah," as it is written in the Word. God used Hannah's vessel to utter for the first time the Divine Title of His Christ, His Messiah, "His Anointed": "And He [the Lord] ... will exalt the power of His Anointed - His Christ" (1 Samuel 2:10).

At the time when there was no king in Israel, "Hannah prayed." At the time when each man did that which was right in his own eyes, "Hannah prayed." At the time when God's people were, again and again, being taken into the bondage of the Philistines, "Hannah prayed."

Hannah's long travail brought forth a "man of God," a man who was for God and God alone, a man who served the Lord all the days of his life, a man who lived his life before the Lord in such a way that his very life condemned the evil and corruption that prevailed among God's people. Hannah's prayers brought forth a "man of God" whose heart was so at one with the Lord, that when the people rejected Samuel as their judge, the Lord said to Samuel: "they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected Me ..."

And, in 1 Samuel 2:1-10, we find the Holy Spirit sharing one of Hannah's prayers, a prayer which is the fruit of her long travail "in the Spirit." Hannah's prayer is a psalm of the Spirit, it is a psalm of praise, worship, devotion, instruction and warfare. It is a priestly prayer "in the Spirit" that delivers God's people out of the power of darkness, and transfers them into their full inheritance - "The Lord maketh .. them inherit the throne of Glory" (1 Samuel 2:7, 8). It is a prophetic prayer "in the Spirit" that proclaims the true King of kings, and Lord of lords - "And He shall give strength unto His King" 91 Samuel 2:10). It is a kingly prayer "in the Spirit" that exalts the Omnipotent Power of Christ, and declares His defeat of His enemies:

"The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces;
Against them will He thunder in Heaven.
The Lord will judge [all peoples] to the ends of the earth;
And He will give strength to His King,
And exalt the power of His  Anointed -
His Christ" (1 Samuel 2:10).

~T. Austin-Sparks~

(continued with # 61)