April 1 | Hannah's Obedience and Samuel’s Service

Today’s Reading:

Read I Samuel 1:11-18; 20-27; I Samuel 2:18-21; 1 Samuel 3

Have you ever prayed for something and had to wait a long time for God to answer it? If so, take some time to talk about it with your family. Talk about how you felt while you waited. Were you patient? Was it hard to wait?

Hannah was an Israelite, one of God’s chosen people, who was praying for God to give her a baby. She prayed for a long time and waited for God to answer. As she prayed, she promised God that if He would give her a baby, she would give the baby back to God for Him to use in a special way.

Hannah faithfully prayed and God faithfully answered when Hannah had a baby boy and named him Samuel. Not only did Hannah show faith when she prayed, she showed that she trusted God by being obedient to her promise to Him. She took Samuel to the temple and told Eli the priest that because God had answered her prayer and gave her a son, she was going to be faithful and give her son back to God. Samuel grew up in the temple and Eli taught him about God.

God had a special plan for Samuel. Samuel did not know what it was or understand it at the time. But as a boy, God called Samuel. Eli helped Samuel understand that if the Lord called, Samuel’s answer should be, “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.” Samuel answered God’s call and he became a “confirmed prophet of the Lord.” The Israelites knew Samuel was chosen by God and they followed his leading.

Application/Prayer:

God’s timing is not always our timing, is it? He answers our prayers but sometimes those answers may take a long time to come! As a family, discuss a time when you’ve prayed for something that God took a long time to answer or a time when God answered differently than you would have wanted him to. God’s answers are always the best answers even when they may not be the answers we would have chosen.

April Memory Verse:

If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation.

Romans 10:9-10

Using the daily reading prompts from George H. Guthrie’s Read the Bible for Life, here’s how to use this devotional:

Bring your Bible! Your kids need to see that everything you are reading to them or learning about comes from an actual Bible!
Each day starts with a reading prompt. Read the selection as a family. If your kids are readers, encourage them to read along with you.
After you’ve read the passage, read the short devotional thought that goes along with each passage.
Prayer and application are important any time we read God’s word! After each devotional, there is a challenge to help apply what your family has read that day.
There is a reading for six days of the week. The last reading of the week is a Gospel Conversation Prompt to help you connect the reading from the week with God’s plan for salvation.