Hannah was barren; she prayed and asked God for a child, and she promised to dedicate any first child she has to him. Hannah said,
“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” (1 Samuel 1:11). God answered Hannah’s prayer, and she gave birth to a son called Samuel! The lady honored her promise, and she brought Samuel to God. She approached God’s Prophet and said, “Pardon me, my lord. As surely as you live, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD. I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD” (1 Samuel 1:26-28).
Lesson:
Anyone who promised God anything is under oath, and he or she must fulfill whatever is promised. Jehovah does not take any promise for a joke; he will surely wait for the fulfillment of all promises! No child of God should be too complacent with his or her success and forget to pay any needed price to God. Meanwhile, some people make special promises to God when they were in trouble. They said: “God if you can help me with this situation, I will do so and so for you.” However, they soon forgot their promises once their prayers are answered. God will definitely not be happy in that situation: He wants his children to honor their promises and be grateful to him. He may decide to delay future blessings until his children honor him. Therefore, all people must respect God, and fulfill their promises to him.
Prayer:
Dear God, I am sorry if I have failed to honor my promises to you. I repent today, and I am determined to mend my broken relationship with you. I redeem all my pledges, and I will make you happy with my offerings. In fact, I will bring a special thanksgiving offering to you, and I will share the testimony of your goodness in my life to all people. Please grant me the grace to fulfill all my promises, and let me remain your favorite child. For in the name of Jesus Christ I make my requests. Amen.
