They said to Samuel, “Do not stop crying out to the Lord our God for us, that he may rescue us from the hand of the Philistines.” Then Samuel took a suckling lamb and sacrificed it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. He cried out to the Lord on Israel’s behalf, and the Lord answered him. While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to engage Israel in battle. But that day the Lord thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites.
1 Samuel 7:8-10
As Israel gathers for repentance and revival, their enemies attack. The people of Israel have been fasting, not sharpening their swrords. They aren’t prepared for war, and they aren’t strong enough to defeat the Philistines. But look at what they do.
In verse 8 the Israelites say to Samuel “Do not stop crying out to the Lord our God for us, that he may rescue us from the hand of the Philistines.” In other words, they say, “Samuel, you pray and we’ll fight.” And that’s what they did.
As the Philistines begin to march out against them, Samuel sacrifices a whole burnt offering to the Lord and he prays for the people. And as Israel goes out to meet their enemies, the Lord thunders from on high! The Philistines are thrown into such a panic by this thunder of God that they are routed and Israel wins a great victory over her enemy on that day.
Samuel delivered Israel with his prayers just as surely as Samson delivered them with his jawbone of a donkey or Gideon delivered them with his trumpets and torches. Samuel was a literal prayer warrior. He fought the battle that day from his knees. And he won! And in doing so, Samuel lived up to his name. You see, in Hebrew Samuel’s name sounds like the phrase “heard of God.”* Samuel was heard by God that day.
There are a number of applications here for us. First, don’t underestimate the power of prayer. A believer can win mighty victories from his knees. Second, as Christians we have an even better intercessor than Samuel. Scripture tells us that Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father in Heaven praying for you and me (Hebrews 7:24-25). It’s appropriate then for us to say to Jesus what the Israelites said to Samuel. “Don’t stop praying for me, Jesus, while I fight these battles." Third, we should also strive to be like Samuel for others in our lives. Do people seek out your prayers? When they are hurting, when they are facing a battle, are you the person they come to for prayer? Strive to be known as a person of prayer, a prayer warrior others can turn to when they need someone in their corner praying for them.
*John D. Barry, Douglas Mangum, Derek R. Brown, et al., Faithlife Study Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016), 1 Sa 1:20.
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