Single lesson
Hannah Prays and Samuel Is Born
1 Samuel 1:1–28
This lesson helps children follow Hannah’s story from sadness to prayer, to Samuel’s birth, and to Hannah keeping her promise. Children will sequence the account and notice what people said and did in each part.
Before you teach
In this passage, Elkanah’s family goes each year to worship and sacrifice to Yahweh in Shiloh. Hannah has no children and is deeply troubled by Peninnah’s provocation. At Yahweh’s house Hannah prays, Eli speaks with her, and later Hannah gives birth to Samuel and brings him to Yahweh.
Students will be able to retell the main events of 1 Samuel 1:1–28 in order and identify Hannah’s prayer, Yahweh’s answer, and Hannah’s faithful response.
Welcome: Spot the problem in the family
5 minShow the children the names Elkanah, Hannah, Peninnah and Eli. Explain that Hannah had no children, while Peninnah did, and Peninnah kept provoking Hannah. Ask children to listen for what Hannah does with her sadness when the story is read. This sets up the problem at the start of the passage.
1 Samuel 1:2, 1 Samuel 1:6, 1 Samuel 1:7
Read and explain: Hannah prays to Yahweh
8 minRead verses 9 to 18 aloud. Explain that Hannah went to Yahweh’s house, prayed in deep bitterness, and asked for a son. She promised that if she received a boy, she would give him to Yahweh all his life. Point out that Eli first misunderstood her because her lips moved but her voice was not heard.
1 Samuel 1:9, 1 Samuel 1:10, 1 Samuel 1:11, 1 Samuel 1:13, 1 Samuel 1:14, 1 Samuel 1:15, 1 Samuel 1:17, 1 Samuel 1:18
Discuss: What changed, and what stayed the same?
6 minTalk together about the middle of the story. Hannah’s face was no longer sad after she prayed and spoke with Eli. Later Yahweh remembered her, she conceived, and she named her son Samuel because she had asked him from Yahweh. Help children notice both the answer Hannah received and the reason she gave Samuel his name.
1 Samuel 1:18, 1 Samuel 1:19, 1 Samuel 1:20
Make and respond: Put the story in order
7 minChildren make simple sequence cards with four scenes: Hannah weeping, Hannah praying, Samuel born, Samuel brought to Yahweh’s house. After ordering the cards, ask them to tell one choice Hannah made and one outcome named in the passage. Keep the responses tied to what the verses actually say.
1 Samuel 1:7, 1 Samuel 1:11, 1 Samuel 1:20, 1 Samuel 1:24, 1 Samuel 1:27, 1 Samuel 1:28
Closing: Hannah keeps her promise
4 minFinish by reading verses 21 to 28. Explain that after Samuel was weaned, Hannah brought him to Yahweh’s house in Shiloh. She told Eli that this was the child she had prayed for, and she gave him to Yahweh. End by briefly reviewing the story in order as a class.
1 Samuel 1:22, 1 Samuel 1:24, 1 Samuel 1:26, 1 Samuel 1:27, 1 Samuel 1:28
Questions to explore
What did Hannah do when she was bitter and weeping at Yahweh’s house?
Look for Hannah’s action and words in the verses where she prays and makes her vow to Yahweh.
1 Samuel 1:10, 1 Samuel 1:11
Why did Eli think Hannah was drunk, and how did Hannah answer him?
Notice what Eli saw, what he assumed, and Hannah’s explanation that she was pouring out her soul before Yahweh.
1 Samuel 1:13, 1 Samuel 1:14, 1 Samuel 1:15, 1 Samuel 1:16
How does Hannah show that she remembers her promise after Samuel is born?
Read the verses where Hannah waits until Samuel is weaned, brings him to Shiloh, and explains to Eli why she has come.
1 Samuel 1:22, 1 Samuel 1:24, 1 Samuel 1:26, 1 Samuel 1:27, 1 Samuel 1:28
Make, think or respond
Samuel Story Sequence Cards
What you’ll need
- plain paper or card
- pencils or crayons
- scissors
- Bible
Try it together
- Fold or cut paper into four cards.
- Draw four scenes from the passage: Hannah weeping, Hannah praying, Samuel born, Samuel brought to Yahweh’s house.
- Mix the cards and work in pairs or small groups to place them in order.
- Invite each child to retell the story using the cards and one verse idea for each picture.
This activity helps children sequence the account and connect Hannah’s prayer, Yahweh’s answer, and Hannah’s response in 1 Samuel 1:1–28.
Adapt for your group
- For younger children, prepare the four scene titles for them and let them match pictures to the titles before retelling the story.
- For older or more confident children, ask them to add short speech bubbles using words from Hannah, Eli, or the narrator in the passage.
An optional closing prayer
Proposed words: Dear God, thank you that Hannah prayed to you. Please help us bring our needs to you and remember what this passage shows about worshipping you faithfully.
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
1 Samuel 1
1 Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim Zophim, of the hill country of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.
2 He had two wives. The name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.
3 This man went up out of his city from year to year to worship and to sacrifice to Yahweh of Armies in Shiloh. The two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, priests to Yahweh, were there.
4 When the day came that Elkanah sacrificed, he gave portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and her daughters;
5 but he gave a double portion to Hannah, for he loved Hannah, but Yahweh had shut up her womb.
6 Her rival provoked her severely, to irritate her, because Yahweh had shut up her womb.
7 So year by year, when she went up to Yahweh’s house, her rival provoked her. Therefore she wept, and didn’t eat.
8 Elkanah her husband said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? Why don’t you eat? Why is your heart grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”
9 So Hannah rose up after they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh. Now Eli the priest was sitting on his seat by the doorpost of Yahweh’s temple.
10 She was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to Yahweh, weeping bitterly.
11 She vowed a vow, and said, “Yahweh of Armies, if you will indeed look at the affliction of your servant and remember me, and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a boy, then I will give him to Yahweh all the days of his life, and no razor shall come on his head.”
12 As she continued praying before Yahweh, Eli saw her mouth.
13 Now Hannah spoke in her heart. Only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she was drunk.
14 Eli said to her, “How long will you be drunk? Get rid of your wine!”
15 Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit. I have not been drinking wine or strong drink, but I poured out my soul before Yahweh.
16 Don’t consider your servant a wicked woman; for I have been speaking out of the abundance of my complaint and my provocation.”
17 Then Eli answered, “Go in peace; and may the God of Israel grant your petition that you have asked of him.”
18 She said, “Let your servant find favor in your sight.” So the woman went her way and ate; and her facial expression wasn’t sad any more.
19 They rose up in the morning early and worshiped Yahweh, then returned and came to their house to Ramah. Then Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and Yahweh remembered her.
20 When the time had come, Hannah conceived, and bore a son; and she named him Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked him of Yahweh.”
21 The man Elkanah, and all his house, went up to offer to Yahweh the yearly sacrifice and his vow.
22 But Hannah didn’t go up, for she said to her husband, “Not until the child is weaned; then I will bring him, that he may appear before Yahweh, and stay there forever.”
23 Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems good to you. Wait until you have weaned him; only may Yahweh establish his word.” So the woman waited and nursed her son until she weaned him.
24 When she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bulls, and one ephah of meal, and a container of wine, and brought him to Yahweh’s house in Shiloh. The child was young.
25 They killed the bull, and brought the child to Eli.
26 She said, “Oh, my lord, as your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood by you here, praying to Yahweh.
27 I prayed for this child, and Yahweh has given me my petition which I asked of him.
28 Therefore I have also given him to Yahweh. As long as he lives he is given to Yahweh.” He worshiped Yahweh there.
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.
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