women of faith 1. LEADER PREPARATION

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1 women of faith Lesson 1: Hannah This includes: 1. Leader Preparation 2. Lesson Guide 1. LEADER PREPARATION LESSON OVERVIEW The Bible records some incredible stories of faith. And although there are fewer stories about women than men in Scripture, the account of Hannah s faith is worth spending focused time discussing. In this lesson about Hannah, students can connect with the idea of pain in their lives and be encouraged to model their response after this woman of faith. LESSON OBJECTIVES 1. WHAT: Hannah s faith in a painful season is an amazing example of what God can do through an ordinary life. 2. WHY: Every person will have painful situations in life, but by studying Hannah s life, students can find wisdom for dealing with life s challenges. 3. HOW: Students will be challenged to consider the role of faith and prayer in their lives, and they will consider taking steps of growth in these areas. PRIMARY SCRIPTURE 1 Samuel 1:9-18 SECONDARY SCRIPTUREs 1 Samuel 2:1-10 and Hebrews 11:6 TEACHING PREP The short overview below is designed to help you prepare for your lesson. While you may not want to convey this information word-for-word with your teenagers, you ll definitely want to refer to it as you lead. Read 1 Samuel 1 and 2:1-10. These passages offer a look at the ordinary life of Hannah, who showed extraordinary faith in the face of great pain. You won t read all of 1 Samuel 1 with your students, but it s helpful to be familiar with the entire passage.

2 During Hannah s life, corruption ran rampant in the areas of worship and sacrifice. Eli, the head priest, had two sons who were very immoral, sinful men. Yet even in the middle of her awareness of the corruption, Hannah stayed faithful in her sacrifices and worship to God. God honored her faith and determination by answering her prayer for a son. Hannah had committed her son to God s service before she was even pregnant. And she stayed true to her promise after Samuel was born. God again honored her faithfulness by making Samuel one of the greatest prophets in Israel s history. Samuel was a man of prayer, amazing character, and friendship with God. What a legacy to Hannah s faith. Pray for God to give your students the ability to truly grasp the depth of Hannah s faith and the courage to be willing to develop this kind of faith in their own lives. THE BEFORE & AFTER [optional] Text Message Questions We ve provided a couple of different text message questions to send out to your students prior to your meeting. Feel free to use one or both of the questions below. As with the rest of the curriculum, edit these questions to fit the needs of your ministry. What s the worst injury or physical pain you ve ever experienced? Let s compare war stories tonight! Can you learn more from a prayer that s answered or one that isn t? Share your thoughts with the group tonight.

3 Parent We ve provided you with an below that you can send to your parents following the lesson. Our hope is to encourage parents to continue the conversation at home. Feel free to edit and customize the to fit your ministry needs. Dear parents, We ve just begun a three-lesson study called Women of Faith. We ll be taking a look at the lives of three amazing women in the Bible: Hannah, Rachel, and Naomi. This first lesson was all about the faith of Hannah, and how she trusted God in spite of her very difficult circumstances. Students discussed how everyone has painful situations in life. But by looking at how Hannah responded in her pain, students were encouraged to consider the role of faith and prayer in their lives especially when they face difficulties. This week, when you have the opportunity, see if you can have a conversation with your child built around these questions: How important is it to have faith in your friends to support you in life? When we are waiting on God, it can be helpful to have people around us who encourage us to be strong. Who encourages you? And is there anyone in your life you are trying to encourage? What might it look like for you to practice having Hannah-like faith in God in your life this coming week? Have a wonderful week!

4 women of faith Lesson 1: Hannah 2. LEsson guide GETTING THINGS STARTED [optional] Consider doing a Trust Fall with your students at the start of this lesson. All that s required is a group of students standing behind one participant and a commitment on everyone s part to catch the person! One person turns his or her back to the group, while the other students form a net to catch the participant. That person then falls backward and is caught by the rest of the group. NOTE: If you have any concerns about your students unwillingness or inability to successfully catch other participants, do NOT use this activity. Simply move into the questions and talk about the ways friends support and encourage us in life. Welcome your students and invite them into your meeting area. Open in prayer, and then explain the Trust Fall activity. Give each student the chance to be the falling student if they want. Then gather and What were you thinking when you were falling? Was it easy or tough to trust the rest of the group to catch you? How important is it to have faith in your friends to support you in life? When people talk about trusting God or having faith in God, how is that similar to our activity? SAY SOMETHING LIKE: This game is a fun way to get us thinking about trust and faith. How we feel about trusting God and having faith in him is foundational to how we live our lives as Christians. Today s lesson is about the faith of an amazing woman named Hannah. She didn t do a literal trust fall the way we just did, but in some ways, she took an even bigger leap of faith and trust into God s arms. The way she chose to trust God in her situation can help us to think about how we each can trust God when we face challenges in our lives.

5 TEACHING POINTS The goal of the Teaching Points is to help students capture the essence of each lesson with more discussion and less lecture-style teaching. The main points we have chosen are (1) When you re hurting, choose to trust God, (2) Pray to God about what you re thinking and feeling, (3) Honor God while you re waiting, and (4) Respond to God with gratitude. Remember: All throughout these lessons, it s up to you to choose (1) how many questions you use, and (2) the wording of the main points keep ours, or change the wording to make it clearer for your audience. Read 1 Samuel 1:9-18 together as a group. Consider dividing verses among your students so everyone has a chance to read. SAY SOMETHING LIKE: What a story this is about Hannah, her pain and her unbelievable faith! Let s take a look at what we can learn from Hannah. 1. When you re hurting, choose to trust God When is it easiest for you to trust God, and why? When you see other people feel emotional pain, how do you usually respond? How do other people know when you are feeling emotional pain? Before the portion of Scripture we read, the Bible said that Hannah endured ridicule when she went to God s Tabernacle each year and she was ridiculed because she didn t have any children. What does that reveal about her love for God, that she would put up with the ridicule? In verse 10, how would you describe what Hannah was experiencing? When Hannah was in pain, what did she do with her emotions? How does that compare to how you relate to God when you re in pain? SAY SOMETHING LIKE: Hannah experienced some incredible pain and sadness. She was very honest with her pain, yet never stopped trusting God in the midst of it. She showed this trust through her consistent, deep, authentic relationship with God and prayers to him. She knew God was the source of strength and answers.

6 2. Pray to God about what you re thinking and feeling Do you believe prayer is important? Why or why not? How might people know that prayer is important to you? Why do we need to pray if God already knows what s on our hearts? In verse 11, Hannah made a vow or promise to God, if he chose to answer her prayer. For you, what would be significant that you d promise something to God in return? Can you learn more from a prayer that s answered or one that isn t? Tell me what you think. How long should you keep praying for something? SAY SOMETHING LIKE: Even if we know prayer is important, and we pray and trust God for our needs, sometimes we have to wait for God s answer. During these times, we might experience different feelings toward God it may be hard to honor him and trust him when we wait. But God is always at work. And if we are willing to keep trusting him, he will grow our character and our faith. 3. Honor God while you re waiting Think of a situation or person in your life that s causing you pain or frustration right now. How are you feeling while you are in the midst of this situation? What kind of emotions might you experience while you wait on God? When we are waiting on God, it can be helpful to have people around us who encourage us to be strong. Who encourages you? And is there anyone in your life you are trying to encourage? Hannah waited a long time for God to answer her prayer. When God finally does answer a prayer, what can that do to our faith? SAY SOMETHING LIKE: When we ve had to wait for blessings or answers to prayer, we tend to be really thankful for them. Waiting can help us grow our faith, and can help us value God s blessings to us. And just as you like to be thanked when you do something for others, God loves when we tell him how much we appreciate what he gives us.

7 4. Respond to God with gratitude What s the best gift you ve ever given someone? Did that person remember to say thank you? How did you feel, based on that person s response? Read 1 Samuel 2:1-10. What do you like most about what Hannah did after God answered her prayer? God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and everywhere. Yet God still desires for us to say thanks to him for his blessings. Why do you think that is? SAY SOMETHING LIKE: Expressing gratitude is one way we can choose to love and please God. But if we say thanks because we are supposed to, it doesn t have much value. God doesn t want plastic or pretend thanks, love, or trust. God cares about our hearts and what s really going on inside and if we have true faith in him. ADDITIONAL DISCUSSION [optional] Ask students to form groups of two or three for these questions. There are many things in our lives we re supposed to do like say please and thank you, or finish our homework. What else can you think of that you re supposed to do? Read Hebrews 11:6. What do people miss out on when they choose not to seek God and worship him? How does this verse relate to Hannah s story? Bring everyone back together, and ask for volunteers to share answers to the previous questions, as time permits. APPLICATION What might it look like for you to practice having Hannah-like faith in God in your life this coming week? Hannah prayed and prayed for a son. What prayer request do you need renewed energy to pray for or about?

8 What might happen if you committed to pray about a need every day until we meet next? Write down on a piece of paper what you are going to pray for, and put it somewhere you ll remember to pray each day. Then see what happens! SUMMARY End your lesson here. Provide your teenagers with a quick summary or take-home challenge based on (1) the content of this lesson, (2) the dialogue that took place during the lesson, (3) your understanding of the issues and struggles your teenagers are facing, and (4) the big picture of your youth ministry and what your leadership team wants accomplished with the teaching and discussion time. FOR KEEPS [MEMORY VERSE] Encourage and/or challenge your teenagers to memorize the verse below. And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him (Hebrews 11:6).