Hannah - Prayerful, Powerful, and Faithful

What happens when you’ve prayed for something for years, but Heaven seems silent?

In this episode of the DoorWays® Ministry Podcast, Tina Morrow joins Ric to explore the story of Hannah, a woman who experienced deep longing, humiliation, disappointment, and unanswered prayer.

Drawing from her own 11-year journey through infertility, Tina brings a deeply personal perspective to Hannah’s story. Together, they explore the danger of “name it, claim it” faith, the pain of comparison, why well-meaning people often say the wrong thing to those who are hurting, and what it means to surrender our deepest desires to God.

Hannah reminds us that faith doesn't mean we will always receive the answer we want. Sometimes faith means saying, “Even if this does not happen for me, I will still serve You.”

Because God’s promise isn’t that we will never walk through the fire or the flood. His promise is that He will be with us through it.

Transcript

Tina Morrow 0:00

I do remember a lot of name it, claim it, prosperity type of preaching. It's almost like the Lord was a genie in the bottle. You just do the prayer or give this offering, and then the Lord would be obligated to give you the desire of your heart. But if you really read God's word, his promise never says you're not going to have any hard times or go through a difficulty. His promise is "I'm going to be with you through the fire, through the flood."

Ric Shields 0:42

Have you ever watched someone else receive the very thing you prayed for? Maybe you smiled on the outside, but inside something quietly broke. You wondered, "God, did you miss me? Did you forget my name?" Some of the deepest wounds in life don't come from what happened to us, they come from what didn't happen. The prayer that went unanswered, the door that never opened, the dream that never arrived. What may appear to happen on the outside soon finds its way to the inside, and the hurt multiplies beyond what we imagined.

Ric Shields 1:11

Today we're talking about Hannah, a woman who carried disappointment, endured humiliation, and wrestled with silence from Heaven. But sometimes God does his deepest work in the places where we feel his quietest presence.

Ric Shields 1:26

My guest today is Tina Morrow. She and her husband, Trent, have served in cross-cultural ministry in Uruguay for the past 26 years. Their son, Landon, is a senior at Nelson University in Waxahachie, Texas. We had an opportunity to serve alongside them with the Simply Sisters® team several months ago. It was one of the most impactful outreaches we've ever had.

Ric Shields 1:48

Some little known facts about Tina is that she's a Native American with the Choctaw Nation tribe. She's the youngest of eight siblings. She and Trent both grew up in the same church in Oklahoma City, and she's a cancer survivor.

Ric Shields 2:03

Tina, Sheila and I are grateful for your ministry and for your friendship. But I'm just really especially happy that you could join me on this episode today.

Tina Morrow 2:11

I'm grateful that you invited me, and I can truly identify with a lot of the emotion and the humiliation and all the emotions that Hannah went through. I truly identify with.

Ric Shields 2:24

When I presented you with a list of women to consider chatting with you about, Hannah rose to the surface really quickly. So can you share how it is that you have this affinity for Hannah or for this story?

Tina Morrow 2:38

I've read through the Bible several times and just knowing her story didn't have quite the same effect upon my personal life until I was face to face with infertility for 11 years.

Ric Shields 2:50

That is certainly a way to have an affinity for this story.

Ric Shields 2:55

Hannah gives us an opportunity to move beyond the familiar the mother who prayed for a child angle and step into deeper territory, those unanswered prayers, comparison culture, emotional identity, and surrender. Hannah's pain was visible to everyone around her, but very few understood it. Why do people often become uncomfortable around someone who carries long-term disappointment?

Tina Morrow 3:21

I feel like generally people want to be helpful and they want to fix your problem. And when they know they don't have control to help you with your situation that you're facing, they can feel uncomfortable.

Tina Morrow 3:34

And the second reason why is I do believe that a lot of us grew up with a prosperity type gospel where you name it, claim it. And when that doesn't happen in the timely fashion that after a year or two of going through infertility, I think people get a little bit uncomfortable because they don't know if the Lord is really going to come through for you and give you your desire of your heart.

Ric Shields 3:58

Yeah, we become disillusioned. And then they say to us, "What's gone wrong? What sin is in your life? Are you not confessing this the right way?" You need to be saying this however many times on Tuesday and backwards on Thursday or something.

Ric Shields 4:12

You said something interesting here, too. You said that often people want to fix it. I thought that was only husbands that wanted to fix things. But the reality is in things like this, there are a lot of people that have a voice on fixing it.

Tina Morrow 4:26

Right. I believe most people, if you've been married probably three years, is when everyone, your friends, your family, everyone at church, especially if you're like your own staff somewhere. And we had been children's pastors at that time when we desired to have a baby. Everybody is longing for that for you, and everyone's rooting for you. And then all the questions come every week. When are you going to have a baby? Or when are you guys going to start your family? And unknowingly, they may not even know that it might have already been years that you've been trying.

Ric Shields 4:57

So Hannah lived in a culture where a woman's value is often tied to bearing children. Let's think about some modern versions of that pressure that still exists today.

Tina Morrow 5:08

I gave this a bit of thought. And I was thinking, really, in today's society, in my own personal opinion, I feel like it might not be the same as it was then. It probably depends on what area of the United States you live in. It might depend on the circle that you live in, because it seems like to me that the world for women is like you can be the CEO, you can be the breadwinner, you can have it all, you can wait to have kids. There's so many ways that you can have children through surrogacy, or you can go have your eggs frozen and decide later on down the line if you even want to be a mother.

Tina Morrow 5:49

So to me, it seems like in today's current society, there may not be the same pressure of "you're not a woman if you aren't a mother." I'm sure in other circles, maybe smaller towns or more traditional places in the U.S. probably still has the same stigma of if you are barren, then that means you do either have sin in your life or your husband has sin in his life. But I do believe that maybe in today's society, it seems like the pressure to be a mother is not really there as much.

Ric Shields 6:25

There's another woman in the story, Penninah. Is that her name? Penninah? I'm not even sure how to pronounce it.

Tina Morrow 6:32

I can't pronounce it correctly.

Ric Shields 6:34

What do you know about Penninah? Who was she?

Tina Morrow 6:37

Well, she was the second wife that was able to have children and kind of taunted Hannah with her inability to have children.

Ric Shields 6:47

You know, throughout the Bible, these stories of more than one wife never really do work out very well, do they?

Tina Morrow 6:52

No, they don't really work out. They're not exactly what in today's society we don't really do that often.

Ric Shields 6:58

So they're it's not exactly what God had a mind in the first place.

Tina Morrow 7:02

I thought about the reason why another woman would taunt someone, It seems so cruel if you have ever been the woman on that side of longing to be a mother, longing to have a child, and then not happen to have someone purposely, it does seem extremely cruel. But the more I thought about it, and I thought, whenever Hannah's husband's saying, Am I not better than 10 sons? You know, and it was like that relationship of husband and wife is so different than say mother and child. But I do believe that maybe he felt like you're my favorite wife. Like I love you so much. And I'm sure maybe the second wife, she might know I can bore him all of these sons and daughters, but Hannah will still be the favored wife, in my opinion. I feel like it was a bit of jealousy.

Ric Shields 7:50

That kind of answers a question I was going to ask here. Penninah didn't simply have what Hannah wanted, she actually weaponized it against her. Sometimes wounded people do that. Why is it you think that sometimes people, wounded people, become cruel people? Why is that?

Tina Morrow 8:09

I think probably she wanted everything. She wanted it all. She wanted to be the one that have all the children, but she also wanted to be the favored wife. And true by human nature and just sin in general. And I just think the way that God made women is different than how God made men. Women sometimes can be very catty, especially when they are put in a competition type role. That's why I don't think ever having more than one wife would ever be a really good idea.

Ric Shields 8:37

You know, that saying, "hurting people hurt people."

Tina Morrow 8:41

Yes, that's true.

Ric Shields 8:42

That's really, I think, also what's happening here.

Ric Shields 8:45

Hannah had a husband who deeply loved her, but his words, "am I not better than 10 sons," just completely missed her pain. Have you ever noticed how even very well-meaning, well-intentioned people often say the wrong thing to hurting people?

Tina Morrow 9:02

Yes. And I've learned through ministry that your empty words that you think might help someone, it's just better to be honest and just say, "I hate that you're going through this difficult time or this difficult situation." Or you can even say, "I can't identify with that. I haven't walked a mile in your shoes, but I love you. I care about you. I'm praying for you." That goes such a long ways for someone.

Tina Morrow 9:31

I was told many times the 11 years that we were going through infertility, we're just too stressed out. You need just take a vacation. We didn't even have money to take a vacation.

Ric Shields 9:40

No wonder you were stressed out.

Tina Morrow 9:42

No wonder you're stressed out. But just different things like that. Just I could take advice a lot easier from other people who have gone through infertility than I could someone who they could just get pregnant by looking at each other.

Ric Shields 9:57

We are listening to the DoorWays® Ministry Podcast. My name is Ric Shields, and I'm joined on this episode by Tina Morrow, who has served as a cross-cultural minister in the nation of Uruguay for the past 26 years. Tina and her husband Trent started in Uruguay with a focus on the areas of children's ministry training, kids and youth camps, and expanded over the years to ministry with teen challenge, discipleship, prison ministry, preaching and teaching, and even more.

Ric Shields 10:24

Tina, this may be an uncomfortable question, but I'm going to ask it anyway because that's what I do.

Tina Morrow 10:30

Okay.

Ric Shields 10:30

Do you think we may have unintentionally taught people that if they pray hard enough, long enough, or with enough faith, or just say just the right words, that God will eventually just give in and give them what they want?

Tina Morrow 10:45

I do believe that through maybe a lot of TV preachers or maybe growing up in the 80s, I do remember a lot of name it, claim it, prosperity type of preaching. It's almost like the Lord was a genie in the bottle. You just do the prayer or give this offering, and then the Lord would be obligated to give you the desire of your heart. But if you really read God's word, his promise never says you're not going to have any hard times or go through a difficulty or go through a valley. His promise is I'm going to be with you through the fire, through the flood.

Tina Morrow 11:24

And I do believe that he uses those situations because then it draws us closer to him and then we learn to depend on him. And then we do learn that we have a true relationship with him and not just like he's a Santa Claus where we get our little list together and then we go, well, we want this.

Ric Shields 11:43

Hannah eventually reaches a point where she stops explaining her pain to people and just pours it out before God. Is it just me or does it seem as if suffering often strips away shallow faith and forces us into honest prayer?

Tina Morrow 11:59

Yes, because if you truly have a desire of your heart and you've prayed, like I do remember the Lord telling me, " you will be a mother," but I know he never promised me that I would actually give birth to a child.

Tina Morrow 12:12

So I remember we were missionaries and we would go to many services, and people would lay their hands on me and say different things, well-meaning. But I remember even in my mind, I was like, that's not what God told me. He told me I would be a mother, but he never promised me that would come through me actually being pregnant and giving birth to a child.

Tina Morrow 12:33

During the 11 years of the undiagnosed infertility, every month and every year is just a disappointment. But you, or what I went through, was continuing to have faith in the Lord, but still hoping that He would give me that desire in my heart and praying. But I did have to come to a point where I had to just surrender all the infertility drugs and all the different appointments and the procedures and things, and it seemed like nothing was working. Everything I was trying to do in my own human side to help the Lord along.

Tina Morrow 13:09

But I do recall when I finally had to come to a point where when the doctor said, we don't know why, there shouldn't be any reason why. And I finally had to say, Lord, my life is in your hands. You know what is best for me. And you just get to a point where you're like, hands up, Lord, I surrender this into your hands.

Tina Morrow 13:26

But I do remember getting to a point where I had to finally make that decision that even if - I know Mercy Me has a song, I believe out that's called "Even If," - but even if this does not happen for me, I will still serve you, I will still be a missionary, I will still love you, I still want what I want, but I had to get that settled down in the soul and in the mind and in the spirit that even if I don't get my desired request answered, I'm gonna still serve you.

Ric Shields 13:54

Eli initially assumed that Hannah was drunk rather than broken. I'm afraid I may have done the same thing had it been me, and watching Hannah come and pray and just be so broken. How often do we misjudge pain that we don't understand?

Tina Morrow 14:12

I think we can easily misunderstand someone. If we haven't walked a mile in their shoe, we don't have the empathy to know what they're going through. And we usually are very egocentric, so we see everything through our own point of view or what our what's touched our lives. And I do believe that is why the Lord will allow us to go through some things so that we can grow empathy and compassion towards others.

Ric Shields 14:39

Hannah prayed for a son, and she got that son, but then she gave Samuel back to the Lord. It's like, I'm really confused. I thought you wanted the son. Why is it easier to pray for God to give us something than it is to surrender it back to him?

Tina Morrow 14:54

I gave this a little bit of thought too, because we do only have one son, and the thought of only caring for him till maybe three or four, and then taking him and dumping him off at some church for someone else. I don't know. I think the Lord must have extended the grace to her, that if he asked that of someone, that he would extend his grace to that person, that they would be able to do that.

Ric Shields 15:20

Yeah, that would be hard.

Tina Morrow 15:22

It would be very hard. I can't imagine doing that.

Ric Shields 15:26

Yeah, just praying and believing and waiting and then the fulfillment. And now, okay, I'm gonna give them back to you now. That's just a little, yeah, that's hard to understand.

Tina Morrow 15:37

I often wondered, was she already pregnant with another baby before she made that decision? Would that make that easier for her to do that if she already knew that she was able to have another child? The Word doesn't tell us that. So, she has tremendous love and faith to the Lord to be.

Ric Shields 15:58

Well, thank you, Tina, for sharing your heart with us. In the short time that remains, would you take 30 seconds and help us understand more about this Hannah, and how she may be a reflection of ourselves?

Tina Morrow 16:09

I have read a book called "The Boundaries," many people have by Townsend and McLeod. And it talks a lot about having healthy boundaries. One of the main things that I got out of that book was if I have a healthy boundary with someone and I can tell them no, if they request something of me and I'm able to freely say no without any guilt trip, or anything like that, then we have a healthy boundary. And I feel like sometimes with the Lord, if we can't handle a no and we just expect a yes and amen at every single request, then we probably are not having a true healthy boundary with the Lord. I feel like through this example, it wasn't that the Lord ever really told her no, but there was the waiting period within that.

Tina Morrow 16:58

But I do believe that the Lord, if he puts the desire in our heart, most of the time it was him who put the desire in our heart, even when we were in our own mother's womb, when he gave us our talents and gave us our desires and all that. But I do think sometimes we just have to come to him and we have to lay all the desires on his altar and just go, "Lord, my life is in your hands and this time that I have on this earth, your will be done."

Ric Shields 17:26

Hannah's story reminds us that pain is not proof of abandonment, and neither is waiting evidence that God has forgotten your name. Some of us are still living in the middle of 1 Samuel chapter 1 - still praying, still waiting, still wondering if heaven has gone silent. But silence does not equal absence. God is often doing his deepest work beneath the surface long before we ever see the outcome.

Ric Shields 17:54

You may be in a season of waiting. Like Hannah, there may be some who are waiting for a child. That may be one of the most difficult seasons. Others may be waiting for a spouse who will complement them. Not compliment them with an "i" as in, "Wow, you're really attractive." I'm talking about the word complement with an "e" as in "I feel so much better when I'm with you." Or you may be in a season of waiting for a miracle in your health or for a job or for a long-awaited answer to a question that holds you back from moving ahead.

Ric Shields 18:27

When someone tells you their story, it would be easy to say, "I'm praying for you," and move on to the next situation. But let's consider a different reply. What if we ask, "How would you like for me to pray with you?" I also like what Tina suggested. Maybe we can say something like, "I'm sorry, I just don't have a frame of reference for that. Thank you for telling me. It helps me to better understand your situation."

Ric Shields 18:51

The Bible says in 1 Samuel 1: 27, "For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition, which I asked of him." Perhaps the greater miracle was not simply that Hannah received a son- it was that she discovered she could trust God even while she was waiting. And maybe that's where faith begins for us too.

Ric Shields 19:14

I hope you'll remember to like, follow, subscribe, or for this episode. If it was meaningful to you, I'm sure that there will be others who will benefit from it too.

Ric Shields 19:24

I'd like to point out a couple of items on our website, doorways.cc. First, there's a tab that says Generous Measures. When you click on it, you'll find links to a free book in either Spanish or English. There's no registration required and no cost for you to download the book. Free means free, there are no strings attached. My original intent in writing the book was to provide encouraging illustrations to inspire generosity. What I've found is that many use it for a brief devotional. There are 27 stories about generosity and stewardship, and each story is exactly 200 words. That's why the title indicates one-minute stories with a lifetime of value. I'm happy to tell you there have been over 7,500 downloads online. I hope you'll consider downloading it and passing the link on to others.

Ric Shields 20:14

There's also a tab in the upper right-hand corner of our website called Give. I hope you'll notice that it says "Give" and not "Pay." This podcast has not been monetized. No one has to pay to listen to it, and we don't play commercials. Would you consider helping us to continue making this podcast possible? It's been heard now in 107 countries by over 17,500 people in 1,350 cities. Some of those people and places are in what's called restricted access nations, places where the gospel is not really welcomed. I hope you'll join those who are already helping us. I'm really grateful for the generous support and sponsorship of this Women in Scripture series by Raymond and Dr. Aletha Oglesby.

Ric Shields 21:05

Finally, I hope this scripture from the book of Isaiah, chapter 40 and verse 31, encourages you, especially if you're in a season of waiting. "Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

Ric Shields 21:26

Thanks for listening.