God Honors The Commitments We Keep

The hardest part of a promise to God often comes after He answers the prayer. When the thing you begged for is finally in your hands, “giving it back” can feel impossible and that’s exactly where Hannah’s story hits home. We sit with the weight of her vow, the courage it took to release Samuel, and the quiet proof of her follow through as she returns year after year with a robe for her son.

We open the Bible to 1 Samuel 2:18–21 and slow down on a line that changes everything: “The Lord visited Hannah.” After Hannah honors her commitment, God blesses her with more sons and daughters, showing that what we surrender in faith is not wasted. But we also talk honestly about expectations. Sometimes we assume obedience will be repaid in the same form like money for money. Yet God often answers with something bigger: favor, open doors, peace, and help we could not create for ourselves. That’s why the reminder lands so strongly: God is no man’s debtor, and God multiplies what we place in His hands.

We also bring the lesson into everyday life with a personal story about spiritual discipline and prayer. You may not have a perfect prayer closet, but you can still build a faithful practice right where you are, even kneeling at your bedside and returning again when you fall short. If you’re carrying a promise, a vow, or a commitment to God that feels heavy right now, let this be your encouragement to tell Him the truth and ask for strength to obey.

Subscribe so you don’t miss what’s next, share this with a friend who needs courage, and leave a review. What commitment are you trying to keep, and where do you need God’s help today?

Transcript

Hannah’s Costly Promise

SPEAKER_00 0:45

Can you imagine what it must have been like for Hannah to make that commitment to God to say I'm going to give you back this child that you have given me? I can't imagine how that must have felt. And I'm not sure if I would have kept up with that promise either. But on today's episode, we'll be looking at how important it is when we keep the commitment that we've made to God and how God blesses us. If this is your first time, welcome. And if you have been tracking with us for a while, I'm glad to have you with me today. Let's read 1 Samuel chapter 2 from verses 18 to 21. But Samuel ministered before the Lord, even as a child, wearing a linen ephod. Moreover, his mother used to make him a little robe and bring it to him year by year when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. And this is the part. Pay keen attention. And Eli would bless El Kanah and his wife and say, The Lord give you descendants from this woman for the loan that was given to the Lord. Then they would go to their own home. Listen to the Klincher, verse 21. And the Lord visited Hannah so that she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the child Samuel grew before the Lord. Can I read us again? And the Lord visited Hannah so that she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. Listen, if you if if you have not listened to last week's episode, this may be the point in which you need to go back. I'm sharing on the lessons that the Lord was teaching me, things that he wanted me to see from the book of 1 Samuel. And I felt compelled to just share them. So last week we shared on the promise that Hannah made to God and how God honored that promise that she made and how she also honored that sacrifice, that commitment that she made to him as well. And so we knew backstory. We knew that Hannah was barren. The Lord had closed her womb and it was her desire to have a child. And she told the Lord that if he had opened her womb, then she would give back the child to him. And she kept that commitment. And I, you know, I thought about it. And as I said earlier, is would I have, would I have, I know I would have made that commitment, but would I have kept it? Would I have kept it? Because at the time all I could think of was that I didn't have a child, my desire to have a child, and know that God has given the child to me. Looking back at the commitment, it would have been a hard thing I know to to give back because listen, Genesis, I mean sorry, second first Samuel has come back. 1 Samuel 21 21. 1 Samuel 1 21 would come later, right? Hannah had no clue that verse 21 would have been coming later, but Hannah still kept that sacrifice and God honored that sacrifice that she made of giving up at the time her only son to give back to God to serve in his kingdom. And look how Eli would have blessed and her husband to say that because of this loan that you have given back to God, may God may God just give you more, may He give you descendance right from this woman Hannah because of that commitment that she made. And what's the lesson that I'm taking out of this today? That sometimes when God gives us things, there are things that we desire, and you know, it's it's easy to make the sacrifice to say, God, I'm gonna give this thing back to you. But when we get the thing, it's not so easy to give it back, right? As as as someone had commented and said, you know, don't make these commitments if you're not able to keep it, because when you make it, God expects that we are going to keep the commitment that we made. He kept his side of the bargain. And as I look at it, and it, you know, when I relate this like to real life, that God is such a merciful Father, He is such a loving God, that He knows that this thing that we're giving back to Him is the thing that we desire most of all. And He knows if we take this act of faith, this step of faith, to say, Lord, it is you who have given this to me, and I'm giving it back to you. I'm giving it back to you with no even expectation that you are going to bless me, you're going to replace what I am giving to you. But out of this, Hannah kept on worshiping, Hannah kept on doing what she needed to do for the child Samuel. Right? Nothing stopped her. She didn't determine that, you know, maybe if I if I kept him longer than the period, because she did say she would keep him until she weaned him. If I keep him longer until maybe he is in elementary school, maybe the Lord will understand. When the time came, Hannah kept that commitment and she took the child to the temple. And the word of God tells us that every year she would make a robe and take it there for him. And then at this point in time, when Eli is not praying for them, the Lord determined that this was the time that I am going to bless Hannah. So Hannah got double for what she thought, what we may think that she would have lost. The Lord gave her three sons and two daughters. So Hannah had a total of six children. She gave one to the Lord and the Lord gave her back five more. And they said, God is no man's debtor. God is no man's debtor. If it is our gifts that we want to give to the Lord, give it to him because he is the one who he multiplies. God doesn't add, he multiplies. Right? He multiplies what we give to him. Even as you think about the tithe, and the Lord says, give me that all he wants is that 10%. Look at what he does with the 90% that is left back in our hands. Sacrifices are not easy to make, and I am the first to tell you that it is not easy. It is not easy to make a commitment to God and know that you have to honor that commitment. Right? But as we learn from Hannah's story that whatever we commit to Almighty God according to his will, he is honorab. He's honor bound to respond to that commitment. And it might not look the way how we are expecting. In Hannah's case, it was that God gave her more children because he knew that she desired a child. It was he who closed her womb and he knew the desires of her heart. And so sometimes you may think, okay, if I give God money, I'm gonna get back money, or if I give God this, I'm gonna give him back this. Sometimes it doesn't work that way. Sometimes the blessings that he need has a far greater effect for us than just giving us back the the the the the money that we gave. I said, okay, Lord, well I gave you$10 and I'm hoping to get back a hundred dollars more or however else more you're asking. But God said, baby, I will bless you with favor. Because favor when that's so the word of God says it's surrounds us like a shield, it opens doors, it does things for we that we cannot do for ourselves. So even as we are trusting God, even as you are committing yourself to say, Lord, this thing I want to give back to you, this thing, it is hard for me to give it back to you, but I made a commitment, I made a promise to you, and I am going to do it. I am going to do it. It may be hard for me to do it, but help me, help me to be able to honor the commitment that I have made to you, Almighty God. As I reflect on just my period of sabbatical, and I was saying to the Lord, you know, I really wanted a prayer closet to go into and pray. And he said to me, Why not kneel at your bedside? Make there your altar for me. And I remember committing to him to say, Lord, every time I need you, I'm going to, every time I'm about to meet you, I really want to meet you right here. You'd have heard me say that my standard is in my bed. That's the place where I meet with God. But during that sabbatical, I felt like I needed to do something that was different. And I remember committing to him that Lord, I am going to kneel here. And for the most part, I have, but there are some days that I haven't. And when I remember that commitment, I just say, Lord, forgive me. And then I just kneel. Because there's something in this season about just kneeling in the presence of God that makes a difference. It makes me feel even much, so much more closer to him. Even in this season when a lot of things are happening, and I know he has given me such peace. Just kneeling down there and be reminded that my father is meeting me right here. It makes an absolute difference. So I don't know. I don't know the commitment that you've made, and you may be struggling to give it back to God. My encouragement to you today is to tell him how you feel. The one thing that we can know about our daddy, he knows already how we are feeling, and all he's asking for us to do is to tell him how we feel. If the way we feel is not to give him back this thing, let him know. And if it is that we are struggling to do it, let him know. And if it is our desire to do it, let him know and say, Lord, it is hard. Help me to do this because I know you're a covenant keeping God. You've already kept your covenant to me. I've asked you for this, and I've seen you open the doors. I've asked you for this, and I've seen you heal. I've asked you for this, and I've seen you allow salvation to come to my family. I've asked you for this, and I've seen you giving me favor. And this is the commitment that I've made to you. Help me to do it. Friends, it's not easy. And let's be real, it will not be easy. But can I tell you something? I found that the times when I made the commitment to God and actually honor it, I can't even begin to explain to you how it feels. Or it makes me feel free. It makes me feel free to say that God, you've done all of this for me, and this is the least that I could do for you. So, my hope and my prayer today is that you are blessed by this episode, that you're reminded that God is no man's debtor and that he will provide for you more than says exceedingly abundantly above that which you could ever ask or even imagine, according to the power at work within us. That's the Almighty God that we serve. So, whatever you give to him, God is able to give you back more than you can ever ask or even think. That's the Father we serve, Daddy. I thank you today. I thank you that you're a covenant keeping God. I thank you, Lord God, that you do not go back on your promises, Lord God. They are yes and amen. Almighty God, there are some things that we committed to you that we asked you for, Almighty God, that we even bargained with you for, Lord, and you kept your side of the bargain. You did for us, Almighty God. And Father, we are struggling, Lord God, to keep our side. Almighty God, help us. Help us like Hannah, Lord God, who gave to you, Lord God, and in giving to you, Lord God, you gave her even more, Almighty God, more than she asked for, more than she ever thought she could have. Almighty God, do your sweet will in my friend's life today and have your way. In your name, I pray with thanksgiving. Amen and amen.