Grieving because she was childless, Hannah went to the temple at Shiloh and prayed. (1 Sam. 1:9-11.)
After Samuel was born and she had weaned him, Hannah "brought the child to Eli." (See 1 Sam. 1:20-26.) On that occasion, she offered a prayer in the form of a song of thanksgiving and praise. (See 1 Sam. 2:1-10.)Speaking in the October 1953 general conference, Elder Matthew Cowley of the Council of the Twelve said:
"No more beautiful prayers were ever uttered than those uttered by our mothers.
"I recall the prayer of Hannah. You remember Hannah who wanted a child and she went to the sanctuary to pray, but her prayer was not audible. . . .
"It was a prayer from her heart to God that she might bear a child. And how earnest she was in that prayer, so earnest, so sincere, that she said, `If God will give me this child, I will lend him to the Lord for this life.' (See 1 Sam. 1:11.)
"How well the mothers know that life is eternal. How well she knew that in lending this child to the Lord for this life, that beyond and down through the ages of eternity, he would be her child, and she would be his mother. The Bible is full of great prayers and the stories of great prayers."
