When Frustration Births Faith: Hannah and the Law of Assumption

In the opening chapter of 1 Samuel, we meet Hannah—a woman bitter in soul, provoked by her rival, and burdened by her barrenness. Year after year, she worships and weeps, but the heavens seem silent. This is not just a story of infertility. It is the raw, human ache of desiring something so deeply and not seeing it materialise—despite effort, prayer, and even righteousness.

And yet, buried within her frustration is a gold thread of transformation that speaks directly to Neville Goddard’s Law of Assumption.

At her lowest point, Hannah rises from the table and enters the temple. There, she pours out her soul—not in words others can hear, but in silent, internal speech. She moves from supplication to surrender. The priest, Eli, initially mistakes her deep inner movement for drunkenness. But upon recognising her state, he - conscious direction - utters a blessing: “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition.”

Here is the turning point. Hannah, still without a child, goes her way and eats, and her face is no longer downcast.

This subtle moment is everything. Nothing has changed outwardly. But inwardly, she has assumed the feeling of her prayer fulfilled. She no longer pleads; she believes. She rests in the assumption that what she asked is already hers.

Neville wrote, “Dare to assume you are what you want to be and you shall be.” Hannah dared. Her assumption became flesh. In time, she gave birth to Samuel, a name meaning “heard of God.”

Her story is not about passive waiting—it’s about inner alignment. About shifting from the identity of lack to the identity of fulfilment. Not because circumstances said so, but because she chose to believe within.

The Law of Assumption is not about ignoring frustration. It’s about allowing frustration to press us inward, to the still point where we assume our desired state as real. And like Hannah, once that inner movement is made, peace comes—not as a result of manifestation, but as its forerunner.