Today I want to share with you a story from the book of I Samuel about a woman named Hannah. As I was reading this particular story, it jumped out at me as to what amazing faith she had. The Bible is filled with real people, with real problems, who face them with real faith and Hannah did just that! She had faith that God would hear and answer her prayer and He did!
Hannah wanted nothing more than to be able to have a child but was barren. In her anguish and heartache, she cried out to God but never got bitter, never got angry, and never gave up praying!!! She allowed her heartache to draw her closer to her Creator and she stayed faithful and worshiped in the waiting!! I love that! What an amazing testimony she had and because of her faithfulness, God gave her a son and she named him Samuel!
“God allows problems as a motivation to seek Him and draw closer to Him”
Someone has said “Pain, rightly used, increases our capacity for God. And the greater the capacity, the more we will be filled with him. And that’s God’s purpose for suffering: so that we get to know Him better and love Him more!
I can say “amen” to that statement personally. Let me say that there is no greater love than the love of a mother besides the love that God has for us!!
As many of you know I have been through some very tough times with my daughter. I wish I could say that I have always been the kind of mother God intended for me to be, but I can’t. Many mistakes have been made along the way and I have let God down many times. I can't tell you the times I have said, “If I could just go back; I would do things so differently!” but the fact is I can’t. I can only live today and look forward to the future. We have been given this very moment to make a difference!
When I read the story of Hannah and how she poured her heart before the Lord, it reminded me of how desperate and heart-broken I felt for my daughter. God was merciful and heard Hannah’s prayer and that my friend, gives me amazing hope!!
Oh, let me tell you that God has and continues to answer my prayers as I write this letter to you! God is so good and so amazing! Mothers, we must stay faithful in prayer; Fathers stay faithful in prayer! God will answer in His time and in His way! Don’t ever give up on your children or think it’s too late! It’s never too late!
You see, God doesn’t answer on our “timetable” or in the way we think that He should. God has a perfect will for each of our lives. What God wants from us is “faithfulness!” He saw the faithfulness in Hannah and He saw her sincerity in prayer! He heard the desires of her heart and gave her a son.
I have seen God do amazing things in our family. Over the last 2 ½ years, I have seen God’s hand at work because of faithfulness in prayer, dedication, and an undeniable faith that God was able to keep those things which I committed to Him!
II Timothy 1:12 “for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day”I have quoted this scripture over and over again and it has brought such comfort and peace when the” storms of life” were all around me. Those dark hours of the night when I couldn’t sleep, crying out to God on my daughter’s behalf! Oh, but He heard my cry and He honored the sincere and faithfulness of my prayers!
In the fall of 2010, God’s plan was for us to move to Indiana. At first, I couldn’t understand why He would uproot our family so quickly but now I see His answer to my prayers! So many of those requests I had brought daily to the Lord, He answered!
It’s so wonderful and amazing to see God’s handprints everywhere when you stop to look back at your life. God was working all things for our good and He was answering the prayers that I had prayed in such pain and anguish! He had heard my cry just as He heard Hannah’s cry!!
In March of this year, Mike’s daughter, Amy was saved and baptized! Her life is “blazing” for Jesus! Not only did God answer on behalf of Kalynn, He also answered on behalf of Amy, a prayer I had prayed earnestly for! If we hadn’t followed God’s will by moving to Indiana, Amy might not have come to church that Sunday and received Christ as her Savior!! Wow!! That’s “God at work” my friends!! Thre are still so many unanswered prayers but I'm Believing God for every last one of them!!
In closing, let me share with you three things that I think are so important for us to do if we want to be a successful Christian and mother!
1. Hannah’s heart-felt prayer ” And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the LORD and wept in anguish” (I Samuel 1)
The Bible says, “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man (woman) availeth much” (James 5:16). Hannah prayed, and God gave her a son. When we recognize that God is a powerful God, we can expect a powerful answer to prayer.
The size of your God, determines the size of your prayer request.
The size of your prayer request, determines the size of your answers.
We must be men and women of prayer! We must pray big and expect big from the Lord! When Hannah prayed and asked God for a child, it costs her something but it was worth it! There are so many things that stand in our way when we pray. We must come to God with a clean and sincere heart and make our request known to Him and before you know it, those mountains standing in your way will be removed!!!
Philippians 4:6-7 says, " Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.It’s important also to see in verse 12, that she never gave up! It says, “she kept on praying to the Lord.” She didn’t just pray once, but she kept praying and I'm sure her prayers were bathed in a lot of tears! I also want you to notice that she prayed this prayer in her heart, not audibly. She prayed secretly, not wanting to draw any attention to herself. We don’t have to always pray out loud, but simply pray from our heart because our thoughts are as words to God!!
Susannah Wesley spent one hour each day praying for her 17 children. In addition, she took each child aside for a full hour each week to discuss spiritual matters. It’s no wonder that two of her sons, Charles and John, were used mightily in both England and America!! Pray big; expect big!!
2. Hannah’s Dedication to the Lord Hannah made a commitment that if the Lord would give her a child, she would dedicate him completely to the Lord!
11 Then she made a vow and said, “O LORD of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life
She literally gave her son back to the Lord! Wow, that is amazing to me! In order to be a successful mother, we must live a life that is totally dedicated to the Lord and dedicate our children to the Lord! It doesn’t matter if they are 1 or 40! It’s never too late to start.
Deuteronomy 6:5-9 says, “ You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.3.Hannah’s Praise! Hannah’s faith explodes with praise! (I Samuel 2:1-11) I want to point out in her beautiful prayer of praise to her Maker that there is no sadness! She has just dropped off her son Samuel at the temple and now she breaks out into this amazing praise. She was thrilled that God had given her a son! God lived to what He said He would do and she had fulfilled her promise to Him!!
“No one is holy like the LORD,
for there is none besides You,
Nor is there any rock like our God.
There is no one else who is holy like the Lord and no one else who will be our Rock through the storms of life. Praise God!!
Hannah is a true example of a “woman and a mother of faith.” She endured suffering because of her barrenness and yet she stayed faithful in prayer and worshiped, pouring her heart out before God! And when He answered her prayers, she exploded with praise. I love, love, love it!!! We should always give God the glory for the great things He has done and is doing in our lives!! She gave praise to the God who keeps His Promises! The God who honors faithfulness and who honors our worship to Him! The Lord of Hosts! Our Rock and our Fortress!!
Hannah’s influence was absolutely immeasurable. She gave Israel a son that turned the nation around. Bible scholars say it was Samuel that brought Israel back to righteousness. It was Samuel that anointed the first king. It was Samuel that anointed the second king. It was Samuel who became the last judge and the first prophet. Israel needed a man, and God gave Samuel to them. All because of a mother who committed her ways to the Lord and gave back to the Lord what He had given her.
In closing, let me emphasize how “important” it is to be a “praying” mom! There is so much “power in prayer!” When we call out to the “Lord of Hosts” with a sincere heart, you can rest assured that the Lord hears and answers!!
May we never let a day slip by without calling out to God on our children’s behalf! Pray big and expect big things for your children! Let us pray that God will raise up mighty men and women to stand up for what is right in these last days ! Believe God to do the impossible! Believe that He can do what He says He can do! Never give up hope, and keep the faith!! God is so good!!
Happy Mother’s Day and God Bless You!
“Encouraged in Heart. . . United in Love”
Jenny
II timothy 1:12
No comments:
Post a Comment