One Mother’s Answered Prayer
1 Samuel 1:27 “For this child I prayed, and the LORD has granted me my petition which I asked of Him.
Hannah’s Desire
Hannah is a case study in maternal love. She was childless and apparently in competition with another wife. Her husband loved her even though she was childless. The other wife who seems to be less loved taunted her for not being able to produce a child. Having children was a sign of God’s blessing in Israel and Hannah wanted a child. But she didn’t want just any child. She wanted a child that would serve the Lord. So one day when she was in Shiloh for a feast day, she was in the tabernacle praying for a child. She didn’t say a prayer, she actually prayed. Her lips moved, but her voice was silent. Eli the priest saw her and thought she was drunk. From what we read of Eli, it may be he was drunk. It is for sure that he lacked discernment. But Hannah prayed earnestly and her prayer was answered. She told the Lord that if He would answer her prayer and give her a male child, she would dedicate that child to the Lord for his entire life.
God Answered and Hannah fulfilled her Promise
The Lord remembered Hannah and she did have a son. She nursed him until he was old enough for a man to finish raising him, and then she took him to Eli the priest who raised him. He seems to have become Eli’s adopted son. His natural birth made him a Levite but not a part of the Aaronic priesthood. But he offered sacrifices that only a descendent of Aaron should have offered. That is why I think he became the adopted son of Eli the priest who was of the lineage of Aaron. Hannah could say to Eli, “For this child I prayed!” Then she dedicated him to the Lord to be used as the Lord saw fit. Samuel still had to come to know the Lord, and that happened when the word of the Lord was revealed to him as recorded in 1 Samuel chapter 3. Josephus, the Jewish historian, thinks Samuel was about 12 at that time. Ultimately Samuel became a prophet, a priest and the last judge in Israel. This was all because of a mother’s prayer.
Spiritual Application
While Hannah is a lesson in a practical way for mothers (and fathers) who want to have children, it seems to me that we can make a further spiritual application. Having physical children is important but having spiritual children is more important. Rachel prayed in Genesis 30:1,”Give me children or else I die.” I would like to believe that we as children of God and as congregations trying to honor the Lord would pray that same prayer. Only let our prayer be for spiritual children. When Rachel says, “or else I die,” we might argue that is extreme. But we are certainly going to die out unless the burden for spiritual children is placed in our hearts. True revival in assemblies will not come from growth that is simply a result of other’s work. Movement of believers from one group to another is not true revival. Seeing the Lord using us in producing true children of God through the new birth is. There is joy associated with new life. When people trust the Lord, their teachers or leaders change (Matthew 28:19-20. Their eternal destinies change (Mark 16:16). Their minds are changed (Luke 24:47). This only happens when we who are saved are more concerned with souls of men and women than we are with the things of time and sense. We need to have our occupations changed so that we truly become witnesses unto to the Lord (Acts 1:8).
Mother’s Make a Difference
Sometimes I wonder what mothers want for their natural children today. Do they have their children as an answer to prayer? Do they want those children to amount to something for the Lord or do they want those children to make their mark in this world?
May This Be our Burden
Just as Rachel and Hannah had burdens to produce natural children, we need to have burdens to produce spiritual children. Too many spiritual children today tend to live for the here and now. We need to produce children that make a difference for eternity. May our prayers be that of Rachel, “Give me children or else I die.” And may our joy be the joy of Hannah who could say, “For this child I prayed.”
Bruce Collins
Meditation for the week of May 10, 2015