The Power of a Praying Parent

“No one is holy like the Lord, for there is none besides You, nor is there any rock like our God.”

1 Samuel 2:2

 
In reading the book of 1 Samuel how can you not love Hannah and her dedication to God. Oh how easy it is for a mother or even a father to want a child so bad from the Lord and to pray continually for a child to love and to pour their lives into. That is not a bad reason to want a child but we notice Hannah is no ordinary woman. She dedicates her newborn baby boy Samuel to the Lord and in chapter 2 we don’t find her rejoicing in Samuel but rather in God.

She doesn’t focus so much on the beautiful gift she has been given by God but instead she focuses in on the giver of the gift. She’s incredible! That’s hard to do when you are holding a newborn baby in your arms that you carried for 9 months in your own body, feeling their every move. Hannah is blessed with more children but here in chapter 2 and from her prayer we understand that each child became an extension of her worship of the giver of life.

What a beautiful prayer Hannah offers before the Lord. She obviously is a woman in tune with her God. She knows that God is sovereign and that He is in total control of all creation, even that creation that has been fashioned in her and comes forth from her womb. Yes, loved one, it is God who raises up and it is God who takes down, not man The enemies of God will be utterly destroyed where as the righteous are protected. We learn here in chapter 2 of the Lord’s anointed, we learn here of Jesus. He will establish the kingdom of God and all who put their hope and their trust in Him will not be disappointed. He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Hannah recognized it and I pray that you and I recognize it today too! There is none like our God, absolutely none, amen!

Hannah was a woman who loved God, you could tell by the depth of her prayer life. She had genuine faith in God, a faith so real it directed her everyday life. She didn’t attend church during this season of life; she became the church. We can see it in her prayer and devotion to God. If Hannah had been put on trial for her faith in God she would have went straight to jail as the evidence of her faith is over whelming. If you feel like your prayer life could use some help, if you feel like your prayer life needs a lift today, let me encourage you to get in the Word of God. There is an old saying that goes, “read the red and pray for the power”. Try it, and see for yourself.

Open up your bible and read it aloud as you pray today. Pray the Word of God, friend, it’s powerful. Consider the words of Colossians 3 where the apostle Paul reminds us, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” I believe that’s what Hannah did daily as she meditated on the Word of the Lord and as she sang she did so with grace in her heart, and the Lord rewarded her the same as He will reward those who do likewise. Dig deep into His Word, sing His praises from the housetop and let His grace overflow your heart as you do.

We have a choice to make today as we read 1 Samuel 2:11. We can follow the example of the good and godly man, Elkanah, or we can follow the example of the son, Samuel. Who do you think Samuel was most like, his mom or his dad? From what I see in the scriptures little Samuel appears to be a “momma’s boy”, and that’s there’s nothing wrong with that when you have a God fearing mom like Hannah! Thank God for godly Mom’s who unceasingly and sacrificially love their kids enough to give them up to the Lord and for His service, entrusting them to Jesus even before they were born.

Hannah displays what amazing love looks like by her offering her first born child to the Lord and though it’s not always easy to do but the lives of our children are enriched when you do, so thank you Mom’s! Be reminded that when you as a parent give your kids to the Lord they are safe with Him and so are you. Read with confidence today, Mom’s and Dad’s, how the Lord blesses Hannah. Believe in faith as you follow her parenting example, knowing that you will be blessed of the Lord too. After all, our children belong to the Lord and are only on loan to us for a short time.

 
“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 Eli would bless Elkanah 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. And the Lord visited Hannah, so that she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile the child Samuel grew before the Lord.”

 

1 Samuel 2:18-21

 
I LOVE YOU!