Jean Johnson’s 5-year-old grandson was sitting with his parents at a prayer meeting in Fremont, MI. His mother gave him paper and pencil, and he was busily printing words.
Then he poked his mother and whispered, “How do you spell ‘sex’?”
Shocked, she replied, “What did you say?”
The boy said, “How do you spell ‘sex,’ Mom? You know, ‘in-sects.’”
She looked over, and sure enough, on the bottom of his paper he had drawn a bug. (Jean Johnson, Fremont, MI, “Lite Fare,” Christian Reader)
Sometimes our children and grandchildren scare us, especially when we’re trying to raise them in a culture which is stealing away their innocence at a younger age every year. We live in an ungodly age, and it is getting harder and harder to raise children and grandchildren with godly values.
Yet I believe it is still very doable. You CAN raise godly children in an ungodly age, and an Old Testament mother shows us how. She raised a boy that God used to bring the nation of Israel out of one of the darkest periods of their history. It was the period of the judges when Israel time after time turned away from the God of their fathers. Everyone did what was right in their own eyes, and the nation was overrun by terrorists. Even so, in such desperate times, a mother was able to raise a boy that God used to revive a ruined nation.
He became Israel’s last judge and first prophet, growing up to be a godly man with a godly influence on a godless nation. Do you want to know how she did it and how you can do it today? Then if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to 1 Samuel 1, 1 Samuel 1, where we see Hannah and her son, Samuel.
1 Samuel 1:1-2 There was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephrathite. He had two wives. The name of the one was Hannah [which literally means “someone to be pitied”], and the name of the other, Peninnah [literally, “a jewel”]. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. (ESV)
Hannah was certainly someone to be pitied, just like her name implies. She came from an obscure little town 15 miles north of Jerusalem. It was just a wide spot in the road. The biggest thing about the town was its name – Ramathaim Zuphim. How in the world could anyone from such a town have any significant influence on an entire nation? On top of that, Hannah had no children, which was considered a curse in her day. And her husband had brought a real “jewel” of a woman into the home, just so he could have children with her.
Ladies, can you imagine your husband bringing a gorgeous, young woman into your home just so he could sleep with her? Even though it was the custom of the day, at the very least you would be unhappy if you didn’t kill him first. You would feel violated and victimized. This was a dysfunctional home, even though on the surface it seemed very religious.
1 Samuel 1:3-5 Now this man used to go up year by year from his city to worship and to sacrifice to the LORD of hosts at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the LORD. On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters. But to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the LORD had closed her womb. (ESV)
Do you see it? The LORD had closed her womb. This was no accident of nature; it was an act of God, who “causes all things to work together for good.” God had closed Hannah’s womb for his own good purposes. He was using the hammer and chisel of pain to fashion a woman who could raise a national hero, a son that would have a significant impact on her nation.
1 Samuel 1:6 And her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her, because the LORD had closed her womb. (ESV)
Her husband’s other wife provoked her so much that she would literally shake. In other words, Hannah trembled with rage under the provocation.
1 Samuel 1:7-8 So it went on year by year. As often as she went up to the house of the LORD, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. And Elkanah, her husband, said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?” (ESV)
He didn’t seem to understand her pain. Hannah was a woman with deep emotional pain – barren, despised and provoked by a rival wife, victimized by circumstances beyond her control. But that’s what it takes sometimes to raise a child who will change the world. Sometimes it takes a parent in pain. It takes a mother who has been shaped and molded by hard times. It takes a woman who has learned to thrive in times of adversity.
Scott Larson is president of Straight Ahead Ministries, which works with juvenile offenders all across the country. He tells the story of a woman who discovered God in the midst of her suffering.
Annette and her husband were missionaries in Western Europe when she began to have pain in her back. When the pain became so unbearable that she could no longer function, even with muscle relaxants, X-rays revealed a tumor the size of a grapefruit that had attached itself to her spinal cord. Though surgery would need to be done immediately, the operation was considered somewhat routine and not a particularly high-risk procedure.
Something went wrong, however. Annette awoke from the surgery paralyzed from the neck down and in constant, excruciating pain. Not long afterward, she, her husband, and their five children returned to the United States where she could be cared for in more appropriate surroundings.
Several years later, Annette's husband invited Scott to their home for Sunday dinner. Scott had always admired Annette, having heard how she refused pain-numbing medications so that she wouldn't also be numbed to all of life. Yet he wasn't sure what to expect from his visit. Would she be bed-bound? Would they only be able to communicate a few minutes before she needed rest?
What Scott encountered when he entered their home was a beautifully dressed woman whose outward expression revealed little of her physical pain. During his five-hour visit, Annette served as a gracious hostess who shared her story with honesty. She told how when she first came out of the surgery, she and everyone else focused on praying for God to heal her. When that didn't happen, and she was confined to 24-hour care at home, she became very depressed. Most people stopped connecting with her. Their lives moved on while Annette's came to a screeching halt. Bible college and missionary training had not equipped her to deal with a life tied to a wheelchair and filled with constant pain.
“I felt that I was left with three choices,” Annette said. “To kill myself and end the unbearable suffering for all of us; to abandon my faith in God and merely exist on painkillers; or to put my energies to discovering God in the midst of all of this suffering.”
Annette's face beamed. “I chose the third,” she said. “And as I began slowly reading the Bible again through the lens of pain and suffering, what I saw was a God who was familiar with both. I thought my pain and suffering had taken me to a place where God could never be found; instead, it was a place where he became more real to me than I had ever known him to be.” (Scott Larson, A Place for Skeptics, Regal, 2005; www.PreachingToday.com)
Pain is the place where God can be found more than any other place. So, in the midst of your pain…
DON’T DESPAIR.
Don’t give into depression and bitterness. Instead…
PRAY
Choose to discover God in the midst of your pain, and take your bitterness to the Lord. Tell Him all your troubles.
That’s what Hannah finally did. After years and years of just being depressed and angry, she finally brought her bitterness of soul to the Lord.
1 Samuel 1:9-11 After they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh, Hannah rose. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the LORD. She was deeply distressed and prayed to the LORD and wept bitterly. And she vowed a vow and said, “O LORD of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.” (ESV)
She promised God that her boy would be a Nazarite all his life. That’s what she meant when she said, “No razor will ever be used on his head.” You see, a Nazarite was someone who never cut his hair as a sign of his extreme commitment to the Lord.
Hannah didn’t want a son for herself; she wanted him for the Lord. She prayed unselfishly, and she prayed unceasingly.
1 Samuel 1:12-14 As she continued praying before the LORD [literally, as she multiplied praying, as she piled one prayer upon another], Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman. And Eli said to her, “How long will you go on being drunk? Put your wine away from you.” (ESV)
She was so distressed and distraught, she must have looked like she was drunk.
1 Samuel 1:15-18 But Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the LORD. Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation.” Then Eli answered, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to him.” And she said, “Let your servant find favor in your eyes.” Then the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad. (ESV)
She had finally left her burden with the Lord. Hannah prayed unselfishly. She prayed unceasingly. And, she prayed with an unshakable faith that God had heard and would now answer her prayer. You see, she didn’t stop praying until she had that assurance; and indeed, God heard and answered her prayer.
1 Samuel 1:19-20 They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the LORD; then they went back to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her. And in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, “I have asked for him from the LORD.” (ESV)
Samuel, Shema-El, literally means “heard of God. Hannah prayed unselfishly, unceasingly, and unshakably, and God heard her prayer.
Do you want God to hear your prayers? Then pray like Hannah did.
Pray unselfishly, because God does not answer selfish prayers. James 4 says, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions” (James 4:3). Don’t pray just go get your selfish desires fulfilled. Instead, pray unselfishly if you want God to answer your prayers.
More than that, pray unceasingly. Don’t quit praying until you’re sure God has heard and will answer your prayer. It’s what the old saints used to call “praying through.” Jesus told his followers to “always pray and not give up” (Luke 18:1, NIV).
I like the way an old Haitian believer expressed it in her prayer: “Lord, don't let us put our load of trouble in a basket on our head. Help us put them on Jesus' head. Then we won't have headaches. (Wally R. Turnbull and Eleanor J. Turnbull, God Is No Stranger, Light Messages, 2010, p. 82; www.PreachingToday.com)
If you God to answer your prayers, then pray unselfishly; pray unceasingly; and pray with an unshakable faith. Pray with a sure and certain confidence in the Lord, who delights in giving good gifts to His children when they ask.
Hebrews 11 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).
Dr. Ben Carson, world famous brain surgeon and now head of Housing and Urban Development, performed more than 400 operations a year at the height of his medical career. That’s miraculous especially when you consider his background.
Dr. Carson credits his faith and his mother for the success he has enjoyed over the years. He said of his mother, “She was one of 24 children, got married at age 13, found out that her husband was a bigamist, [she only had a] third-grade education, [but]…she never adopted a victim's mentality… She prayed, she asked God to give her wisdom because my brother and I were terrible students.”
God heard the prayer of Carson's mother. Ben Carson's brother became an engineer, and Ben himself went from being ranked as the worst student in his fifth-grade class to being named head of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins when he was 33, the youngest in the nation at the time. On the occasion of its 200th anniversary, the Library of Congress named him one of the 89 “Living Legends.” In 2001, he was chosen by CNN and Time magazine as one of America's top 20 physicians and scientists. And he is still having an impact now in President Trump’s cabinet. (“Upclose: Dr. Ben Carson,” accessed 10-17-02, ABC News)
It all happened because of a mother’s prayer – a mother in a desperate situation.
I too had a praying mother. In high school, I began to doubt the existence of God and was on the verge of turning away from Him. One day, I discussed it with my mother, and she didn’t act shocked or surprised. She just answered my questions the best she could and prayed for me. Years later, I found that she had had all the ladies in the church praying for me as well. Her prayers worked! My faith was strengthened, and I have been serving the Lord as a pastor and church planter for over 33 years.
We are raising children and grandchildren in difficult days. But that’s no reason to throw up your hands and quit. No! Instead, Like Hannah, herself in a desperate situation, don’t despair. Instead, get on your knees and pray. Then…
GIVE YOUR CHILDREN TO THE LORD.
If you want to raise godly children in an ungodly age, then let them go into God’s hands. Turn them completely over to Him.
That’s what Hannah did. She vowed that she would give her son to the Lord “all the days of his life” (vs.11), and sure enough, she did!
1 Samuel 1:21-23 The man Elkanah and all his house went up to offer to the LORD the yearly sacrifice and to pay his vow. But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, so that he may appear in the presence of the LORD and dwell there forever.” Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems best to you; wait until you have weaned him; only, may the LORD establish his word.” So the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him. (ESV)
In that day, mothers nursed their babies until they were about 3 years old.
1 Samuel 1:24-28 And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and she brought him to the house of the LORD at Shiloh. And the child was young. Then they slaughtered the bull, and they brought the child to Eli [the priest]. And she said, “Oh, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the LORD. For this child I prayed, and the LORD has granted me my petition that I made to him. Therefore I have lent him to the LORD. As long as he lives, he is lent to the LORD.” And he worshiped the LORD there. (ESV)
Samuel served the Lord in the tabernacle from the time he was 3 years old! Hannah gave her boy to the Lord at a very young age, and that’s what you and I need to do today.
Give your children and grandchildren to the Lord as soon as we can. Now please, don’t bring your children to your pastor to raise. That’s not the point of this passage. Rather, tell God that your children belong to Him. Tell God that He can do whatever He wants to do with them.
Then do whatever you can to point your children to God. Do whatever you can to lead them to faith in Jesus Christ, and eo whatever you can to encourage them to follow Christ with all of their hearts.
At the very least, bring them to church once a week, whether they want to come or not. I’m sure Samuel, at age three, did not want to be left at the tabernacle. He probably went kicking and screaming, but his mother knew what had to be done, and she did it!
So many parents today are afraid of their children. They’re afraid their children will rebel. Or they’re afraid their children will hate them if they insist on certain rules. Well, just the opposite is true, especially for teenagers.
Just a few years ago (2008), New York Magazine ran a comprehensive article about research concerning kids and morality. One researcher noted, “Kids who go wild and get in trouble… have parents who don’t set rules or standards. Their parents are loving and accepting no matter what the kids do, but the kids take the lack of rules as a sign their parents don't care – that their parent doesn't really want [the] job of being the parent…
Ironically, the type of parents who are actually most consistent in enforcing rules are the same parents who are most warm and have the most conversations with their kids.” Though some rules result in arguments between parents and teens, only 23 percent of the teenagers surveyed considered these conflicts harmful to their relationship with their parents. (Po Bronson, “Learning to Lie,” New York Magazine, 2-10-08)
Our children want and need our guidance. They want to know we care enough to enforce reasonable standards. My friends, don’t be afraid to point your children and grandchildren to the Lord. Don’t be afraid to insist that they come to church with you at least once a week. Don’t be afraid to set some guidelines and enforce them. They may not appreciate it now, but later they will rise up and call you blessed.
On the other hand, don’t try to control and manipulate our children. For if you truly give your children and grandchildren to the Lord, you will not only point them to Christ; you will let them go into His hands; you will turn them over to the Lord Himself. When Hannah took her son to the tabernacle, she relinquished all control of him; she literally put him in the Lord’s hands.
So often, when children make bad choices, their parents feel like we have to manipulate and control them. They feel like they have to fix their; and then they get all frustrated and angry when they don’t want to be fixed.
Giving your children to the Lord means letting the Lord fix them. It means letting the Lord teach them through some of the hard lessons that come in life when they make poor choices. If your children are in rebellion, don’t tear your hair out trying to fix them. Just give them to the Lord. Relinquish control of them to God, Himself.
Margaret Connell, of Tacoma, Washington, and her husband participate in the prayer ministry at their church, the Clover Creek Bible Fellowship. The prayer times follow the Sunday services each week, and people come forward to receive prayer for a variety of reasons.
One Sunday, Mary (not her real name) came forward for physical healing. Her right ear was filled with fluid, and her doctors could not figure out why, nor could they come up with an effective treatment. As a result, her hearing was impaired and she was often dizzy. This had been going on for a month, and she was discouraged.
As always, the prayer team asked God to speak to them about how to pray. They wanted God to show them whether Mary's illness had spiritual causes or if it was purely physical. As they prayed, they received an impression that her physical condition had spiritual roots; it resulted from a pattern of control, striving, and distrust that had been passed down from mother to daughter for several generations.
The prayer team gently offered what they were hearing from the Holy Spirit to Mary, asking her if it rang true. She acknowledged that control issues did exist in her family and that, out of her own fears and mistrust of the Lord's capacity to work, she often tried to make things turn out “right” on her own.
Then she realized that the ear condition began when she started worrying about a member of her family who was making poor life choices. Mary had been trying to help this person—whom she loved dearly—but she also knew, deep in her heart, that she was trying to “fix” her. Mary found herself constantly telling her loved one what to do and then getting frustrated when she didn't follow her advice.
The prayer team encouraged Mary to repent of her need to control and to release her loved one to God's care and control, which she did. Then they prayed for her healing. She immediately felt at peace and believed that her ear would be healed. After that, her condition gradually diminished and in a few weeks was completely gone. (Margaret Connell, Tacoma, Washington, Pray! January/ February 2006, pg. 23)
You see, when you try to “fix” family members through manipulation and control, you only hurt yourself. But when you relinquish control of your children to the Lord, then He knows how to lead them on the right path.
That doesn’t mean you don’t enforce reasonable standards. God calls you to do your job as parents and grandparents, but only He can be their Savior and Lord.
If you want to raise godly children in an ungodly age, just pray and then give your children to the Lord. Who knows? Maybe God will use one of them to bring revival to our nation.
I close with this thought from Barbara Bush, who just passed away. She was speaking at Wellesley College years ago while her husband was still in the White House. In her speech, she was trying to encourage the young women to make their families a priority in their lives. And she told them, “Our successes in this society depends not on what happens in the White House, but on what happens inside your house.” (Bible Illustrator #1667; 6/1993.13)
That’s a good thing to remember, especially these days. More important than who is in the White House is who you are as a mom and dad in your own house.
