A Praying Mother

Introduction

There is one thing that is always in a godly mothers heart and that is her children. This week I was reading the story of CH Spurgeon one of the most famous preachers of modern history. Spurgeon had a praying mother. He didn’t have much time with his mother because she died when he was six years old, but on her death bed, she prayed for her son that some day, He would become a preacher. That prayer seemed to go unanswered and in fact Spurgeon’s life seemed to be a mockery of her prayer.

I can only imagine how her heart would have broken to see what her son was doing for those 33 years. How ashamed she would have been. You see Spurgeon decided to follow in the footsteps of his father and became a sailor. But Spurgeon was not just any sailor, eventually he became a slave trader. He was a hard hearted, angry man. He lived in filth and sin pursueing his base desires until one day he ended up a slave himself to a slave trader off the coast of Sierra Leone. Even that didn’t wake him up. He was eventually rescued by a friend of his fathers, but went back into the slave trade. One day, their ship hit a major storm that lasted day and night and again another day. When they thought the ship would be lost, Spurgeon was placed at the helm. During that time, Spurgeon had a coming to faith and called out for God to save them. In 1748, God saved John Newton and he wrote these words in his journal:

This is a day much to be remembered by me, and I have never suffered it to pass wholly unnoticed since the year 1748. On that day the Lord sent from on high and delivered me out of the deep waters. 

16 years later, John Newton became a preacher at the age of 39. If you stopped the story and looked at it when he was 23, you would have thoughts his mothers prayers were wasted, but God answered those prayers even though she never got to see them fulfilled.

This morning, I want to take a look at a praying mothers story in 1 Samuel 1 and 2. This mother was Hannah and I pray from her example that all those praying mothers will be encouraged not to give up their prayers because it seems like they aren’t getting answered.

Hannah’s Situation

1 Samuel 1:1-10-

Infertility- vs 5 Over the past couple years since I have been a pastor, I have seen women who have struggled with infertility in our church and seen the pain that they go through. Each month, they are excited about the possibility and then by the end of the month they are plunged into discouragement again. But I have also seen those same mothers become Hannah’s. I have seen God answer their prayers and give them children. While that may not be everyone’s story, I want us to see the pain that is common to all these women. Hannah struggled with this infertility. Later in vs 8, it seems as if she has disconnected from her husband because she hasn’t had a child. His comforts fall on deaf ears.

Oppression- vs 6 not only did Hannah struggle with the infertility, but she had it rubbed in her face. Here the text doesn’t name who Hannah’s adversary was. But vs 7, tell us it was a she. We are left to assume it was Peninnah, Elkannah’s other wife who could have children. But whoever it is, they opposed and oppressed Hannah. You may not have to deal with another wife like Hannah, but we have an adversary in the devil who desires the same things as Peninnah. Satan wants to cause you to be provoked- irritated and to make you fret- the word her means to be brought low, humiliated or out of sorts because of fear. We get stuck in this cycle of fear which brings sadness which leads to being irritated which leads to frustrations.

Depression- vs 7 Hannah’s situation made her depressed. Not only did she have a monthly reminder that she was not pregnant, but she had a yearly reminder that God had not changed her situation. Back in vs 3, we read that her husband went to the temple yearly to worship. Hannah’s grief turned into depression. As a biblical counselor it is often important to distinguish between discouragement and depression. Both are forms of grief or sadness. Hannah had a right to feel the sadness of loss here. Each month was like a little death inside her; but depression is when that sadness causes us to check out on life. Hannah weeps because of the grief, but she also refuses to eat. It was so bad that her husband became concerned and confronted her about it.

Infertility can drive a woman to this kind of depression. Maybe she loses all interest in going out of the house, she doesn’t want to be with her husband, she feels like she can’t pray and taking care of herself or cleaning get neglected. This is true depression and this is where Hannah was.

Grief- vs 10- When we hold that grief and inside it just festers into bitterness and anger against God. Hannah’s saving grace was that she didn’t hold it in, she voiced her pain to God. Lamenting well in prayer is the only way to process our grief in such a way that fights off the bitterness.

God’s Delay

1 Sam 1:5-7-

Part of what made this harder was that God didn’t seem to be doing anything about it. Notice in vs 7, she went up year by year. Every single year, she came up to worship. Every single year no doubt she made the same request and every single year, nothing happened. God didn’t seem to be listening. This morning I began a series in the book of Habakkuk in Sunday school and Habakkuk expressed the same feelings that Hannah must have been feeling.

Habakkuk 1:2 “O Lord, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! Even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save!”

Psalm 13:1 “How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? for ever? How long wilt thou hide thy face from me?”

Those who have wrestled with God through loss, pain and grief know this heart cry. Hannah knew this heart cry. How long? In Habakkuk and in Psalms, God does not rebuke them for asking their questions because God cares about the pain we are going through. So if God cares why does He delay? We may not always know why but just like David, Habakkuk and Hannah; we still choose to trust God because we know Him. We know His heart, His love, His wisdom. So I may not know why he delays, I know enough about Him to trust He has a reason.

I want us to look back up to verse 5, because their is a key truth that we must not miss. Verse 5 says that The Lord had shut up her womb. Hannah’s infertility was part of God’s plan. We see here the sovereignty of God. He is in control of the situation. And notice God’s plan did not necessarily mean she would always be infertile. God allowed her to have a son. 1 Samuel 1:20 “Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that she bare a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the Lord.”

Now a lot of this message has been about infertility because that was Hannah’s struggle, but I want to draw out a lesson for all mothers. You might be praying for your kids to love God, you might be praying for them to stay pure, for them to find godly spouses or to serve the Lord with their life. You might be praying for them to turn out right; but at this moment it doesn’t seem like things are going to go that way. Your heart cries like Hannah’s How long? You pray day after day, year after year and nothing seems to change. I want to remind you that Spurgeon’s mother never even got to see her prayer answered, but God did answer her prayer. Though it is hard keep on praying. Maybe your request is for your husband who isn’t leading the family well or walking with the lord. Keep on praying. Maybe it is some health or financial need in the home. Keep on praying.

Hannah’s Prayer

The last thing I want to look at is the quality of Hannah’s prayer. There are four things we see in Hannah’s prayer that reveal her heart:

Hannah prayed seriously

Hannah prayed submissively

Hannah prayed specifically

Hannah prayed steadfastly

Hannah prayed seriously- vs 11 she vowed a vow. Hannah made a promise and she determined she was going to keep it. This wasn’t a prayer Lord if you feel like answering go ahead but if not alright. The states were too high to have that kind of attitude. There is a place for boldness in our prayers. Ask for it. All these prayer request’s I have mentioned today, do you really think God wouldn’t love to answer them.

Hannah also prayed submissively- vs 11 Notice the word if here. Hannah recognized that it may not be God’s will. She had to cling to the sovereignty of God. She had to believe that He knew what he was doing. Also notice the word handmaid. A Handmaid was a servant. The key attribute of a servant is they do what their master tells them to do.

Hannah also prayed specifically- vs 11 Hannah didn’t say give me a child. She said give me a man child. She specifically wanted a son. She also made her promise to the Lord very specific. She promised that son would serve the Lord all his life and she would not cut his hair. That last part should remind you of Samson because it was a Nazarite vow she was taking for her son.

Hannah also prayed steadfastly- vs 12 She continued praying. She didn’t give up because she was discouraged. She didn’t give up because it seemed like the answer hadn’t come. She didn’t give up because it seemed impossible. She continued praying.

Conclusion

This morning, I want to speak to the mothers. Think of your prayer request for your children. I believe you have one. Has it been answered so far or does God seem to be delaying. I want to ask all the mothers who have a prayer request like this, will you come to the front this morning and earnestly pray to God for that request. Maybe your prayer is How long? Go ahead and ask that question. Tell God how you feel. Hannah here came to the tabernacle and prayed before the Lord. Will you?

As the piano play will you come.