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Prayed: She was vexed and bitter with her circumstances but did not blame God and prayed to Him instead. In addition, her prayer was: And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed lookon the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no rasor come upon his head.
. (1Samuel 1:11). When regular prayer didn't work she turned to fasting and making a vow before God. God answered her prayer because her vow was for special service. Samson was the last prior judge and he was a Nazarite. Her vow was that Samuel would be a life long Nazerite like Samson.
Raised a godly son: 1SA 1:24 says And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her
. She only had him until he was weaned
. Yet Samuel was the greatest of the judges. This shows the importance of early training starting with songs and reading the Bible out loud while the child is still in the womb.
Kept her vow: 1SA 1:27-28 says: For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of him: Therefore also I have lent him to the LORD; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the LORD. And he worshipped the LORD there.
This was her only child at this point and he changed her life from being bitter to wonderful. Yet she gave him away and left him in a far city because of her vow. No matter what her personal cost was she had to character to keep a vow to God and she passed that character on to her son. The mother is a core influence on the basic character of her child. My own mother told me how her general attitude while carrying each of her children became the core character of her children.
Thankful at the time of her loss: See 1Sa 2:1-10 for her prayer of thanks at the time of giving up her only child.
Faithful: 1Sa 2:19tells of her continuing to love and care for Samuel even while apart.
Rewarded: 1sa 2:21 says that God gave her three sons and two daughters.
Failure:: Samuel was godly but his sons were not. Hannah taught Samuel but was not there to teach Samuel how to pass on the lessons to the next generation.
They were grandmother and mother to Timothy (1TI 1:5). There is a lot of speculation about them that preaches well but is not backed by the Bible. Certainly the father is deliberately excluded when the unfeigned faith
of the mother and grandmother is mentioned. Mothers are to have true and proper faith and are to pass it to the next generation even when they do not have the correct support of others including no support or even opposition of husband.
Their faith was an unfeigned faith
. It was sincere and openly displayed with not show, pretense or hypocrisy. If your faith is not the same at home while you are upset as it is at church then your children will know. They see you when you sleep. They see you at your worst moments. Only a faith that calls for God's help in all circumstances, especially when we are at our worst, will be passed on to our grandchildren with the same or greater intensity. Mothers are responsible to God for the faith of their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Timothy was still with Lois and Eunice when he left to follow Paul and learn how to be a preacher. That was because he felt their sincere love which did not stifle him but allowed him to grow into the man he was and let him leaved them when the time came. Mothers have to influence their children while they can and be willing to let them go when God says that it is time for them to go.
Titus 2:3-5 says The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. Mothers need to humble themselves and accept the teaching of older godly women.
Everyone claims that mothers
instinctually have some magical all-encompassing love for their children. However, our text says that they have to be taught to love their children
. The fact is that many mothers have a severe case of depression after birth. In addition, some children are a constant challenge and even a severe burden. Pride and this lie about a mother's instinctual love keep mothers from asking for help in loving their children when it is difficult. godly mothers know enough to seek ongoing help and to listen when corrected instead of taking their child and leaving. Notice that Paul included Lois with Eunice because Lois was still an ongoing and major influence in the life of Eunice. Mothers need to humble themselves for the sake of their children.
Luke 1:26-31 SAYS And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
She was still a virgin. She kept herself pure until after she had received a vow before God from the man who was to be her husband. Filipinos claim that there is no worry with Filipinas, but the fact is that I have met more than one Filipina who had a child and was never married. The temptation is there even for Filipinas. Avoid situations where you are alone with a man.
She was: highly favoured
and the Lord is with thee
. The word thee
means 'you personally'. Regardless of what others are doing keep your relationship with God right. It will drive away boys that your flesh wants but who will not lead you in a godly godly life and will, after the test of time, attract the man that God wants for your life.
She went to her older cousin's house (Luke 1:39-40). She sought fellowship and advice from an older woman. She also helped that older woman with an attitude that the experience helped her prepare for her own time of responsibility. She did not have an attitude of helping but of learning.
All mothers and potential mothers have responsibilities from God and those responsibilities change with age. Mothers are said to be the keepers of home and civilization. Most men just don't care about the things that were given to mothers to keep. However, no one can do the job that God gave them unless they have the ongoing help of God. That means that they first must have an ongoing personal relationship with God and secondly they must constantly do what is required to maintain it.
Have you asked Jesus Christ to be your personal Lord?
When was the last time that you asked your personal Lord to help you do a godly job of meeting your personal responsibilities in this life?