1 Samuel 1:8-11 "Then said Elkanah her husband to her, Hannah, why weepest thou? and why eatest thou not? and why is thy heart grieved? am not I better to thee than ten sons?  [9] So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the LORD.  [10]  And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the LORD, and wept sore.  [11]  And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on 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 razor come upon his head."

1 Samuel 1:26-28  "And she said, Oh my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the LORD. [27]  For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of him:  [28] 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."

1 Samuel 2:18-19  "But Samuel ministered before the LORD, being a child, girded with a linen ephod. [19]  Moreover his mother made him a little coat, and brought it to him from year to year, when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice."

  Introduction

"Happy Mother's Day"! We celebrate this holiday year after year, but do we define what a "mother" is? You might look at me like I'm crazy, but the mere ability to reproduce, to bear offspring, to have children does not make a woman a "mother". I have known women who, though they gave birth to children, they were never mothers to these children. I have known women who, through excessively sinful and loose lifestyles have borne several children, but have never been mothers to these children. There are also women who bore and raised their children, but who taught these children how to hate. The criminal called "Ma Barker" loved her children in her own way, but never raised these children to be anything other than thugs, criminals, murderers. Though she was called "Ma Barker", I do not believe that this woman was truly a mother in the sense that God expects a woman to be a mother.

I have had the joy of being in the presense of Godly, wonderful mothers in my lifetime. Motherhood is a wonderous, mysterious quality that our Creator has given to women. It is a quality that wants the best for the child, and is willing to sacrafice, even to the loss of her own life, for the child's greater good. The Bible teaches that a "Mother" is someone who has decided to nurture and care for - even guide - those who are weaker than herself. There are many who have had children then abandoned them to baby sitters, television, or society, or who have been blessed with child and have aborted these children for their own convenience. There is difficulty and pain in bearing a child - my wife was in labor for eight hours with our first child. But this initial difficulty does not earn you the title of "Mother". No, motherhood is harder than that. Motherhood demands that you spend at least eighteen years correcting, guiding, and disciplining your children. From the time the child is born the one who will earn the title of "Mother" must willingly decide to clean up your messes. She must be willing to get out of bed in the middle of the night to comfort you, to sit up with you when you are sick, to help you with schoolwork. Mother watches you grow, talks of your future, shares your life with you, and prepares you for the day that you will one day leave home - though she hates the thought of it.

Most of all, the good Mother trains her children in the ways of Christ. I am convinced that you cannot be a good Mother unless you are a good Christian, unless you live your faith before your children. Many today say, "I'll let my child choose whether he or she will go to Church, whether he or she will worship God". I warn you, if you do this you are condemning your child to Hell. Your children watch you, Mother, to see how to behave. If you take your relationship with Christ lightly, the children will follow. If you are faithful, Mother, then your children will one day honor Christ because of that faithfulness. We desperately need Godly Mothers today, perhaps more than any other time in America's history.

  1. Christian Mothers Correct The Course Of A Nation

1 Samuel 1:6-8 (KJV) "And her adversary<1> also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the LORD had shut up her womb. {7} And as he did so year by year, when she went up to the house of the LORD, so she provoked her; therefore she wept, and did not eat. {8} Then said Elkanah her husband to her, Hannah, why weepest thou? and why eatest thou not? and why is thy heart grieved? am not I better to thee than ten sons?"

<1> tsarah {pronounced tsaw-raw’}, rival wife, adversary, enemy.

As our story opens we see two women, Peninnah and Hannah, who were married to Elkanah. Elkanah was a godly man, and he worshipped the Lord God at Shiloh by making sacrifices. Yet Elkanah was a sinner because he had married two women. This is not the standard that God set for us in the Garden of Eden. Adam wasn't married to Eve One and Eve Two. God took from Adam one rib and made a woman out of that rib. One man, one Rib. One husband, one wife. One father, one mother. This is God's standard, the standard set as normal from the very beginning, and Elkanah - though he worshipped our God - walked away from that standard when he married two women. A man cannot be divided between two women, and God's standards, plainly set forth in Scripture, cannot be compromised. Elkanah compromised God's design for the family, and he was responsible for the suffering that Hannah was going through.

Man often makes bad decisions. Man often walks away from what the Creator and the Bible clearly sets forth as God's design. When enough men walk away from God, fall away from what He has determined is the right path, then the cumulative falling away of the leadership in that country causes the whole country to wallow in sin. Israel had fallen away from God's Divine design. Israel was still going through the motions of worshipping God, but the leadership of the nation had so fallen that the nation was in terrible ungodliness.

Beloved, America is in the same state today. The family unit, God's design of One Man and One Woman, is under attack. Just as it was in the days of Elkanah and Hannah, America has glorified abortion rights and woman's rights while at the same time promoting multiple partners in the wedding bed. The family unit is under attack. Same sex unions are being promoted as godly and reasonable alternatives to that which God our Creator established in the Garden of Eden. Though it is evident that God did not design man to be with man, nor woman to be with woman, the idea that this is normal is being promoted on television and even in many local churches. As the family unit dissolves, anarchy increases in the nation. As the family unit is exchanged for a man-made unit that satisfies our own desires, the nation moves farther and farther away from Jesus Christ.

The devil knows that the best way he can erase worship of Christ in a Christian nation is to move people outside of a proper, Godly relationship - to make what was unthinkable yesterday thinkable today and acceptable tomorrow. The devil, our adversary, knows that if he can destroy the family unit, he can destroy the nation. Beloved, we need Godly women, Christian Bible Believing women to stand in the gap against the adversary. We need Godly women, like Hannah, to stand up and be counted for Jesus!

Psalms 34:17-18 (KJV) "The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. {18} The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit."

2. Prayerful, Giving Mothers Correct The Course Of A Nation
1 Samuel 1:9-11 "Hannah rose up ... And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the LORD, and wept sore.  [11]  And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts<1>, if thou wilt indeed look on 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 razor come upon his head."

<1> Yehovah {pronounced yeh-ho-vaw’} + tsaba’{pronounced tsaw-baw’ }, = Lord of the Armies of Heaven.

Hannah had a husband that was, quite frankly, a meathead. Elkanah was certainly an individual that could have profited from sensitivity training! His beloved wife was without children, and his other wife was tormenting her, calling her names, making her feel as if she were nothing in God's sight because of her childlessness. Behind the scenes, behind Peninnah's words was Satan and his destructive tactics. Hannah was hurt - hurt by both Elkanah's insensitivity, and Peninnah's cruelty. But rather than retaliate Hannah did the one thing that every Godly mother needs to do: She took her problems to Jesus.

Though Hannah prayed that her torment at the hands of Penninah be ended, her prayer was not selfish. Hannah prayed for a child, but told the Lord, vowed to the Lord that she would dedicate this child to God's service. In Old Testament times the Lord had a group of people who were dedicated to Him. These people were called the Nazarites. Not "Nazarenes", which means someone who was born in Nazareth, but "Nazarites". The word "Nazarite" means "one seperated unto God", and our Lord mentioned these special people in:

Numbers 6:2-6 (KJV) "Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the LORD: {3} He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried. {4} All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk. {5} All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth himself unto the LORD, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow. {6} All the days that he separateth himself unto the LORD he shall come at no dead body."

Hannah promised God that, if He would grace her with a child, that she would dedicate this child to God's service. No razor would come on his head - that child would be a Nazarite, one set apart for God's use.

I have heard people say, "What difference can I make? Can I alone make that big a difference in my nation, in my state, in my city? How can I, just one lonely person, make a difference?" Beloved, one person is an army when that one person is devoted to God. One person has often destroyed nations. Hitler brought great evil on God's chosen people, Israel, and on the whole world. Joseph Stalin, that dreadful dictator, murdered hundreds of thousands of people. One person has often saved nations. Moses stood before Pharoah, and, by faith, released Israel from bondage. Rahab hid the Hebrew Spies and helped Israel to enter the Promised Land. One very special Person, Jesus Christ, our Great God and our Great Savior, hung on the Cross and paid for our sins. One person doing the will of God can do a great deal for a nation, just as one person doing the will of Satan can do great harm to a nation. Hannah, one mother, would make a great contribution to Israel.

Hannah went to God in prayer, not just for herself (though her prayer originated because she wanted to be blessed with a child), but also thinking of the greater good. She promised that she would dedicate that child to God, that Samuel, the child that God would gift her with, would be dedicated to serving the King of Glory. The Apostle James reminds us that we often fail to receive what we ask God for in prayer because our motivation is selfish. He says:

James 4:3  "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts."

Hannah didn't ask merely to satisfy her own whims. She went to God, addressing Him as "Lord of the Army of Heaven", and asked Him to fight her battle. She didn't ask that God fight for her by harming her enemy, and she didn't ask just to satisfy her own selfish desires to be "as good as Penninah". No, Hannah asked God to fight for her by giving her a child. And, said Hannah, if you do this I will give that child right back to You, oh God!

Mothers, we desperately need your intercession for our country. We need you to do as Hannah did. Recognize a need, then pray that God fill that need. Hannah made a difference in her relationship with God. Hannah blessed Israel when she prayed, vowed, and gave her child to God.

  3. A Mother's Relationship To God Will Be Reflected In Her Children

1 Samuel 1:26-28  "And she said, Oh my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the LORD. [27]  For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of him:  [28] Therefore also I have lent<1> him to the LORD; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the LORD. And he worshipped the LORD there."

<1> sha’al {pronounced shaw-al’}, Hiphil Perfect, have given over to

Mothers, I want you to know that you are important to the survival of our Church and to the survival of our Society. Hannah had no idea when she became pregnant with Samuel how important his position would be in Israel. Samuel was the last Judge of Israel, and the first of God's classical Prophets. Samuel would one day grow up to anoint the first two Kings of Israel, Saul and David. Samuel would oversee the young Nation of Israel, and oversee the first two Kings while guiding them in righteous government.

What if there were no Samuel? Without Samuel, would Israel have moved from the independent Judges that rules provinces to the Kings that ruled the nation? Without Samuel, would God have chosen Saul to be first King, then because of disobedience on Saul's part raise up King David? Without Samuel, would there be a Davidic Covenant, a promise to David that he would have an eternal throne from within Israel, in the tribe of Judah? Without Samuel, would Jesus have come to fulfill the promises of the Davidic Covenant, to sit on the Throne of David forever?

When Hannah had her child Samuel, she didn't forget her vow she made to the Lord. No, Hannah could have forgotten, but she didn't. She even named her child SAMUEL which means "the Lord remembers".

Dedicated, believing mothers are pivotal, important in the history of this Church, important in the history of our Society. If Hannah had reneged on her promise to God, then all of Israel's history would have changed. I hear some of your children, some of their responses, and I see in these children another Lottie Moon, another Annie Armstrong, another Billy Graham. I don't care how young or old your children are, if they are 6 or 60, keep your vow before God. Your children may have walked away from God, or are coming to Church because you force them. Let me share this with you, Mothers:

Your children still watch what you do.

When Robert Ingersoll, the notorious skeptic, was in his heyday, two college students went to hear him lecture. As they walked down the street after the lecture, one said to the other, “Well, I guess he knocked the props out from under Christianity, didn't the?” The other said, “No, I don't think he did. Ingersoll did not explain my mother's life, and until he can explain my mother's life I will stand by my mother's God.” (James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited, Tyndale, 1972, p. 381)

Hannah dedicated her life to God, then dedicated her child to God. Her willingness to honor her Lord was rewarded when Samuel received his calling from God. Had Samuel learned to be a wishy washy believer from his mother, he would have never heard God when He called. Your children watch you, Mothers.  If you fulfill your vows before God, then your children will grow up to fulfill their vows before God. If you fail in your calling as Mothers, if you take your calling lightly, your children will never grow up to be seekers of God.

1 Samuel 2:18-19  "But Samuel ministered before the LORD, being a child, girded with a linen ephod. [19]  Moreover his mother made him a little coat, and brought it to him from year to year, when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice."

Though Hannah dedicated Samuel to the Lord, she still spent as much time with him as she could. She still showed love toward Samuel. This was the cycle that Hannah followed, and the cycle you must follow as Godly women: (1) Hannah gave herself to God, (2) God gave Samuel to Hannah, (3) Hannah gave Samuel back to God, (4) Hannah gave herself to Samuel.

The lesson of our text today is ‘give your children to God’. But before we can do that we must first give ourselves to God. Before we can dedicate our children we must first dedicate ourselves to God's service. Hannah gave her son, but we must not forget that God gave His Son that we might have everlasting life.

Mothers and Fathers, do you know Christ today?  Christian parents, are you living godly lives for your children to follow?  Do you pray for their spiritual well-being?  Are you teaching them the Word of God?  Are you committed to training your children for life-long service to God?  School is wonderful, but unless you are sharing the Word of God with these children, then they will grow up dedicated to man's knowledge and devoid of God's knowledge. Remember, your children will emulate your lives. If you live one life at Church, but another at home, your children will follow your example.

Surely there is no greater joy than this, to see your children stand before Jesus Christ as saved believers.  That will be the real Mothers Day! God is looking for mothers who will raise their children to be like Samuel. Will you  be one of these courageous Mothers today?

This sermon was preached to the Saints at Okapilco Baptist Church, Quitman, Georgia on the morning of May 13, 2000
Modified, Expanded, and Preached To Heritage House, Valdosta, Georgia, May 11, 2003