"And it came to pass, as she continued praying before
the Lord ... I have poured out my soul before the LORD." - I SAM.
i. 12-15.
IT is considered that Hannah, the mother of Samuel, takes the foremost place,
in the whole of the Old Testament Scriptures, among women who are noted
for their personal piety and fervency in prayer. Like our Divine Lord and
Master when in the Garden, Hannah's prayer was wrung from a soul that was
overwhelmed with grief, the burden of which had been increasing as a result
of cruel mocking which she had been called to endure from Peninnah. Year
by year she went up to the House of the Lord. As it is recorded, "She
was in bitterness of soul and prayed unto the Lord and wept sore.''
Children among the Jewish women were regarded as a blessing from the Lord,
and the withholding of them was looked upon as a token of God's displeasure.
Hannah's disappointment in this direction, together with the constant provocations
she received from Peninnah, added greatly to the trial of her faith. Yet
her deepest concern was not so much that she might have a child as that
she might have a soul that she could train up for God. Realising, as she
did, the awful, backslidden condition of God's chosen people Israel, it
is quite possible that while encouraged by a prophetical spirit she would
not consider it a thing incredible that God would give her a son worthy
of filling a prophet's place, and such as would be able to restore a backslidden
nation to the worship of the only true God. Under these circumstances her
only resource was to go to Him in a humble spirit of fervent prayer.
We have remarkable evidence of Hannah's genuine piety in the calm and gentle
spirit she manifested when she was misjudged and falsely accused by the
prophet Eli of being drunk. She did not use railing accusations against
him as she might have done. She was, therefore, soon able to convince him
that the silent movement of her lips was not the result of strong drink,
but rather it was her trouble of heart and sorrowful spirit which had led
her to pour out her soul before the Lord. Nor did she go unanswered, but,
as it is written, "The woman went her way and did eat, and her countenance
was no more sad." So that her long night of sorrow was soon followed
by a morning of joy and gladness, seeing that her heart rejoiced in the
Lord.
Hannah's prayer was definite and she received a definite answer. She bare
a son and called his name Samuel, saying, "Because I have asked him
of the Lord." Her prayer was intensified by her trouble, but the real
secret of her success was her inward devotion and her unselfish desire in
her petitions. She prayed at a point of agony, but her voice was not heard
because she prayed in her heart. Moreover, she vowed a vow unto the Lord
that she would give the child to the Lord all the days of his life. Therefore
Samuel was consecrated and blessed of the Lord before he was born. "Hannah,"
says a noted writer, "is an instance of God's forerunning grace, the
grace that blesses us even before we see the light of the world, that blesses
our ancestry, our homes, parents, and kindred - the grace that sanctifies
us by a mother's piety and by the prayers offered to God before she knows
a mother's joy."
God's best men and women have been raised by a mother's prayers and vows,
and a father's solemn consecration. Blessed indeed is the life of a man
or woman, boy or girl, who has been heralded into the world not only by
pain but also by prayer - their advent prefaced by the hand of a father
or mother laying hold upon God.
It is said that the true secret of greatness is often traced to a mother's
prayers and personal piety. Little perhaps did Monica think of what an unspeakable
blessing would follow her long years of agonising prayers for the conversion
of her son Augustine, and the use God would make of him in after years for
His cause and Kingdom. When Moffat's mother pleaded with him to accept Christ
as his Saviour, she never thought that God in answer to her prayers would
fill his renewed soul with such amazing zeal for the salvation of the heathen,
and crown his labours with such abundant success. It is said that John Newton
learned to pray at his mother's knee, and such was the influence of her
life upon his mind that, although she was called to her Heavenly Home before
her son John was eight years of age, in later years, when at sea and in
the midst of dangers, his agonising prayer was "My mother's God, Thou
God of Mercy, have mercy upon me." The prayer was heard, and from the
time of his conversion the name of John Newton has been honoured in the
churches. It was through Newton that Thomas Scott, the commentator, was
led to Christ; also Wilberforce, the champion of the emancipation of slavery
and the author of Practical Views of Christianity, which led Legh Richmond
into the ministry of Christ. President Edwards, Bishop Hall, Philip Henry,
Hooker, Payson, Doddridge, and the Wesleys all had praying mothers, to which
through God they attributed the secret of their success. "When
I was a little boy," said a very noted man, "my mother used to
bid me kneel beside her, and placed her hand upon my head while she prayed.
Before I was old enough to know her worth, she died, and I was left to my
own guidance. Like others, I was inclined to evil passions, but often felt
myself checked, and, as it were, drawn back, by a soft hand upon my head.
When a young man, I travelled in foreign lands and was exposed to many temptations,
but when I would have yielded, that same hand was upon my head and I was
saved. I seemed to feel its pressure as in the days of my happy childhood,
and sometimes there came with it a solemn voice saying, 'Do not this great
wickedness, my son, and sin against God.'"
In a diary of a Christian mother was inscribed this record: "This morning
I rose very early to pray for my children, especially that my sons may be
ministers and missionaries of Jesus Christ." Her life corresponded
with her piety, and her influence upon her children was blessed. Her prayers
on their behalf were abundantly answered. Her eight children were all trained
up for God. Five of her sons became ministers and missionaries of Jesus
Christ, and the others are well-known in the Christian Church.
It is recorded in the life of Mrs. Winslow that she determined with God's
blessing that every one of her family should appear with her at God's right
hand. She wrestled long in prayer; but not in vain, for she had the joy
of seeing each of them brought to a knowledge of the Saviour.
No doubt such prayers as those to which we have called attention, when answered
so abundantly, are most encouraging and should prove an inspiration to Christian
parents to continue in prayer for their unsaved children. We must admit
that the example of Hannah is by far the wisest and most successful, inasmuch
as she prevailed with God on behalf of her son even in advance of his birth.
That is, she had given him to the service of the Lord so that the very threshold
of his life should be devoted to God in advance of the threefold enemy.
Because of this, Samuel not only had a good start but an early start.
Youth in any phase is considered a period when mind and heart are most open
to impression and are most receptive. But youth in Samuel's case was associated
with the highest privileges, namely, the prayers and influence of a pious
mother, and supplemented by the grace, power, and promise of a covenant-keeping
God. Besides, his being called to minister before the Lord would afford
a good opportunity for the growth and development of the germs of holy thoughts,
inasmuch as his mind would be occupied with thoughts of holy things. What
a comfort to know that God does not withhold His saving grace from children
until they are of mature years, but rather He includes them in His love
even from their earliest moments. But it may be asked, Why was Samuel chosen
from among all the other thousands of boys who were in Israel? In reply
to which we would say that while we do not lose sight of God's sovereignty
and His Covenant of grace, we must take into account what we have already
called attention to, namely, a pious mother's prayers and her godly training.
Therefore we are not surprised that it is recorded that "the child
Samuel grew on, and was in favour both with the Lord, and also with men"
(I Sam. ii. 26). Moreover, as we read in I Sam. iii. 19: "And Samuel
grew, and the Lord was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the
ground. And all Israel knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet
of the Lord." This implied that he not only grew in stature and in
physical strength, but he also grew in divine grace and wisdom. Therefore
he soon became equipped fully for his service for God and the state. But
especially was there given to him a full measure of the spirit of grace
and supplication, so that, like Hannah, his mother, he soon became mighty
in the ministry of prayer. "Moses and Aaron among his priests, and
Samuel among them that call upon the name of the Lord, and He answered them"
(Ps. xcix. 6).
Though Samuel was a prophet, yet he was mighty as a Priest. Because of this
he was able to bring down great blessing upon God's people, Israel. At the
time Samuel was called to take charge of the prophetic office, Israel had
got into a very corrupt condition. A kind of spiritual death had settled
down upon the nation. It was several hundred years after the death of Moses
when Samuel was called to take the place of Eli. The priesthood had become
demoralised; the people were given up to idolatry; what little religion
remained was nothing more than a mere form; the spirit and power of it was
gone and the glory of the Lord had departed. Under circumstances such as
these, Samuel, by the aid of divine grace, set out to revolutionise things
so that once more the Name of the Lord and spiritual worship might become
a felt power in the land. But men and women had become so engrossed with
material things, and so dead to the spiritual, that it required nothing
short of the breath of the Almighty to arouse them. Samuel, however, did
not fail to charge the House of Israel with having departed from the worship
of the living God; and such was the wisdom and power given to him to grapple
with these wrongdoings that the children of Israel were soon made willing
to acknowledge that they had sinned against the Lord.
Indeed, so great was Samuel's success, through God, on this occasion that
the whole city was changed by a genuine revival. "The children of Israel
did put away Baalim and Ashtaroth and served the Lord only." And Samuel
said, "Gather all the children of Israel to Mizpah and I will pray
for you unto the Lord," and it is recorded: "When the Philistines
heard that the children of Israel were gathered together to Mizpah, the
lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the children of
Israel heard it, they were afraid of the Philistines. And the children of
Israel said unto Samuel, Cease not to cry unto the Lord our God for us,
that He will save us out of the hand of the Philistines. And Samuel took
a sucking lamb, and offered it for a burnt-offering wholly unto the Lord:
and Samuel cried unto the Lord for Israel; and the Lord heard him. And as
Samuel was offering up the burnt - offering, the Philistines drew near to
battle against Israel: but the Lord thundered with a great thunder on that
day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were smitten before
Israel" (I Sam. vii. 4-10).
But it must be ever remembered that the Israelites did not get the victory
over their enemies until after they had a revival among themselves. It is
a great mistake to think that revivals only take place among the ungodly;
for revival in the outer circles depends greatly upon the spiritual temperature
of the inner circles of the Church. The revival under the ministry of Samuel
was principally in answer to his fervent prayers. He agonised with God in
secret before he exhorted in public. Notwithstanding the personal wrong
that had been done to him he poured out his soul to God on their behalf,
and his prayer was abundantly answered. It is, however, a matter of the
highest importance that we recognise the fact that Samuel's prayers were
associated with sacrifice. Had he not taken the lamb and offered it "for
a burnt-offering wholly unto the Lord," he would not have complied
with the conditions which are necessary to make prayer a success. All prayers,
in order to be effectual, must gather their inspiration not simply from
the needs of the Church and miseries of a sinful world, but also from the
great atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Unless our petitions are based upon the merits of His sacrifice it will
be in vain that we attempt to approach the Mercy-Seat. And it was not until
Samuel had offered up the lamb for a sacrifice that the Lord "thundered
with a great thunder." Nor was this the only time that the elements
were controlled in answer to Samuel's prayers, as may be seen in I Sam.
xii. 18.
But the greatest blessing associated with his prayers was that they brought,
as it were, a fresh vision of God before the minds of the children of Israel
and therefore promoted a great moral and spiritual revival which had the
effect of elevating their character and religious standard as a nation,
and caused them to magnify the name of the Lord and exalt His name before
their enemies. And it was said, "The hand of the Lord was against the
Philistines all the days of Samuel." Moreover, when Israel put away
their strange gods and turned to the Lord with all their hearts, it brought
manifold more power and inspiration into the prayers and intercessions of
Samuel; seeing that this act of entire spiritual surrender and absolute
devotion brought the whole army of Israel into fellowship with Samuel in
his loyalty to the service of God.
While it is true that one man who knows how to pray and make intercession
in the Spirit has far more power with God than a whole host of half-hearted
ones, it is nevertheless a glorious fact that the prayers of a sanctified
host, when of one heart and soul, become irresistible. Paul the Apostle,
and, indeed, all who have been great prayer leaders, have proved more or
less the reality of this. And because this was so on this occasion, the
Philistines came against a great army of spiritual intercessors, such as
were unconquerable; because in recognition of their obedience and fervency
in prayer, the Lord Himself fought for them.
But the most remarkable thing associated with the restoration and transformation
of the children of Israel referred to in the foregoing pages is the fact
that they are all to be traced to a godly self-sacrificing mother, to whom,
in answer to her fervent prayers, was given a praying son.
It is said that the nine children of Rev. and Mrs. Scudder of India have
given their lives to missionary service in that land - seven sons and two
daughters. The only explanation is that given by Mr. Scudder: "The
children were literally prayed into the Kingdom by their mother." She
was accustomed to spend the birthday of each child in prayer for that child.
Many years ago there was a mother in Somerville, N.J., whose son, a young
man, had begun to lead a dissolute life. One evening she begged him not
to spend that evening away from her, but he declared that he would. He said,
"Mother, I am not going to be tied to your apron-string; I am going
to go." The mother replied, "Please try and remember every moment
to-night, that until you come back, I am going to be on my knees asking
God to save you." The son, with a rude gesture and muttered oath, rushed
from her presence, and spent the night in a shameful carousal. It was four
o'clock in the morning when he got home. He had managed to keep his mother
out of his mind during his revelry. As he got to the house he saw a light
shining through the shutters. Looking in, he saw his mother on her knees
and heard her pray,"God save my wandering boy."
Going to his room, he threw himself on his bed, but could not sleep. After
a while he arose, then knelt down, and it seemed to him that Christ's power
proceeded from a room where his wrestling mother was pleading with God,
and it led him to cry out, "God be merciful to me a sinner." That
very morning he was saved.
The news of his salvation soon spread in the neighbourhood, and in three
weeks from that time more than two hundred young people had been converted.
This young man was the father of Dr. T. De Witt Talmage. |