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Alright, so of course Hebrews chapter 11 is a very famous passage there, what they call the hall of faith and a lot of great people are mentioned in there and I want to draw special attention to one person in this morning's sermon there and it's found in verse 32. So Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 32 the Bible says, And what shall I say more? The time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthi, of David also, and of Samuel, and of the prophets, who through the faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, and stopped the mouths of the lions. So there's those guys listed there, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthi, David, and then also Samuel. Now it's interesting, it's always interesting that Samuel's in there because when you look at this list you've got guys like Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthi and David, these are great warriors, these are guys who fought wars and fought battles, but then it mentions Samuel in that same list of men. Of course Samuel sent people to war, but he wasn't really necessarily a warrior himself, at least not that we see in the scriptures when we read about his life, but I want us to look a little bit at Samuel and more particularly about his mother, because of course it's Mother's Day and we've got to have that Mother's Day sermon and I think it's important. I only wish that, to be honest, we should probably preach about mothers more often than just one day a year, they probably use a lot more encouragement than we give them perhaps sometimes from the pulpit, but today is especially, if you miss it on Mother's Day you really miss the boat and you're going to have some explaining to do, so I'm going to get up there and preach my Mother's Day sermon and the title of the sermon is, A Prophet's Mother, because if you notice all these are great men here that are listed, all these great men of God, well they all have one thing in common, they probably have more than one thing in common, but one thing they for sure have in common is that they all had a mother, just like any great man or any person really, they had a mother, and I believe in particular Samuel's mother, there's certain things that we could look at about her that helped her or helped Samuel to become the man that he was, Samuel likely wouldn't have made this list had it not been for his mother, Hannah, and we're going to look back there at 1 Samuel chapter 1, if you could turn over to 1 Samuel chapter 1, we're going to look at some things about Samuel's mother, Hannah, today, and we can learn a little bit about what it is that made her such a great mother in the Bible, a prophet's mother. You see, it takes a mother's obedience to fulfill the role of God that she has been given by God for her children to succeed as Christians, if Samuel didn't have the mother that he had, it's likely that he might not have made it to the great heights that he did spiritually, there's a chance that he wouldn't have even been born, as we'll see in the story, and it's important that we understand this, that it takes a mother's obedience to fulfill the role that God has given her in order for her children to succeed as Christians, and it's important to understand that because the world today, they oppose a woman fulfilling such a role, they belittle a woman for trying to fulfill such a role, the role that God has given to women to fulfill, they want to belittle it, they want to mock it, they want to say that if you're attempting to fulfill that role, that you're robbing yourself of your own life, that they look at it and women today and the world today, they want to just have nothing to do with the role that God has given women, but it's that role that needs to be fulfilled if we're going to see great men of God like Samuel, if we're going to see a prophet, we need to see a prophet's mother. Now you're there in 1 Samuel 1, but I want to remind us of the role that God has given us in scripture for women. You're there in 1 Samuel 1, I read from Titus chapter 2, the Bible says, but speak thou of the things which become sound doctrine, that the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith and charity and patience, the aged women likewise, that they being behaviorists 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. Now there's a lot of things on that list that are given there for the role of a woman and a mother to fulfill in her life, and a lot of people would look at that and say that's a pretty good list. It's good that they love their husbands, it's good that they're sober, it's good that they love their children, it's good that they're discreet, it's good that they're chaste, it's good that they're good, but there's a few of them that they probably wouldn't like so much. The whole bit about keepers at home, what do they mean by that? What do they mean by that whole thing about obedient to their own husbands? Those are the type of things that will rub people the wrong way today. That's the role that God has given us in scripture for women, and it's the role that we see fulfilled by women who raise godly, successful children. That's the role that needs to be fulfilled. I'll read from 1 Timothy chapter 5 where it says, I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give medication to the adversary to speak reproachfully, where some are already turned aside after Satan. So Paul's telling Timothy here, he's saying, look, I want the young woman to marry and bear children. Now is that the pattern that the world sets for young women today? Not at all. They tell them you need to graduate high school, you need to go to college, you need to get a career, you need to put off having children, you need to be put off getting married until you're older in life and focus on your career more than anything else. That's not the role that God has for women who want to be a prophet's mother, who want to raise good, godly Christians and successful Christians. But really, that's the pattern we see people following today in the world. They don't want God's role, they reject, they refuse God's role, but let's consider the results of a world that's refusing God's ordained roles for men and women. I mean, look at the mess that we're in today in our own nation, in our world. Our country, the iniquity and the sin that's just abounding in our own nation. Just all the filth and perversion that's going on, all the drunkenness and wickedness that's taking place. And what do we have? We have a nation that doesn't have good, godly mothers at home. Now, these are not the majority. It's a very small minority of people that are attempting and trying and successfully fulfilling this role as a godly mother. Now, you're there in 1 Samuel chapter 1, and we're going to look at a woman who decided that she was going to fulfill God's role for her in her life. And what a blessing it was to her for doing so. And I think we can learn some things from Hannah about what to expect if we're going to try and fulfill this role that God has given us. And perhaps an encouragement if we're struggling in certain areas. Now, 1 Samuel chapter 1, we're going to look at Hannah as the example of a godly mother. The first thing I want us to notice is that, you know, it's easy for me to just get up and preach at you and tell you, ladies, you need to stay home and raise your children and women can say, you know what, that's what the Bible says, that's what I'm going to do. And it sounds nice, but it's when we actually attempt to start doing that, when we try to do such a role, we might be a little bit naive in the beginning. You might think, well, it's not going to be so bad. How hard could it be to raise godly children? We have to understand that there's some things that we might not expect to come our way. One of them would be the hardships that come. You know, and maybe we're in a place in our life, you know, either as a woman, and even the men could learn something from this about dealing with hardship, dealing with trials and tribulations. Hannah went through a great hardship in her life. It wasn't all just a bed of roses for her. There were some very difficult trials that she went through. There was some real anguish that she had suffered, but she was obedient, she was good, and god blessed her for it. Now that's the first thing I want us to notice about Hannah is Hannah's hardships. Hannah's hardships. She had tribulations. 1 Samuel chapter 1, beginning of verse 1, the Bible says, Now there was a certain man of Reimath, Thayim, Zophim, of Mount Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jehoram, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Ziph, and Ephrathite. And he had two wives. The name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Paninah. And Paninah had children, but Hannah had no children. So we begin to see a little bit about Hannah's home life here, and some of the hardships that she had to deal with in her own home. Notice there in verse 2 it says that her husband had two wives. Now does God want men to have more than one wife? No, not at all. But this guy had them, didn't he? He had more than two wives. So we can see right out of the gate that Hannah's home life was a little less than ideal. Her marital situation wasn't exactly what we would want for ourselves today. And what women need to understand at the very beginning of the story, this hardship, is not to let dad's shortcomings become an excuse for them. Not to let their husbands or the father of their children, his shortcomings, his flaws, his sins even, to become an excuse for them to draw back and not to fulfill the role that God has for them. Hannah had a husband who was not right with God in this area, but she didn't allow that to become an excuse. She didn't shift the blame to him. Because it goes on and it says there that Hannah had no children. So you can say, well it must be because of my husband, because he's not right with God that this is taking place in my life, and it's possible that we can start to shift blame to others. And we can do that in so many areas of our life, when we're not seeing God's working in our lives or things aren't going the way that we want, it'll be real easy to blame somebody else and say, well God must not be blessing me because of so and so. Or it's somebody else's fault that things aren't working out for me the way I want them to. But Hannah, she didn't let her husband's shortcomings become an excuse for her. The Bible says in verse 2 that Hannah had no children. Verse 5 of the Bible explains why it is that she had no children. It says the Lord had shut up her womb. That's a very important thing to understand in the Bible, those of us that might be struggling to bear children, is that sometimes it's of the Lord. Sometimes God has a purpose in that. I'm not saying that's supposed to make it easy, I'm not saying that's supposed to make it something to just pass that off, to just brush that off, well it's just supposed to be God's doing. There's a lot of trials and tribulations and a lot of hardships that women go through when they're not able to bear children. And sometimes they end up going to extremes, they end up going to unnatural means to conceive children, when the entire time, it's because God has shut up their womb. And there's a purpose behind it. But it goes to show us there that part of Hannah's hardship in not having children is that that hardship came from God. When God works in our lives, it isn't always the way we would prefer. Sometimes we have a vision for our lives, we have an idea of how things are going to go, and God has another one. All our intents and our purposes are good, our motives are right, but God wants to do things a little differently. And that's the case here with Hannah. She wanted his children, but she needed to understand that there was a purpose behind the reason why God had shut up her womb. A little bit more about Hannah's hardship there, in verse 3 the Bible says that her adversary also provoked her sword. So Peninnah, the other wife, she sees Hannah and she starts to provoke her over this issue of not having children. This sounds like a real classy lady, real nice lady. She's going out of her way to start to provoke the other wife. Another reason why polygamy is probably a really bad idea is you get the cattiness, you get the fighting, right? But what a mean thing to do, to go out of your way to provoke somebody over something like that. I mean, this woman was not a very nice woman. To me that seems pretty cold-hearted. But her adversary also provoked her sword, and you know, when we're attempting to do God's will, when we're trying to do the right thing, when we're trying to be obedient, when we're trying to be submissive, when we're trying to follow God in His leading, and we're going through a hardship, you know, we should expect opposition. If we're going to live for God, we should expect some opposition from an enemy. We should expect people maybe in our lives to try and make things a little more difficult. We expect maybe the devil to use people and situations and influences and circumstances to make things a little harder for us. That's not an excuse for us to back out, it's not an excuse for us to quit. We need to keep sticking by this stuff and let God work in our lives. Verse 8, look at verse 8 here, I love the husband's reaction. You know, Hannah, she's in bitterness of spirit, she's going through this hardship. The Bible says in verse 8, then said Alpena, her husband, to her, Anna, why weepest thou? This just goes to show a little bit more about this guy's insensitivity. Every time I read this, it's kind of a mental note to myself, is don't be a jerk to your wife. Because this guy just kind of sounds like a jerk, he sounds like your typical husband who's just kind of putting his foot in his mouth when his wife's going through something. He's trying to figure out why. That's the old age question with husbands and wives, right, why? Why is she crying? What's going on here? What do I got to figure out, right? That's Alpena to her husband, why weepest thou? And eatest thou not? Why is thy heart grieved? And here's his answer, am I not better to thee than ten sons? Now to me that just seems like this guy doesn't get it. We just had our last child who was our son, and I can tell you right now, there's something about a mother and her son, that it's a special relationship, you know, I know it was my mother, how endearing that relationship is, and there's just something about it. So for Alpena to try to put himself in that place, I think he just doesn't quite understand. Not that he's wrong, but it just seems like there's a lack of understanding there, you know. It kind of reminds me, everyone's asking me, hey, why'd you shave the beard? Well I saw how smitten my wife was with this smooth-faced guy at the front right here, and I said, well I'm not having that, if that's what it's going to take to try and win back some of that affection, the beard's going to go, right? But she's telling me to grow it back anyway, so that didn't work. But you know, sometimes it seems like we're alone in our trial, and sometimes it might be the person that's closest to us, the person that should understand the most why we're going through what we're going through, our husband, our spouse, our friend, our parent, whoever it might be in our life, it sometimes, it just seems like we're alone, that they don't understand. They're just saying, why leave us now? Why are you grieving? Aren't I good enough for you? And there's no sympathy where there should be. You know, this guy should just try to show a little sympathy, you know, hey, honey, I understand why you're going through this, you know, maybe you should trust God, let's continue. Give her encouragement to her, you know, and help her, and not just try to like, you know, come across as, well, aren't I good enough? Well, no, you're not, you know, it just goes to show you in this verse that there's something in women they desire to have that children, God has put that in women, to desire children, to desire to fulfill that role that God has given them. Look at 1 Samuel 1 verse 10, and she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore, and she vowed to bow and said, O Lord of hosts, that thou would indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine headmaid, but will 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. Now notice there in verse 10 that she was, the Bible says that she was in bitterness of soul. These are words that, you know, when we've read the Bible a few times, and we're familiar with some of these stories, we can just read over these words, and not really let it sink in with the Bible's trying to show us what Hannah was going through here. It says that she was in bitterness of soul. The Bible said that, you know, it's showing us that she was, her pain was real, but this was significant. This wasn't just, you know, she was going through a mood, this just wasn't a mood swing, this wasn't just some hormonal thing, this was a real anguish to her. This was something in her life that was causing her real bitterness of soul. And you know, we shouldn't let the world just belittle this feeling of angst, this feeling of bitterness in our soul. When a woman is able to conceive a child, that is a major bitterness of soul to that person, to that couple, to that family. And the world, you know, they can kind of just belittle that. They can just kind of overlook it. You know, a great example is that, because of the fact that we see how callous women have become to the unborn, and they can just go down and get an abortion at the drop of a hat. Like, it's nothing. I mean, these clinics are everywhere today, and it's encouraged, and it's thought normal, and anyone who would oppose it is seen as somebody who's just a hate monger, or somebody who goes against women's rights, or whatever it might be. But that's just the world belittling, you know, the sanctity of life. And we shouldn't let people belittle, or look down upon us, or make light of the fact that when we're going through, a woman is going through such a trial as this, that understand that that is a bitterness of soul to her. I know, even in our own church family, there's been several families that we've seen go through this trial. But I'll tell you what, every single one of them, they've come through and eventually they've had a child. And they've had to go through a lot of bitterness of soul. And we see that in the scripture also, and that's always a great encouragement. Is that every story where this has been a struggle for a couple, where people are desiring children and they're not able to have them, eventually they have them. But sometimes there's a bitterness of soul that comes with it. And we need to be patient, we need to be kind, we need to be understanding towards those people because it's a very real and hard struggle. Don't let the world belittle the bareness, or even miscarriages. And that's another thing that I think a lot of women, you know, that they struggle with. It's a very personal thing, obviously. But the world today has become very callous to it. And they want to just treat it like it's something, like it's just something that happens. We have to understand that it's a bitterness of soul to people. The Bible says in verse 10 that it was such a bitterness that she prayed unto the Lord and wept sore. You know, her bitterness was just not an anger, it wasn't anger or resentment towards God. She wasn't angry at God for what was taking place. It was just an anguish in her own soul, it was a bitterness. The Bible says that she sought God in her trial, she cried out, she said, look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and forget not thine handmaid. I mean, I can't imagine, I don't think this is just the type of prayer that you would see someone praying over a meal, you know, dear Lord, please give me a child. I mean, this is someone who's broken. This is somebody who's going through a great trial in her life. And if we've ever been there, you know, I wonder if we could just look on the scene, the physical position she might have been in. I mean, down on her knees, weeping, crying this prayer out to God, because she was in bitterness of soul. And if we've ever been there in our lives, we're going through some very great trial or hardship in our life, and we're crying out to God, I mean, it'll literally bring us to our knees, I believe that's what Hannah's going through here. I don't want to make light of those words, that she was in bitterness of soul. Because this is part of being a prophet's mother, as having to go through these hardships. This is part of being a motherhood, as having to go through these trials and tribulations. It's not easy. The thing is, I think sometimes God allows these things to come into our lives in order to bring us to a place where we will allow Him to work and see His hand move and know that it's Him that's doing it. You know, God will break our hearts to bend our knees, as I've heard it once said. As God will break our hearts to bend our knees, God will get us to the place where He can use us and speak to us and work with us and see His will done in our lives, He needs our heart. As we're resistant and we're fighting Him, and He might have to break a heart to bring us to our knees, to where we'll pray the prayer that He wants us to pray. I'll read to you from 2 Corinthians chapter 12, the Bible says, and He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities and reproaches and necessities and persecutions and distresses for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then am I strong. Paul here is showing us that when we're weak, when we're like Hannah, when we're in bitterness of soul, when we're brought to our knees, that's when we can begin to see the strength and the power of God move in our life. The Bible says in Psalm 34, The righteous cry and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. The Bible says that the Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, and save such as be of a contrite spirit. That's a good description of Hannah right here, someone with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, and God is very nigh. Though the other people in her life, her husband, who doesn't understand and doesn't have the sympathy, he's not close, it seems like she's all alone, but when she's broken, when she's bitter, in bitterness of spirit, when she's in anguish, that's when God is close. That's when she's so close to God that she's speaking to Him as if He were right there next to her. So we should never feel like we're alone in our trials and our tribulations, and understand that sometimes God allows those things to happen in our lives to bring us closer to Him. When everything's going right, it's real easy to forget about God. It's really easy to say, well God just must be with me because everything's just going so smoothly, and we can begin to forget and not do what we need to do, or not feel like we need to rely on God the way we ought to, and sometimes God lets these trials, these tribulations, these hardships bring us to the place in our own souls that we would cry out to Him. Notice verse 11 of 1 Samuel chapter 1, the Bible says that she vowed a vow. She vowed a vow. Now I think that perhaps this is the reason why God shut up her womb, in fact I'm quite certain of it, is that God shut up her womb to bring her to this place where she would vow this vow, and she would make the decision she would concerning Samuel. And of course we know what that vow is, that she would give Him unto the Lord all the days of her life, all the days of His life. And that's why God I think allowed this hardship in Hannah's life, to bring her to the place where when that child did finally come, that it would be raised for God. And I think a lot of times that's why we go through some of the trials and tribulations, whether it's in childbearing or some other area of our life, is that God wants to bring us to the place that when He finally does move, we'll know that it's Him and we'll give Him the honor and the glory for working in our lives. And that's why He worked this way in Hannah's life, because He wanted to raise a prophet, because He wanted to set a light, it was sinful nation. He wanted a man of God to go out and preach the word of God, but it took a mother like Hannah, it took a woman who would make such a vow, and for him to get her to the place where she would vow such a vow, she had allowed her to go through these hardships. Now we've looked at Hannah's hardships, the other thing I want to look at is Hannah's honor. Have you seen Hannah's hardships? Let's look at Hannah's honor. What is Hannah's honor? Well, she raised one of the greatest prophets. I mean, if we were to go down a list of prophets, I mean Samuel ranks, Samuel's one of them, right? I mean, think about the fact that Samuel, we read in Hebrews 11, of course, that hall of faith, all those great men and women of God that are mentioned, and Samuel's right there with him, right? Well, Samuel, he's got two books written after him, they're named after him, these two books, 1 and 2 Samuel. You know, he doesn't appear in 2 Samuel, but the book's named after him. I mean, that's the honor that was brought upon Samuel. And that's the other thing, you know, and Hannah in part shares in that honor, because of the fact without her there would have been no Samuel. Had she not gone through the hardship, had she not gone through that trial, had she not been brought to the place where she would vow that vow, we would never have had that prophet, that prophet needed a mother, a mother like Hannah. You see, she didn't obtain high office herself. Hannah did not seek to be some great community leader, she didn't want to go out and become a surgeon or become the first female president or whatever it might be, she didn't have these worldly, lofty worldly goals that so many people have today. Her focus wasn't on making a six-figure income or whatever it might be. All these things that the world puts out in front of us and says, this is what success looks like, this is what you ought to desire. She didn't obtain all those things, but she raised a man of God. She didn't attain high office, but her heart and humility brought light into a nation. That's powerful. We talked a little bit about Samuel's person and who he was, and how he's on par with those heavy hitters. He's mentioned the same breath with Moses, and it says that Moses, there was never such a prophet since, that he was the greatest. And in Psalm 99, I'll read through the Bible, it says, Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among them that called upon his name, they called upon the Lord and answered them. And Samuel, Hannah's son, is mentioned right there in the same breath as Moses. I mean, what an honor was brought upon Samuel, and thereby also Hannah, because without Hannah there would have been no Samuel. And Jeremiah 15, the Bible says, then said the Lord unto me, though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people. So you say, you know what, even if Samuel were here, just showing you what God thought of Samuel. What a great and powerful and mighty man of God Samuel was. But the point of the sermon is to understand that that prophet needed a mother. Had there not been a Hannah who was willing to go through that trial and tribulation, there never would have been a Samuel. And then the point here is that Hannah, she shares in that honor that was brought upon Samuel. I mean, we can be grateful and thankful for the fact that there was a woman named Hannah who went through these trials and tribulations, and though she wasn't in an ideal situation in her home life, and although she was going through this affliction and bitterness of soul, she didn't get angry and resent God, but rather allowed it to bring her to the place where she would cry out and make a vow that God would use. So we've looked at the hardships, we've looked at the honor that she had. But I want to take a look at her hard work. I want to take a look at her hard work. You see, we like the honor. We like the fact that she raised the prophet, that she raised a man of God like Samuel. We would all love to have that. We don't want to necessarily go through the hardship part, and that's part of the deal sometimes, and often. And to say, okay, well I'm willing to go through that hardship, I've gotten through that trial, I've gotten through that struggle, you know, maybe we've had a few children now, you know, things seem to be, everything's working, God's opened the womb, everything's going very well. But it doesn't stop there, it's not like we just give birth to these children and all of a sudden, poof, they're a prophet, right? That's when the real work begins for a mother. That's when the hard work really sets in, when those children do begin to come. It took hard work on Hannah's part to raise a prophet. If you want to be a prophet's mother, and by a prophet's mother I don't just mean raise a preacher, I mean if you want to raise successful, godly children, a child like Samuel, somebody's going to live up and honor God with their life, and be obedient to the word of God. If you want that for your children, it's going to take hard work. It's not enough to just have children. It's not enough just to be willing to go through the trials and tribulations of getting to the place of having those children. It's a willingness to put into hard work that comes. And what does it take, what do I mean by hard work? It's sacrifice and selfishlessness. Or selfishlessness. I'm trying to say selfishless. That's probably not even a word. But anyway, look at 1 Samuel chapter 20, the Bible says, 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. And the man Alkanah, in all his house, went up to offer the Lord the yearly sacrifice and his vow. But Hannah went not up, for she said unto her husband, I will not go up, and the child be weaned. And then I will bring him, that he may appear before the Lord, and thereby forever. And Alkanah her husband said unto her, Do what seemeth thee good, tarry until thou hast weaned him, only the Lord established his word. So the woman abode, and gave her son suck, until she weaned him. And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her with three bullocks, and one he fed a flower, and a bottle of wine, and brought him unto the house of the Lord in Shiloh. And the child was young, and they slew a bullock, and brought the child to Eli. And she said, O my Lord, as thy soul liveth, my Lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the Lord. For this child I prayed, and the Lord hath given me the petition which I asked of him. Therefore also I have lent him to the Lord as long as he liveth, and he shall be lent to the Lord. And he worshipped the Lord there. So we see that, you know, when she finally has that child, Samuel, when God finally opens her womb, and grants her that request, we see that there's a real sacrifice, a real selfishness that Hannah had. That she was willing to sacrifice, that she wasn't going to be selfish, that she was going to be very selfless, and she was going to be willing to give her child to God. And you know, of course, there of 22 she says, I will not go up to the child be weaned, and then I will bring him that he may appear before the Lord, and thereby forever. She's saying, look, I'm going to go up there, and I'm going to leave Samuel there, and he's going to abide with the Lord forever, and he's going to serve God in the house of God all the days of his life. And we say, wow, well that sounds great, Hannah. That's a lot of talk, right? But right now all it is is talk. All right now it is is just a speech. Right now all it is is you just saying, you might very well mean it in your own heart, but right now all we're hearing is words. But we have to understand here that when she intended to follow through in her vow, it wasn't just words with Hannah. Verse 28, the Bible shows us that she followed through, therefore also I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he liveth, he shall be lent to the Lord, and he worshiped the Lord there. She said one thing, and then she went and did that exact thing. She said, you know, I'm going to lend this child to the Lord, and when the time came, she lent him to the Lord. She followed through. She was willing to sacrifice. She was selfless. You know, it's one thing, you know, this goes for so many areas in life, it's one thing to say you're going to do something, that's another thing to go and do it. You know, the old saying, talk is cheap. Everybody can tell you what they're going to do. That's when somebody actually goes and does it. That's where the rubber meets the road. That's when you find out if there's any weight or merit in those things that those people are saying. You know, we could say we intend to raise our kids for God. When I have children, or these kids, you know, this little boy, this little girl that I've got, my firstborn, whatever, I'm going to raise this child for God. Okay. Well, I hope you're willing to be selfless. Hope you're willing to make some sacrifices. Hope you're willing to fulfill the role that God has given you to fulfill. You know, a lot of people want to raise their children for God, but they don't want anything to do with First Timothy. They don't want anything to do with Titus. They don't like that role that God has given women. But that's what it takes to raise a child for God. That's the selfishness, that's the sacrifice that needs to be made. That's what you need to follow through on. You know, we intend to raise, we intend to educate our children. I'm going to homeschool. You know, that first time mother, she has all these great visions of how homeschooling is going to go and how by the time my child's two, they're going to be reading and they're going to be writing and they're going to be, you know, they're going to be just doing all these great things. And then it comes along and then they realize all the work that comes into it, the late nights, the, you know, the sicknesses, the illnesses and all the things that come along with having a child. And then maybe public school doesn't seem to sound so bad. Maybe that charter school seems a little bit better now. Maybe sending them off, let someone give me a break for a few hours a day doesn't sound so bad. Maybe sending them off at the daycare or the nursery so I can get out and live my life a little bit. Maybe that sounds, starts to sound a little bit better. It's one thing to say, yeah, I'm going to educate my children. It's another thing to stay home and crack open the books and sit down with them day in and day out and day in and day out for years at a time. I mean, you think about some of these ladies that have had multiple children, I mean, they've been homeschooling for decades. It's a full time job. I mean, they're just going at it. It's one thing to say you're going to do it. It's another thing to do it. It's one thing to say you're going to raise your children for God. It's another thing to actually go and raise them. It's one thing I'm going to educate my children. It's another thing to actually go and educate your children. That's another thing, you know, you say I tend to discipline and direct my children. You know, I'm going to use a biblical model. The Bible says, you know, that they shall beat the child with the rod and spare not for his crying. And that the blueness of the wound cleanses the way of evil. And we begin to understand what the Bible is talking about there, about corporal punishment, about disciplining your children. But we want, we intend to have, you know, disciplined children. But then we read about how the Bible says how to go about doing it, well maybe we've got another idea. Maybe we want to follow through on that. Maybe my kid, you know, I can just put up with an acting up a little bit here and there. Maybe he's not, it's not so bad effort. Maybe this time out stuff is the way to go. It's one thing to say we're going to do something, but when it comes time to do it, often it's another thing with people. Not with Hannah. That was the sacrifice she was willing to make. She was willing to sacrifice. She didn't just say something, she followed through on it. She was a selfless person. It's going to take hard work, it's going to take sacrifice, it's going to take a vision and attention to detail. If you're going to raise a prophet's, if you're going to be a prophet's mother, if you're going to raise successful godly children, it's going to take a vision and attention to detail. Look at 2 Samuel, or 1 Samuel chapter 2, excuse me, just one page over. 1 Samuel chapter 2, verse 18, the Bible says, But Samuel, ministered before the Lord, being a child, girded with a linen ephod. 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. So after Hannah, as a child, she wings him, she takes him up to the temple and says, here's the child that I prayed for, I'm following through on my vow, I'm going to sacrifice, I'm going to be selfless, I'm going to give this child to God, and she hands him over. The Bible says that from year to year, when they came up to do the sacrifice, she would have a little coat for him. Now my wife, she's just gotten into making these swim dresses for our kids, for our girls, and they're great, it takes a lot of work. But part of it is she has to have a vision, she has to know what it is that she wants to make, and she has to pay attention to detail when she makes them. I mean imagine being in this position, Hannah, of doing this task, of making this little coat for her son. I mean she hasn't seen him in a year, you know, she has to kind of guess, well how big is he going to be, when she sees him she has to envision, she has to foresee how big he's going to be a year from now, and make that coat to size. And she has to go out and gather everything she needs and pay attention to what she's doing. She couldn't show up with a coat that was too small, because now he's a year behind, you know, now that coat he's got to wear, it's just a little too tight, the sleeves are up to the elbow, you know, it's a little tight around the neck, and he's going to get paid fun of at school or whatever, just kidding. But she had to pay attention to detail, she had to have a vision, she had to see what's coming, you know, we want our kids to turn out a certain way, we have to have a vision for that. To say, well what do I want for my children, what do you want for your children in the short term, what do you want for your children in the long term, what's your vision for your children today, what skills and abilities do you want your children to learn, what skills and abilities do you want to develop this year and the next, what do you want them to grow into, what's going to suit them best, what are you building into their life, what little coat are you weaving for their lives, what traits and habits will help them now and for a lifetime, are you developing those traits, are you developing those habits that are going to help them now and through their whole life, and what quality, what qualities are you weaving into your child's life, you know, that coat that Samuel put on every year to get that fresh new coat, other people would see it, I mean that's external, that's something you would see on the outside, right, that coat, and he would say, yeah, my mom made this for me, and I'm like, that people are like, wow, your mom's pretty good, man, she makes a nice coat, you look good, you look sharp, right, well, when our children, when people look at their children, that's a reflection of the mother, they can see how a child's behaving, they can see where a child's at in development, what characters and qualities a child has, they can say, that's a reflection of the mother, so the question would be, you know, what qualities are you, or do you want to show up in your child's life, how do you want your children to reflect on you, what, I mean, is the coat you're weaving for your children going to be full of holes, one sleeve's longer than the other, the buttons are on the wrong side, zipper doesn't work, you know, what things need to be adjusted to make sure that our children turn out, I mean, nobody's going to be perfect, obviously, but we should have a standard, we should have a vision, and we should pay attention to the detail that we're putting into our children's lives, so we see that she was willing to do the hard work of being selfless, she was willing to do the hard work of having a vision and paying attention to detail, but she had to put effort into making that coat, it didn't just happen on its own, I mean, think about, especially back then, she just didn't go down to Joanne Fabrics and pick out a nice pattern, I mean, she had to sit down at a spindle, she had to get the flax, she had to get the cotton, she had to make the fabric, even make the coat, took a lot of work, you know, it's a good thing she had a year, I guess, but she had to put a lot of work into that, you know, my wife, every time she gets pregnant, she'll sit down and she'll start to, what do you call that with the needles? Crochet, is it crocheting? Knitting, right? Crochet, she's crocheting, I'm so glad I don't know that, so glad I had to ask, but she would sit down and crochet, but she has to have a vision, right? She has to go pick out the colors that she wants in that quilt or that blanket, it would be a blanket, not a quilt, quilt would be sewing, we'll figure this out later, but she has to sit down and she has to figure out what colors she wants, what's the pattern going to be, and she has to put the time, she has to have the vision, but then she has to put in the effort, just sit down, set aside a time every day when she's going to sit down and get out those quilting needles, crocheting needles, and start to make that thing, and she has to say, I mean, it takes a skill, I mean, you couldn't just hand me the materials and say, here, go do this, I mean, you just get a big knotted mess, you know, I'd say, well, if you wanted to keep you warm, just, here, hold on to this end and spin around and I'll just let it run out, we'll wrap you up like a mummy, and you'll be nice and toasty, right? But she sits down and she has to understand the skills, like the way it's done, you know, it's a very particular skill. So if we want our kids, you know, that coat, our children's lives to reflect us well, we're going to have to, you know, ask ourselves, you know, what will it take to make the fiber of their character? What are we going to have to do to build them up and to present them to the world as we want them to be seen? And, you know, we're going to have to go out and gather the material. You know, a great place to learn how to raise a child is right here. You know, here's a great place, the preaching the Word of God, reading the Word of God, looking to the old, as it says there in Titus, that the older women would teach the younger of their children. You know, we can look to other mothers and how they're doing things, that they're successful, we should ask advice of them, and, you know, just on a side note, when you ask somebody for advice and then they start to give it to you, make sure you pay attention. You know, that's one of the most obnoxious things when somebody asks you questions and you start to give them an answer and then just immediately they're distracted and you can just tell, like, well, why'd you even ask? So we should be able to look to other people and see those that are successful and we should be willing to go to them with a humble heart and ask them and a readiness to receive what they say on how to do these things. You know, if a woman wants to find out, well, how is it that you get your children to do this or that? Or what is it that you're raising your children? You know, don't expect the answer that you might get. I think a lot of people, they think it's one thing and then they go another. Like, for example, I remember before I got married and I was first getting into church and my pastor would preach a lot about, you know, spanking children. About spanking was a big part of childhood. I mean, that's a huge part of childhood. I know that the world would just be a little shocked that we didn't say that. You know, despite the fact that it's worked for generations and it's raised thousands and thousands of children over thousands of years have been raised in the millions, you know, that way and successfully. You know, today now we know better. Well, my pastor would preach on spanking and, you know, it was one thing to kind of hear it from the pulpit, but it was another thing to actually see it enforced. I remember I was at another pastor's home once and we were sitting down to dinner and his son, you know, looked at me cross-eyed or something like that. He did something that the dad didn't like and the father just excused himself, quietly, gently took his son in the other room and then he just heard, and then they came back out. And, you know, you would have thought that at that time for me, if you looked at my face, you thought he shot the kid because I mean, it was the first time that I'd ever heard anything like that. I wasn't raised that way. You know, that's not what I got growing up. So it's one thing to talk about these things, about doing these things. It's another thing to actually put into practice. And I just remember how that one impression that made up on me that this is really how it's done. I mean, this is really what it takes. So, you know, when we go to somebody and ask for advice on child rearing or whatever the subject, you know, don't let the answer shock you and be ready to receive something that you might not otherwise think is the case. You might think, well, I'm going to go ask them, but I'm sure this is what they'll say. Then they tell you something completely different and it thrills you for a loop. But if we're really going out of a genuine desire to hear and understand and learn how to do things, we're ready for any answer. If we're going to be a prophet's mother, if we're going to raise our children for God, you know, we're going to have to put effort into it. We're going to have to go to people, figure out what it takes and start to do it. We're going to have to gather the material, you know, getting the advice, reading the Bible, listening to preaching. We're going to have to put our hands to that spindle and begin to weave that fabric. We're actually going to have to put in the hard work. It's one thing not just to know what to do, but it's to go and do it, you know. Another thing about Hannah is that she was thoughtful. This just shows us that she was thoughtful and loving, that she cared about her child. It wasn't just, you know, it's her reputation on the line or something. I mean, when you think, when you go back and read the vow she made, she didn't say anything about a coat. She didn't say, I'll lend them to the Lord all the day of his life and I'll make sure he's well dressed every year. That wasn't part of the deal. She didn't have to do that. She wanted to do that out of a loving and thoughtful heart for her son. The coat wasn't part of the vow. It was something that a mother did out of the love of her own heart. And really, that's what it's going to take for us to raise successful children. It's not just knowing that, you know, we've got to do X, Y, and Z. We've got to have some grit. We've got to have some endurance. We've got to have some willingness to tough some things out and to be tough where we need to be tough and take a stand and do all these things. But we have to ask ourselves, what's the motive? It ought to be because we love our children and we want to see them succeed. And that's the thought, that's the heart that Hannah had. She had a loving heart for her child. You know, whenever I read the story, I like to, whenever I read Bible stories, I like to kind of envision them in my mind. Kind of paint a picture of the characters and, you know, play out certain moments. And I like this one in particular when you think about Samuel seeing his, well, every year he knew she was coming that day. How he must have gotten so excited for that year. You know, Karen just had her seventh birthday yesterday and boy, it was a build up to this one. I mean, she knew it was coming. She knew there was going to be cake and ice cream and presents and we were hearing about it for a few days and it was really building up. I mean, imagine Samuel here knowing that, you know, in just a few days my mom's going to be, boy, it's been a year since I've seen her. And you know what, I bet she's going to bring that coat again. And I'm glad too because this one's gotten a little dirty. This one's got a few holes in it now and it's kind of coming apart at the seams. I've been a little rough on it. I could use a new coat. I mean, can you imagine the excitement that Samuel had knowing that his mother, who loved him and was thoughtful about him, and though she was many, you know, she was apart from him, she didn't spend a lot of time with him, he knew that he loved her because of what she was bringing into his life because of that coat that she had weaved for him. That attention to detail, that hard work that she put into weaving that coat. Imagine the joy in Samuel's part, seeing his mother, you know, come over the hill or up the path or whatever it was and seeing her far off. I imagine, you know, when he saw her he just took off like a bullet and would probably go running into her arms. And the embrace that they had and just the joy that he must have felt in her heart. You know, when we start to weave a coat for our children, we're putting and building in the fabric in their lives, there will come a day when they're thankful. There will come a day when it brings them real joy, when they understand what it is, the hard work that a mother has put into her child's life. They will be very grateful. So really the point of the sermon, the conclusion I want to draw from on this is that what mothers do matter. What you do as a mother, it matters. Don't let the world belittle the role of a mother. And that's what they do. You know, you're a stay-at-home mom. Often people ask me, you know, well what does your wife do for a living? And I'm very careful not just to say she stays at home. What I say now is she works for me. You know, that's true. I mean that really is true. She's raising my children, you know, and she's very underpaid because I've seen what she does and, you know, I give her a room and board and all that, but I tell you, it's a 24-hour job, seven days a week, day in and day out for years at a time. There's no way I could ever pay my wife what she's worth. And it can be said of any mother. And we shouldn't let the world rob mothers of that or belittle the role of a mother. Because it's gotten into a mess. We've allowed it to happen. We've allowed women to get this idea that motherhood is just this bane on their existence, that it's some burden that you should only endure for one or two children, that it's something that should be put off as long as possible. But that's just not the case. I think the role of a mother is the most important role that we see. Because without mothers, there are no Samuels. And without Samuels, nations go into sin and they never come back. And souls are lost in darkness. It takes a mother like Hannah to raise a prophet like Samuel. If we're going to raise children, there's going to be a light in this world. We need mothers who understand that what they're doing matters. You know, it's said that the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. That's one of those, you know, kind of cliche statements that you hear. And that's true. You know, all the great rulers, they had a mother too. But I like to think of it, you know, in Hannah's case, you know, the hand that rocked the cradle was the one that brought the word of God to a sinful nation. And that's what we want for our nation today. We would like to see the word of God go out in all the world and be preached and righteousness to be declared. But it's going to take a mother to do it. It's going to take mothers who are willing to fulfill their role that God has given them. And don't let the world rob you of it. Don't let the world belittle the role. And you know, raising children, it's often a thankless task. I mean, children, they don't understand the fullness of what a mother's doing for them. Often not until they're much older. But don't think God doesn't notice. I mean, God's keeping tally. God's marking it down. God notices what mothers are doing for their children. God is keeping... I mean, we saw how close God was to Hannah and the purposes that he had in her life. And I'm sure that God, you know, the Bible goes on and tells us that after Samuel, after she completed that vow, that she had many, many children. She had several children after that. God opened her womb and she had a full family. She was very blessed. You know, God noticed her. It wasn't just he used her for this one thing and then forgot about her. You know, God paid attention. Don't think God doesn't notice. The world might not notice. Maybe even your own spouses might not notice. Your husbands, even your own children, might not thank you because they don't understand what it is you're doing for them. The sacrifice, the vision, the attention to detail, the hardships, the hard work. But don't think that God doesn't notice because he does. And the fact is that, you know, only eternity will tell us all that mothers have accomplished. It will take eternity for us to know all that mothers have accomplished in this world, that have accomplished things for God. They'll go unrecognized. They'll go unhonored in this world. But I believe in eternity, we'll know. We'll know everything that a mother has accomplished once we get to heaven. So don't let the world rob you of that. Don't let the world belittle the role of a mother. It's important. We need it if we're going to raise prophets. Let's go ahead and pray. Heavenly Father, again, thank you for the story of Hannah. Lord, thank you that you mention mothers so often in the Word of God, that you have sections of scripture that you've given us that we can understand about childbearing, about the trials of it, about child rearing, what it takes, the vision, the hard work. Thank you for children. Thank you for mothers. Thank you for, Lord, you giving us the instruction in the Word of God to know how to fulfill these roles, to see God and children arranged. I pray that you would help us, Lord, to take note of the things that we've read and learned and that we would apply them in our lives, that we would raise children, Lord. It's your desire, Lord, that the Word of God go out and be preached and declared in all the world. And, Father, it's going to take mothers to raise children that will go and do that. And, Father, I pray that you would just bless all of us for being here today, that you'd be with the rest of the services this morning and the sole winning that's done. We give you all the praise and the glory for it. In Jesus' name, Amen.