In the last few months, the World Missions Committee has seen that prayer and the preparation of our children are necessary priorities for our mission work in the AFLC. We have a good picture of the importance of our prayers and of our kids to world missions in the story of Hannah in I Samuel 1-3. Hannah is best known for two things: her prayers and her son, Samuel. In fact, if not for the effect she had on others through them, we wouldn’t know her at all! Faced with a difficult family situation, she prayed, and the Lord answered her wi th a son who had a great impact on the world, including US!
The Impact of Her Prayers
First, they had an impact on her! I recently heard that O. Hallesby compared prayer to a person in a boat throwing an anchor to the “shore” (God) and then pulling on the rope. Is the person pulling the shore closer to the boat?...Or is he pulling the boat closer to the shore? I believe the Lord wanted Hannah to pray so that He could “draw” her to Himself. He wanted to give her a son, but He had great plans for that son, and she had to prepare him rightly for God to use. As she prayed and offered him back to the Lord for His service, God eased the burden He had given her for the new life of a child. “Her face was no longer sad.” (I Sam. 1:18) And, then, He answered her: “the Lord remembered her. And…she gave birth to a son.” (I Sam. 1:19-20)
Second, Hannah’s prayers had an impact on Eli, the priest. They were a testimony and an encouragement to him as he observed her earnest prayers and then saw God’s answer to her and actually became entrusted with that answer: Samuel!
Third, her prayers had an impact on Samuel. Every time, someone called his name, he was reminded that “God hears”. He, himself, was the answer to his mother’s prayers! Hannah told him why she gave him up to the Lord: he belonged to the Lord because of her promise to give him back as His servant. Because of her great example, he also became a man of prayer. Ps. 99 tells us: “Samuel was among those who called on His name: They called upon the LORD, and He answered them.”
How can WE have an impact on the world by OUR prayers? Like Hannah, we need to be dissatisfied with the way things are (our “comfort zone”) and take on God’s burden for new life in others. Recently, I realized that I had misplaced some very important records necessary to figure my taxes. For 2 weeks, I looked everywhere! I became desperate to find that which was lost! I prayed earnestly, knowing that the Lord knew where they were. Then, when I had no more hope, the Lord brought them to light! The joy and relief I experienced when they were found gave me a taste of what the Lord feels when a lost, eternal, soul is found! Will we let the Lord draw us near to Him in prayer so that we can feel His burden for the “lost” and become URGENT in finding them?
The Impact of Her Child
First, Samuel, her son, had a great impact on Hannah! He, as God’s answer to her prayers, showed her God’s love and power in her life in the most personal way. What she did with Samuel opened the door for the Lord to give her more children. (I Sam. 2:20-21)
Second, Samuel had an impact on Eli, God’s disobedient “servant”. Samuel became God’s “mouthpiece” to him, warning him of God’s judgment and giving him an opportunity to repent!
Third, Samuel had an impact on the world, leading God’s people to victory and setting up their 1st two kings. Ps. 99 puts him on an equal par with Moses, the giver of God’s law, and Aaron, the father of the priests for God’s people. Samuel was a great prophet and the only king-maker for Israel!
How can OUR children have an impact on the world like Samuel did?...By our giving them godly and sacrificial examples, a concern for pleasing God, and most of all, by surrendering them to the LORD to do with as He pleases, as Hannah did. Are we willing to let the LORD have OUR OWN CHILDREN as missionaries?
By Craig Wentzel
