Samuel
“I can't wait to be a mom!” my six-year-old said as we pulled into the driveway at home. Her twin baby dolls were strapped into their car seats next to her. She took them everywhere, along with their toys and diaper bag, leaving me to carry the stuff she actually needed.
“You are going to be the best mom in the world,” I told her.
“No, you are the best mom in the world,” she shouted, jumping out of the car and running into the house.
“Aww. That was so sweet,” I almost cried until I looked into the rearview mirror to find the “twins” still strapped in their car seats while their mom was inside the cool house. Correction: She takes them everywhere but back inside of the house. We will have to work on the “leaving your kids in the hot car thing.”
An 1865 poem by William Ross Wallace, entitled The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, recognizes a mother's impact on her children. Wallace emphasizes the idea that the person responsible for nurturing the children, the one who cares for them, the hand that rocks the cradle, has the power to influence the next generation.
The Children of Israel were tired of judges; they wanted a king! It was time for a new era. Despite his warnings against it, Israel wanted a king, so God told Samuel to grant them a king. Samuel was a man of integrity. He was a blameless leader, a faithful shepherd over Israel. He was obedient to the LORD all of his life. He was the last judge of God’s people, and as he prepared to anoint Saul as the first King of Israel, he wanted confirmation from the people of the integrity of his service (1 Sam 7:6, 15‑17, 3:20; Acts 3:24; 13:20).
“Now Samuel said to all Israel: ‘Indeed I have heeded your voice in all that you said to me, and have made a king over you. And now here is the king, walking before you; I am old and gray-headed, and look, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my childhood to this day. Here I am. Witness against me before the LORD and before His anointed: Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed, or from whose hand have I received any bribe to blind my eyes? I will restore it to you. And they said, ‘You have not cheated us or oppressed us, nor have you taken anything from any man’s hand’” (2 Samuel 12:1-5). Indeed, Samuel had been a blameless leader. He passed on a noble legacy to Saul. With God and Israel as his witnesses, he could be assured that his entire life had been one of great godly character and integrity. But before Samuel was a prophet, he was a prayer.
Several times in scripture, we find women of God who struggled with conception. Hannah was one of these women. She wanted nothing more than to have a son. Hannah cried out to the LORD and made a vow, “O LORD of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life…” (1 Samuel 1:8-11). Here she dedicated her future son to the LORD, Whom she knew was faithful to deliver. And after much effectual, fervent, and heartfelt prayer, Hannah conceived. “So it came to pass in the process of time that Hannah conceived and bore a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, 'Because I have asked for him from the LORD.” (1 Samuel 1:20). I wonder if it ever occurred to Hannah that the son she so desperately prayed for would be one of the greatest prophets ever to live. I wonder if she ever thought that the young boy she left to serve at the tabernacle with Eli would be used so significantly by God.
We can be sure that a mother's prayers shaped this young man's life. An entire nation agreed that Samuel had been a godly leader, their spiritual guide, faithful to God his entire life, anointing and advising kings…and all because of a mother's prayer (1 Samuel 7:15, 2 Samuel 2:18).
Proverbs 31:28 says, “Her children rise and call her blessed.” Hannah is an example of a godly hand that rocks the cradle. Because she was a righteous woman determined to have a son who served the LORD, she was blessed. Because she was a righteous woman determined to have a godly son, generations of people have been blessed. Never neglect to pray for your children. No matter their ages, it is not too late to guide and steer them in the way of the LORD. Hannah shows us what happens when you pray in faith, believing. When you pray in faith, believing for a child, you get a Samuel—someone who serves the LORD all the days of their lives.
