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The power of a mother’s prayer
Copyright 2015 by Bob Rogers
Many people have had mothers who prayed for them. The great theologian, Augustine, attributed his Christian conversion to the prayers of his mother, Monnica. Evangelist Billy Graham said, “What a comfort it was for me to know that no matter where I was in the world, my mother was praying for me.”
A Jewish mother named Hannah was a model of motherly prayer. The Bible says in the Book of First Samuel, chapter one, that Hannah was distraught because she could not have a child, and went to the tabernacle of the Lord to pray. There she met the priest Eli, who told her, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant the petition you’ve requested from Him” (1 Samuel 1:17). Later, she gave birth to her son, Samuel, the prophet who anointed the first two rulers of Israel, King Saul and King…
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The power of a mother’s prayer
Copyright by Bob Rogers
Many people have had mothers who prayed for them. The great theologian, Augustine, attributed his Christian conversion to the prayers of his mother, Monnica. Evangelist Billy Graham said, “What a comfort it was for me to know that no matter where I was in the world, my mother was praying for me.”
A Jewish mother named Hannah was a model of motherly prayer. The Bible says in the Book of First Samuel, chapter one, that Hannah was distraught because she could not have a child, and went to the tabernacle of the Lord to pray. There she met the priest Eli, who told her, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant the petition you’ve requested from Him” (1 Samuel 1:17). Later, she gave birth to her son, Samuel, the prophet who anointed the first two rulers of Israel, King Saul and King David.
If we look closely at this scripture, we will see four reasons why this mother’s prayer was so powerful:
1. It was a broken prayer. Verse 10 says, “Deeply hurt, Hannah prayed…” God rejects pride, but he often responds to brokenness and humility, especially in our prayers. He did so for King Hezekiah (2 Kings 20:1-6), He did for Hannah, and He has done so for many mothers who cry out to God for their families.
2. It was a committed prayer. Verse 11 says that Hannah prayed, “I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and his hair will never be cut.”” She was promising God that Samuel would take a Nazirite vow, a special commitment of service to God symbolized by uncut hair and drinking no wine. Many people call on God but don’t want God to call on them. Hannah readily offered her own son to the call of God on his life. God loves the prayers of mothers like Hannah, who are completely committed to the Lord.
3. It was a consistent prayer. Verse 12 says, “…she continued praying in the LORD’s presence…” She didn’t simply toss up one prayer in the air and give up when she didn’t get an instant answer. Hannah was like Epaphras, whom the apostle Paul praised because “he is always contending for you in his prayers” (Colossians 4:12). There is power in the persistent prayers of mothers who continue to cry out.
4. It was a believing prayer. Verse 18 says that after Eli blessed her, “Hannah went on her way; she ate and no longer looked despondent.” It was some time later before she conceived and gave birth to a son (1 Samuel 1:20), but long before she had her answer, she believed. The Bible promises that God answers when we pray in faith (Matthew 21:22), in the name of Jesus (John 16:23), and the will of God (1 John 5:14). A mother named Hannah prayed like that, and in every generation, men and women have discovered the same power in prayer. We don’t always get the things for which we pray– or, we may receive answers in ways other than what we prefer, but there is no doubt that there is power in prayer.
On Mother’s Day, we honor women like Hannah. But the greatest honor we can give our mothers– whether living or not– is to pray to the same God who desires to pour out His love on us in answer to our prayers.
Guest Blog: “The Gift of Being a New Mother”
(Below is a guest blog from my daughter, Melissa Rogers Dalton. This is the first installment of three guest blogs from my three children.)
How exciting! This is my first guest blog post, and I’m very flattered that my dad asked me to share. We pick on him that he doesn’t like to give up his pulpit, so if his blog is any relation, it’s a real honor (even if I am family). Love you, daddy!
Well, I was asked to share about being a new mom almost a month ago, and I thought it would be easy to sit down and write it. I forgot that I was a NEW mom, and babies set the schedule. I guess I’ll start by sharing a little about myself. I’ve been married to my wonderful husband, Steven, for almost 6 years now, and we had our first child, Keagan, on December 16, 2011. I’ve been on maternity leave since then, but I went back to work on Monday, February 13 (I teach 4th grade) and will now face a whole new set of challenges. I’m nervous about it but ready to get into some sort of routine.
I’ve always known I wanted kids one day, but for years I joked that I wanted to adopt one that was potty-trained. Babies are cute, but they’ve always scared me a little. They can’t tell you what they want, keep you up at night, and I hate changing diapers! However, I’ve been seeing friend after friend become a new mommy, and my biological clock actually started to tick almost 2 years ago (I never thought it would). Steven wasn’t ready yet, and we wanted to be a little more financially stable, so we waited. When we found out we were expecting last May, both of us were thrilled and couldn’t wait to welcome our little one into the world. To make it even better, our entire small group at church was expecting as well, so we had friends to literally go through the process with us.
Since Keagan has arrived, I’m amazed how much love I have for him. He could do anything or do absolutely nothing and I still have an overwhelming amount of love for him. Even when I’m up four times in the night because he wants to snack on his bottle instead of having one good feed, all he has to do is let me hold him and my heart melts. I think he’s the most adorable little boy in the world, and it’s so cool that I can actually call him “mine”.
Don’t misunderstand me: it’s been a challenge to be a mom. Like I said earlier, sleep is constantly interrupted. I can’t just go do whatever I want whenever I want. I feel like all I do is feed him. I’ve been peed on AND pooped on multiple times. And, on a more vain note, I’m 5 sizes bigger than I used to be, and it seems like the weight will never come off.
But then I remember that God CHOSE to bless me with a child. He felt that I was worthy enough to entrust with the care of one of his own. This is a gift that is not bestowed to everyone, and I fully intend to be the best mom that I can be! It is a top priority that Keagan be taken care of to the best of my ability AND that I raise him in a Christian home that instills the values and priorities that Keagan will need to grow up as a strong Christian man. Our parents did a wonderful job with both of us. Now it’s our turn!
Guest blogs coming from my children
Mary and I have three children, and we are very proud of all three of them. In the next few days, I will be posting guest blogs by each of them, from the oldest to the youngest.
Our daughter, Melissa Rogers Dalton, is a graduate of Effingham County High School and Mercer University, and is earning a master’s degree from Longwood University. Melissa is married to Steven Dalton of Mechanicsville, Virginia, where they now live. Steven is a child labor investigator for the Virginia Department of Labor. Melissa teaches fourth grade at New Kent Elementary School, and she gave birth to our first grandson, Keagan Dalton, on December 16. She will be writing about how it feels to be a new mother.
Our daughter, Lauren Rogers Knight, is a graduate of Effingham County High School and Mississippi College and is married to Philip “Pip” Knight of Rincon. They live in Gulfport, Mississippi. Pip is an air traffic controller at the Gulfport airport, and Lauren is a service representative for Million Air, a full based operation for private planes, and she is an independent consultant for Rodan and Fields. Lauren will write about the differences and similarity of living on the Georgia coast and the Mississippi coast.
Our son, Wade Rogers, is a graduate of Effingham County High School and is a second year student at Georgia Tech, majoring in business administration. He works at WREK, the student radio station, and announces Georgia Tech baseball games on the radio. Wade will be writing about a week in the life of a college student.
Bob Rogers 