#73. 1 Samuel 1-3 | For This Child I Prayed

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This is a dwelling place from Aru Ministries.

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I'm Stephanie Hickox.

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Today we'll read what I suspect is

probably the most common scripture for

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people to put above their baby's crib.

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If you've walked through Hobby Lobby,

you've probably seen it as we begin.

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The Book of Samuel and cover.

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The first three chapters, the

good, the bad, and the Ugly of

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Parenting will be on full display.

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In the original Hebrew manuscripts,

first Samuel and Second Samuel were

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actually one book, but in the Greek

sub two agent, they didn't have

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scrolls long enough, so they divided

it into one Samuel and second Samuel.

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This is all about God establishing

the kingship in Israel.

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Samuel is the one God used to do

this, but he is not the author

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of this book of the Bible.

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He dies off much too soon

for that to be possible.

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It's not clear who the actual author is,

but we can tell a pretty specific timeline

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it takes place between about 1105 BC with

the birth of Samuel, and concludes with

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the final words of King David and 9 71 bc.

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It all takes place in Israel when the

nation was doing very poorly spiritually.

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Their main enemies at this point were

the Philistines and the Ammonites,

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Speaker 4: but interestingly, the

other major world powers around

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them were pretty weak at this time.

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So their main enemies

are within their nation.

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Speaker 6: First and second

Samuel are historical narratives.

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That means that interwoven in all of this

historical fact are well told stories

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because we're also intended to learn

from the examples of righteousness and

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unrighteousness throughout the pages.

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Winfred Oly compliments that this

author is a skilled storyteller.

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He says one can hardly overestimate

the incredible literary skill

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and subtlety of the narrator.

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His skillful use of irony, humor,

flashback, dramatic tension

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and resolution is astounding.

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So be on the lookout for those.

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The Davidic covenant, which is God's

promise of the kingship to David's line,

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is a key theme in this book, as well

as the sovereignty of God, how the Holy

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Spirit was at work to equip people for

what God called them to, and then the

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reality of the consequences of sin.

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What will be most important is that

we continue to be pointed to a king

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who is coming back to rain perfectly.

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First.

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Samuel one covers the birth of Samuel.

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Speaker 3: There was a

certain man of Ram Theum Z.

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Of the hill country of Eum, whose name

was Chea, the son of Jerome, son of

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Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zf and Aite.

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He had two wives.

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The name of the one was Hannah

and the name of the other Panina.

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And Panina had children,

but Hannah had no children.

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Now, this man used to go up year by

year from his city to worship and

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to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts at

Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, HNA

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and Phineas were priests of the Lord.

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on the day when Al Cana sacrificed,

he would give portions to Panina his

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wife and to all her sons and daughters.

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But to Hannah, he gave a double portion.

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Because he loved her though the Lord had

closed her womb and her rival used to

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provoke her grievously to irritate her

because the Lord had closed her womb.

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So it went on year by year.

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As often as she went up to the house

of the Lord, she used to provoke her.

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Therefore, Hannah wept and would not eat.

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Anna Chena, her husband said

to her, Hannah, why do you

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weep and why do you not eat?

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And why is your heart sad?

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Am I not more to you than 10 sons?

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After they had eaten and

drunken Shiloh, Hannah Rose.

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Now Eli, the priest, was sitting

on the seat beside the doorpost

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of the temple of the Lord.

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She was Deeply distrust and prayed

to the Lord and wept bitterly,

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and she vowed a vow and said,

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oh Lord of hosts, if you will indeed

look on the affliction of your

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servant and remember me and not forget

your servant, but will give to your

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servant a son, then I will give him

to the Lord all the days of his life

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and no razor shall touch his head.

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As she continued praying before the

Lord, Eli observed her mouth, Hannah

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was speaking in her heart, only her

lips moved and her voice was not heard.

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Therefore, Eli took her to be a

drunken woman, and Eli said to her,

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how long will you go on being drunk?

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Put your wine away from you?

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But Hannah answered, no, my Lord,

I am a woman troubled in spirit.

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I have drunk, neither why nor

strong drink, but I have been

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pouring out my soul before.

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The Lord.

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Do not regard your servant

as a worthless woman.

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For all along I have been speaking

outta my great anxiety and vation.

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Then Eli answered, go in

peace and the God of Israel.

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Grant your petition that you have

made to him, and she said, let your

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servant find favor in your eyes.

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And then the woman went her way and

ate, and her face was no longer sad.

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They rose early in the morning

and worshiped before the Lord.

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Then they went back to their house

at Rama, and knew Hannah, his

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wife, and the Lord remembered her.

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And in due time, Hannah conceived

and Bo a son, and she called

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his name Samuel for, she said, I

have asked for him from the Lord.

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The man, Chena and all his house

went up to offer to the Lord the

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yearly sacrifice and to pay his.

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But Hannah did not go up for, she

said to her husband, as soon as the

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child is weaned, I will bring him so

that he may appear in the presence

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of the Lord and dwell there forever.

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Alcan, her husband said to

her, do what seems best to you.

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Wait until you have weaned him.

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Only may the Lord establish his word.

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So the woman remained and nursed

her son until she weaned him

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and when she had weaned him.

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She took him up with her along with

a three-year-old bull, an iffa, a

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flour, and a skin of wine, and she

brought him to the house of the Lord

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at Shiloh and the child was young.

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then they slaughtered the bull and

they brought the child to Eli and she

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said, oh my Lord, as you live, my Lord,

I am the woman who was standing here

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in your presence praying to the Lord.

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For this child, I prayed and the Lord has

granted me my petition that I made to him.

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Therefore, I have lent him to the Lord

as long as he lives, he is lent to the

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Lord and he worshiped the Lord There.

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Speaker 7: When we read that

Hannah's heart was grieved, it

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reflects anger, not just sadness

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And when it says, Hannah was greatly

distressed when she prayed, that

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literally means bitter of soul.

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She was anguished, but she

took her pain to the Lord.

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I think she needed to

have a good, ugly cry.

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And she will be the only woman in

scripture to make a vow to the Lord.

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If you remember before in our reading

for a married woman, if the husband did

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not agree with her vow, he could nullify

it, instead of favoring this child and

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holding him tightly, like Israel did with

his favorite wife's firstborn, Joseph Al

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actually releases him to serve the Lord

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in 1 27 and 28.

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Those popular verses I

mentioned at the beginning.

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When Hannah says, for this child, I prayed

and the Lord has granted me my petition.

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The word meaning Lent is used about

four times in the Hebrew, and it

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makes me think about Entrusted

that our children are not our own.

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It's kind of like God asked us to babysit

and we'll have to give an account for

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how we pointed our children to him.

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We can either hold them tightly or

surrender them to the Lord's purposes

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for their lives, but be careful.

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Surrender doesn't mean to let

them run wild, as we'll see with

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Eli Samuel probably would've been

weaned at about three years old

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to go and surf in the temple.

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Can you imagine dropping your

three-year-old off to serve in the church?

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But every year, Hannah brought

him a freshly made garment and I'm

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sure was the absolute joy of her

life to see God using him there.

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She praises God for answering her request

and hearing the humble, in fact, in Mary

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the mother of Jesus is famous prayer.

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She quotes some of Hannah's words

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Samuel becomes an example of righteousness

and what the text will do for these next

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couple chapters is juxtapose the evil

practices of Eli's sons Hni and Phineas.

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With the righteous behavior of Samuel.

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this is a different Phineas than

the priest that I loved After the

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time of Moses in 2 26, we're told

now the Boy Samuel continued to

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grow both in stature and in favor

with the Lord and also with man.

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And this sounds so similar to Luke 2 52

with Jesus as a child and Jesus grew in

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wisdom and favor with God and with man.

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Have you ever heard someone say that

there's nothing you can do to make

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God love you more or please him more?

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When I read these two verses, I'm

reminded that when we're believers, we

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have right legal standing before God.

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But actually we can act

in a way that pleases him.

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I think it's important for us to

understand this as moms, because we can

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encourage our kids that our righteous

choices really do matter to the Lord.

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I and chapter three, we get to another

one of those famous Sunday school stories

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when Samuel hears the voice of the

Lord, but he thinks he's hearing Eli.

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Do you remember it?

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He's sleeping in one room,

Eli's sleeping in another.

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Samuel hears his name being

called and he keeps rising up

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to say, yes, Eli, I'm here.

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Finally, Eli realizes the

Lord is talking to you.

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Go lie down and listen

to what he has to say.

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It's likely Samuel was a teenager

here because the word boy used

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is the same word scripture uses.

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About David when he defeats Goliath.

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I think that's a good thing because the

message God gives him to deliver to Eli

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is that Eli's sons are going to die and

on the same day for their wickedness,

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and that God will punish Eli by cutting

off his line because Eli did not restrain

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the sinfulness of his sons, chapter

two told us that Eli strongly rebuked

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their behavior, but it wasn't enough.

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God is holding him and us

accountable to guide our children

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in making better choices.

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And to do that, we need prayer.

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Heavenly Father, we thank you for your

sovereignty and your goodness displayed in

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the way that you answered Hannah's prayer

I pray for all of the women listening

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that are struggling with infertility

because it is one of our greatest honors

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and desires on this earth to be mothers.

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The pain of infertility

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can be one of our most piercing pains.

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I pray for wisdom and healing

and blessing for the bodies that

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are struggling to bear children.

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Lord, would you hear the ache of

their hearts and bless them today?

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And when you do may we be faithful

to point all of our children to

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you, raising them in the fear

and the instruction of the Lord.

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Where you are calling us to lovingly

point out sin in our children's lives,

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please help us to do so and be consistent.

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Teaching them how dangerous sin is, and

just as Samuel grew in wisdom and stature

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and favor with you and with man, we

ask for physical, mental, and relational

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growth for our kids as well, that they

would respond righteously and honorably

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in the church and in the world because

their hearts are pure before you.

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Thank you, Jesus, that

you modeled that as well.

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It's in your name we pray.

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Amen.