#74. 1 Samuel 4-8 | It's Not You They've Rejected, It's Me

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This is a dwelling place, and I'm Stephanie Cock

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from Entrusted Ministries.

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We believe that the word of God

not only has the power to transform

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us into the moms we wanna be,

it has the wisdom to guide us in

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our daily lives and in our homes.

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In the last episode, as we began the

book of First Samuel, it was highly

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evident that our parenting matters.

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Today we're moving forward with

chapters four through eight.

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It's a lot to cover, but as always,

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so much applies where we are.

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And chapter four, Israel

is battling against the

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Philistines, but they're losing.

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So without consulting the Lord or Samuel,

they go and get the arc of the covenant.

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Eli's disobedient sons Hni

and Phineas come with it.

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If you recall, God warned that

they were going to die on the

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same day for their disobedience,

and that's exactly what happens.

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Although the people sought to use the

Ark of the Covenant as a good luck

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char battle, the Lord made it known

that he will not be manipulated.

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The arc represented his presence.

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But they couldn't use it

to sway his sovereignty.

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He still determined who won and who lost.

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Not only does God ordained for

Israel to lose the battle, he

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actually allows the Philistines to

capture the arc of the covenant.

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Aite runs 20 miles from

the battle straight to Eli.

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At this point, Eli is old and

struggling with his eyesight.

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He hears the news that his two sons have

been killed, but it's at the point that he

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learns, the arc has been captured, that he

falls over, breaking his neck and dying.

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This reveals that he cared more

about the Lord than his sons

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that were so wayward, and that's

certainly a good question for us.

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Are we more loyal to Jesus

Christ or to our children?

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And if our children actively

walk in rebellion would we

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respect the judgment of the Lord?

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Of course, it's something we'll pray

against in their lives, but we can be

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thankful that we have a God that longs

for all to come to repentance in him.

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And more often he's asking us to

partner with him, to minister to our

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kids rather than to make that choice.

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Still, we want Christ to

be first in our hearts.

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Once the Philistines have the arc, it's

too humorous for us to not stop and enjoy.

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Speaker 11: Let's start at

chapter five, verse two.

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Then the Philistines took the arc

of God and brought it into the house

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of Dagon and set it up beside Dagon.

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And when the people of Ashdod rose

early the next day, behold Dagon

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had fallen face downward on the

ground before the ark of the Lord.

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So they took Dagon and put him back in

his place, but when they rose early on

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the next morning, behold Dagon had fallen

face downward on the ground before the

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arc of the Lord and the head of Dagon.

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And both his hands were lying

cut off on the threshold.

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Only the trunk of Dagon was left to him.

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God powerfully defeated this fake

Philistine God who was the chief deity

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of the Philistine, Pantheon of Gods.

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He had the head of a fish and the body

of a man, and when they came back the

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next day, their God was bowing down

to Yahweh, the God of the Israelites.

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They stood him back up.

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Not quite getting the point, but

the next day, not only are his

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hands cut off, but his head as well.

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This was a gruesome but

common practice in battle.

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That was what happened

after enemies were defeated.

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The Lord is revealing.

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This guy has gotten nothing on me.

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And then wherever the Philistines take

the arc, it brings chaos to the people.

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Young and old were afflicted and tumors

were breaking out on their bodies.

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They weren't sure what to

do, so they consulted some.

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occultic priests.

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Their recommendation was, put it on a

cart, and then let's let some cows that

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have never been trained to carry a yoke

and we'll let them set off on their way.

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But not only did they choose

untrained cows, they actually

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pick cows that are nursing.

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They're young.

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They say if they leave

intentionally, we'll know it's

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the hand of the Lord guiding them.

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And they knew this for two reasons.

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Cows need to be trained to walk

in unity with a yolk and a cow

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that's nursing her young would

never choose to leave her calf.

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If both of these things are

fulfilled, they can tell it's the

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sovereignty of God incredibly.

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These cows carry the arc 15 miles

on a direct path to Beth Shemesh

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Clearly.

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The Lord was guiding them.

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Unfortunately, the people there

open the ark and look inside not

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having the reverence they should.

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Scripture says that the

Lord struck down 70 of them.

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Some texts say 50,070, but it's

quite agreed upon among scholars

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that that was a copying error.

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made at one point, and that 70 makes

much more sense because this was a small

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town in my Bible that's corrected, but

you can check what it says in yours.

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In one Samuel chapter six, verse 19,

Samuel again encourages the people

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and in seven three says, if you are

returning to the Lord with all your

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heart, then put away the foreign

gods and the terro from among you

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and direct your heart to the Lord and

serve him only, and he will deliver

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you out of the hand of the Philistines.

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So the people of Israel put away the Baals

and the A, and they serve the Lord only.

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They gather at mpa, he prays for them,

and then they draw out water and pour it

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before the Lord representing their sin

and their repentance The Philistines come

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to attack, but God's voice alone throws

them into confusion and defeats them.

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Samuel sets up a stone to remember

God being victorious in this place.

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which had become a common

practice by this point.

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but it's unfortunate and even

heartbreaking at moments.

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What we read in chapter eight

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when Samuel became old, he made

his sons judges over Israel.

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The name of his firstborn son was

Joel and the name of his second Aja.

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They were judges in Beersheba.

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Yet his sons did not walk in his ways,

but turned aside after gain, they

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took bribes and perverted justice.

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Then all the elders of Israel gathered

together and came to Samuel at Rama

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and said to him, behold, you are old

and your sons do not walk in your ways.

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Now will point for us, a king to

judge us like all the nations.

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But the thing displeased Samuel, when

they said, give us a king to judge us.

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And Samuel prayed to the Lord and the

Lord said to Samuel, Obey the voice of

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the people in all that they say to you.

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For they have not rejected

you, but they have rejected

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me from being king over them.

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According to all the deeds that they

have done from the day I brought them

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up out of Egypt, even to this day,

forsaking me and serving other gods.

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So they are also doing to you

now, then obey their voice.

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Only you shall solemnly warn them

and show them the ways of the

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king who shall reign over them.

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So Samuel told all the words

of the Lord to the people who

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were asking for a king from him.

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He said, these will be the ways of

the king who will reign over you.

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He will take your sons and appoint

them to his chariots and to be his

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horsemen and to run before his chariots.

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And he will appoint for himself commanders

of thousands and commanders of fifties

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and sum to plow his ground into reap his

harvest and to make his implements of

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war and the equipment of his chariots.

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He will take your daughters to be

perfumers and cooks and bakers.

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He will take the best of your fields

and vineyards and olive orchards

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and give them to his servants.

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He will take the 10th of your grain

and of your vineyards and give it

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to his officers and to his servants.

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He will take your male servants and female

servants, and the best of your young men

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and your donkeys and put them to his work.

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He will take the 10th of your flocks and

you shall be his slaves, and in that day,

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you will cry out because of your king.

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Whom you have chosen for yourselves, but

the Lord will not answer you in that day.

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But the people refuse to obey the

voice of Samuel, and they said, no,

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but there shall be a king over us.

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That we also may be like all the nations,

and that our king may judge us and go

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out before us and fight our battles.

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And when Samuel had heard

all the words of the people.

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He repeated them in the ears of the

Lord and the Lord said to Samuel,

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obey their voice and make them a king.

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Samuel had the opportunity to watch

Eli's sons rebel against the Lord, and

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then to see them be punished for it.

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It's so surprising to me that

his sons also rebel and that he

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elevates them and appoints them as

judges when God didn't ask him to.

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It's clear that us following the

Lord alone is not a guarantee

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for our kids to walk with him.

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Every person must choose for

themselves if they will follow Christ,

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but there is much that we

can do to point them to him.

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It hurts my heart to read that

the people were rejecting God.

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And unfortunately, it's something

that's happened throughout

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scripture and throughout time.

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One Peter two tells us that Jesus,

though he was chosen and precious

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to God, was rejected by men.

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And that the stone that the builders

rejected became the cornerstone, a stone

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of stumbling, and a rock of offense.

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Ironically, though our God is

one that wants to welcome all in.

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Everyone who rejects his son will

one day be rejected from being

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in his presence for eternity.

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You may not be asking for a king to rule

over you as Israel did, but if we're

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honest, their motivation is convicting.

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They wanted to have what

everyone around them had.

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I can remember reading this passage when

I was 20 and there was the dreamiest guy.

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I was attempting to surrender

my heart before the Lord.

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And as difficult as it was, I remember

praying, Lord, I don't wanna ask for

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something that you don't have for me.

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I don't wanna be like

Israel asking for a king.

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I wanted God to say yes.

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but I asked for him to help

me to want his will more.

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And It's something I have to

do over and over as it seems.

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God has given me so much, but sometimes

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Speaker 8: I struggle to be content

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Speaker 11: without that thing

that I see others enjoying.

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If you feel that tension as

well, you can pray with me.

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Heavenly Father, as we watch the examples

of Eli, Samuel and Hannah, we pray that we

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would be parents that long for your glory.

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And your will and that you would be

first and foremost in our hearts.

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I pray you would give us a pure love for

our kids and that our greatest desire

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for them would be to follow after you.

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And Lord, if at any point they become

too important, would you gently warn

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our hearts, whether it's putting all

of their needs above being in your

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word, or being too focused on their

earthly accomplishments, over their

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eternal inheritance, help us to have the

right perspective of what matters most.

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And we also come before you trying to

be surrendered with your will for our

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lives, when often there are things

that you've chosen to withhold from

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us that we need to be content without.

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I pray we would seek you and allow

you to sit on the throne of our lives

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joyfully submitting to where you lead.

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You are a good king, and we

pray we will live accordingly.

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In Jesus' name we pray.

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Amen.