The Value of a Praying Mother | Page 2

She dwelt in Ramah of Palestine. Her lonely
home nestled among the lonely hills. She loved to commune with the
Lord, for deep in her bosom she carried a sorrow that only he could
help her to bear. Her home lacked that sweet sunlight which innocent
childhood brings. She longed and prayed for a little life to guide and
direct in the ways of the Lord.
Once every year she went with her husband to Shiloh, where sacrifices
were offered, and there publicly worshiped the Lord. When at the house
of the Lord one day, she prayed long and earnestly that God would

grant the desire of her heart. "O Lord of hosts," she prayed, "if thou
wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me,
and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man
child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and
there shall no razor come upon his head."
A scene like this must have been rare even to the priest of God; for he
mistook this sad woman for one drunken with wine. She begged him
not to look upon her as such. When the man of God saw by her modest,
earnest words that she was not drunken as he had supposed, he changed
his reproof into a blessing. "Go in peace," he said, "and the God of
Israel grant thy petition that thou hast asked of him." With perfect
confidence that God had heard and answered prayer, the woman arose
and returned with her husband to their home in Ramah.
The next year she did not go up to Shiloh; for God had granted her
petition and had given her a little son. Her husband was willing for her
to remain at home, but he cautioned her not to forget her promise to the
Lord. He feared, perhaps, that the mother might become so attached to
her child that she would be unwilling to part with him as she had
promised. His warning was unnecessary.
As soon as Samuel (for this is what the mother named her son) was old
enough to be useful, she took him to the house of God and presented
him to the Lord. It must have sounded to the aged priest (who soon
would have to cease his work upon earth) like a voice from heaven,
when the happy mother, pointing to her child, said: "For this child I
prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him:
therefore also I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he liveth he shall
be lent to the Lord."
Again the mother prays; this time not in sorrow, but from a heart filled
with thanksgiving. She feels no regret because of her vow. Her child
became a great blessing to many people, and the Lord gave her other
sons and daughters to cheer her heart.
By reading the story we find that "the child Samuel grew and was in
favor both with the Lord and also with men." Why was this? In answer

to his devoted mother's prayer, the Holy Spirit hovered over that child,
shielding him from the cruel darts and arrows of the enemy. He had
been taught the ways of the Lord from his cradle and his life was fully
consecrated to God.
A different scene comes before me now--a scene that brings a shudder.
Upon a ship sailing along the shores of France were a man and his wife
on their way to join a band of villainous people in India. Being on a
secret mission, they traveled slowly and carefully. It was a tedious and
dangerous journey. One stormy day, on the Bay of Biscay, a child was
born to them.
No loving welcome from the lips of a prayerful parent awaited this
poor little innocent child; instead, curses were his portion, and, by the
order of his mother, he was cast aside in a pile of rubbish to die. By
chance the father passed that way and, finding his child's poor little
perishing form, picked it up, took it to his wife, and commanded her to
see that it was cared for.
As the child grew and developed in this atmosphere of sin and
degradation, is it strange that he partook of his parents' nature and
developed even worse habits than they? Unless the proper home
influence is thrown around a child, he can not help suffering from the
inherited sins of his parents.
When this child became a man, he knew nothing of virtue and honesty.
His life was enveloped in a shroud of darkest crimes. Leaving India, he
went to Europe and from there sailed to America. Each year found him
better acquainted with