"WHAT A GODLY MOTHER DOES!"
Written and preached by David P. Nolte



1 SAMUEL 1:9-23

Mother's day. That special day when we focus upon appreciating the highest calling of women, motherhood. This is the day when we honor those upon whom that privilege has been bestowed. It is always God's will that we honor our mothers, even when we have flown the coop and no longer reside under her authority. I am sure that each of you who are mothers wants to be the best mother you can be. You want to be a mother who is honored because you deserve to be honored. Let's look to Hannah, the mother of Samuel, to see a mother who deserves to be honored; she is a model of what a Godly mother does. Whether or not you are a mother, the principles she demonstrates apply to us all. What does a Godly mother do?
  1. SHE DEDICATES HER CHILDREN TO THE LORD:
    1. "If You will heal my barrenness, if You will grant me a son, I will give him back to You." Man! When you stop to think of what she meant, that's a hard prayer to understand. It would be an even harder prayer to pray. She was literally going to devote her child to God. She would take him to the Tabernacle and leave him there under the guidance and care of Eli.
    2. I am not suggesting that any of you have to do that. But every parent ought to dedicate their children to the Lord. It ought to be every mother's passionate desire to see their children belong to Jesus.
      1. That means consciously and conscientiously introducing them to Jesus Christ early in life.
      2. That means, further, helping them grow to know, to choose, and to obey Him in their own lives.
      3. That means, also, helping them seek God's plan, not our own ambition. I mean, grooming them to seek what God wants for them, not just grooming them to be a lawyer or doctor or something else that we want for them. How about grooming your children for ministry? How about aiming them at Bible College?
      4. We call them "our children" but they are really only on loan from God. Ultimately they are not our own, but belong to God. We are but caretakers of God's blessings. If we can only remember that they are gifts from God we will want to dedicate them to Him for His service. They belong to Him. They are His, but we are responsible for teaching them right from wrong. We are responsible for helping them find meaning and purpose in this life as well as being responsible for helping them find the way to eternal life. We are responsible for raising our children for Christ.
    3. Perhaps you are not a mother and never will be. But besides children, there are other things we ought to dedicate to the Lord:
      1. Our time, talent and treasure.
      2. Our marriage and other relationships.
      3. Our leisure.
      4. Our wills, our plans, our goals, our aims.
    4. A little girl, Betsy, 9 years old, becomes a prime example. One day she heard a missionary call for help with toys for a mission in India. He asked if the children would consider giving one good toy so some other little boy or girl would have something to play with. The little girl had always been taught not to be selfish so she wanted to give something. She thought and prayed. Then it came to her. She'd give her favorite doll - her pretend baby. On the next Sunday, a box was provided for the toys and she put her baby in the box, with a fond goodbye kiss. Her mother noticed this and said, "Betsy, that's your favorite doll. Are you sure you want to give it away?" Betsy said, "Oh, yes, momma! She helped me be happy, and I want to give her to some other little girl to make her happy, too. Besides, the missionary said that if we give something, we are really giving it to Jesus." She, in that sense, dedicated her "child" to the Lord.

No, you may not be a mother; you may have no children to dedicate to the Lord. But each of us can dedicate ourselves to Him for His use and service. Hannah demonstrated dedicating her child to the Lord. Godly mothers do that. But what else does a Godly mother do?

  1. SHE POURS OUT HER HEART IN FERVENT PRAYER:
    1. Hannah prayed out of the sorrow of her barrenness. But she directed her heart Godward knowing that if there was help, He was the source of it.
    2. How often have you been on your knees for you children?
      1. Have you prayed for them when they are in moral danger?
      2. Have you prayed for them when they seem to be going wrong?
      3. Have you prayed for them when they are struggling with life and seem to have a hard time coping?
      4. Have you prayed for them when their bodies are changing and they are moving from childhood to adolescence?
      5. Have you prayed for them that they find God's purpose and calling for their lives?
      6. Have you prayed for the children and young people of this congregation?
    3. How often do you pray for your children? Often we only pray for them in a moment of crisis. But we should pray for them daily, whatever is going on in their lives.
    4. Susannah Wesley spent one hour each day praying for her 19 children. In addition, she took each child aside for a full hour every week to discuss spiritual matters. No wonder two of her sons, Charles and John, became mighty men of God.

Mother or not, each of us needs to be a person of fervent prayer, pouring out our hearts to Him daily. A Godly mother does that. But she does something else, too.

  1. SHE KEEPS HER VOWS TO GOD:
    1. Sure enough; no second thoughts for Hannah. She didn't renege; she didn't back out. Hannah kept her vow.
    2. God delights in those who keep their commitments:
      1. Marital commitments are sacred; hold to them.
      2. Since a vow is voluntary, and you make it of your free will, your word ought to be your bond, your promise your contract.
      3. God said, "So when you make a promise to God, don't delay in following through, for God takes no pleasure in fools. Keep all the promises you make to Him. It is better to say nothing than to promise something that you don't follow through on. In such cases, your mouth is making you sin." Ecclesiastes 5:4-6a (NLT).
    3. If you have dedicated you children to God, are you faithful in bringing that promise to fruition? And are you faithful in all your other commitments?
    4. The story of a young courier demonstrates the attitude of keeping your vows. The Athenian Army was outnumbered 4 to 1 but they launched a surprise offensive and by day's end, 6,400 Persian lay dead while only 192 Athenians had been killed. The surviving Persians fled to sea and headed south to Athens where they hoped to attack the city before the Greek Army could re-assemble there. Phidippides was called upon to run to Athens (26 miles away) to carry the news of the victory and the warning about the approaching Persian ships. Despite his fatigue from fighting all morning in heavy armor, Phidippides rose to the challenge. Pushing himself past normal limits of human endurance, the reached Athens in perhaps 3 hours, delivered his message and then died shortly thereafter from exhaustion. But he had kept his vow. Do or die! Keep the charge! Fulfill your vow.

Today, I challenge you to make a commitment of your life and all you have to Christ. I challenge you to become a person of sincere prayer. I challenge you to keep your commitments to God. We make countless commitments, but none of them are as crucial and significant as those we make to Christ. Other commitments end when we die. The commitment we make to Christ lasts for eternity. One of the great hymns of the church calls us to do just that. It calls us to surrender all we have and are. Let's make that commitment; let's prayerfully pursue it; and let's keep our vow to God.

Wesley from SermonCentral.com/Phidippides from The Marathon Story The Battle that Changed Human History By Paul Ostapuk located online

Return To Mother's Day Sermons

Return To Old Testament Sermons

Return To Archive

Return To Home Page