How to Raise Godly Children | Part 2

We'll be right back.

We'll be right back. After much prayer, God gave Hannah a son named Samuel, who was considered one of the greatest prophets of the Old Testament. If you have your Bible, turn to 1 Samuel, Chapter 1, as Adrian Rogers reveals five powerful principles on how to raise godly children. What we learn from Hannah in this passage of Scripture we're going to look at are what I want to call five powerful principles for raising godly children. If you're a mom or a dad or want to be a mom or a dad, I want you to tune in to what Hannah did because what happened to Hannah and what Hannah did is a great idea and a great instruction for us today. First of all, the first of these principles is what I want to call the principle and the power of proper priority.

The principle of a proper priority. Now look, if you will, here in 1 Samuel, Chapter 1, and you're going to find out that in verse 2 it says that Hannah had no children. And then look, if you will, in verse 10. And she was in bitterness of soul and prayed unto the Lord and wept sore. Now why was she so heartbroken? Why was she so bitter?

Why was she so broken? Because she wanted a baby. She wanted God to bless her with a child.

Why was this? Because Hannah had a God-given instinct to be a mother. Did you know that is an instinct from God and that children are a blessing from God? So the very first thing in rearing Godly children is the principle of a proper priority.

She wanted children. Secondly, there is the principle and the power of prayer. Of prayer, not only of priority, but of prayer. Now look again in verse 10. And she was in bitterness of soul and she prayed unto the Lord. She prayed unto the Lord. Now here's a principle.

Listen to it. The time to begin to raise Godly children is before they're born and even before they're conceived. Before they're born and even before they're conceived, you should begin to pray for your children. Have you thought how the world has been blessed by these babies who came and answered a prayer?

Now let me just turn that around. Have we thought about why doesn't God send a cure for cancer? Or why doesn't God give us an answer to the AIDS epidemic? Or why doesn't God do something to help the nations to live together? Why doesn't God raise up a statesman? Why doesn't God raise up a leader?

Who is the person who's going to take Billy Graham's place? Where are these people? Why aren't they surfacing? Have you ever thought that maybe we've already killed them in the mother's womb? Have you ever thought about that? Maybe there was a little child that had the answer to cancer, but we killed that child. Maybe there was someone who would have been a mighty deliverer and we destroyed that child.

Thank God for the babies that were born in answer to prayer and thank God for the babies that were preserved in their mother's womb. What is the first principle? It is the principle of priority.

Children are a blessing of the Lord. What is the second principle? It is the principle of prayer. You begin to raise godly children even before they're conceived. And before they're born, you begin to pray for these children. Now what is the third principle?

It, my friend, is the principle and the power of purpose. Look in verse 11, and she vowed a vow and said, O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid and remember me and not forget thine handmaid, but will give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life. She said, Lord, if you will give me a child, I will give him back to you. What was her purpose in prayer? Why did she want a child? That her child would glorify the Lord. That's what she wanted. She said, God, if the child is a gift from you, then I'm a steward of that gift, and therefore I must give this child back to you.

Now that is one of the principles in having godly children, is to see your child as a gift from God, and because your child is a gift from God, you give that child back to God. So what are the principles? Priority. Prayer. Purpose. And now here's a big one. Persistence.

Persistence. Verse 12, and it came to pass as she continued praying before the Lord, that Eli marked, that is, he noticed her mouth, and now Hannah, she spake in her heart, only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard, therefore Eli thought that she had been drunken, and Eli said unto her, how long wilt thou be drunken? Put away thy wine from thee, and Hannah answered and said, no, my Lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord.

Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial, for of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto. And Eli answered and said, go in peace, and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast desired of him. That is, the prophet of God said to Hannah, Hannah, because you have persisted in prayer, God has heard your prayer. She knew how to get hold of God and not let God go. I've seen Joyce pray our children through so many heartaches, so many tears, so many difficulties, so many problems. I've watched her as she has persisted in prayer and refused to let Satan have his way in the hearts and lives of our children. Here's a principle.

Listen to it. Never waver in your prayer, no matter how dark the circumstances. Never waver.

There is the principle of persistence. Just keep on keeping on. They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. Psalm 27, verse 14, wait on the Lord. Be of good courage. Parents, there will be times when you will think that you have failed. There were times when I thought, we're just not going to make it.

We are not going to make it. Raising children, especially back in the 60s, was like riding a bucking bronco, and all of the world and the flesh and the devil was pulling at them. But we continued to love and continued to pray. Oh, friend, there is the power of persistence. And if you're a mom or dad here and you've got a wayward teenager or rebellious child, keep praying. Keep praying.

Keep on praying. And she prayed and did not quit praying until God gave her a child. You say, well, pastor, if I don't have a baby and I want a baby and I pray like Hannah prayed and I just won't quit praying, will God give me a baby? Not necessarily.

Not necessarily. That may not be God's plan for you. But it was God's plan for Hannah. If you persist in prayer, God will show you His will, and prayer will enable God's will to be done in your heart and in your life. But if God gives you children, then you must persist in prayer for those children and you never, never cease praying for your children.

We never get beyond praying for our children. Now, here's the fifth principle. Remember what they are. First of all, there's priority. And then there's prayer.

Then there's purpose. And then there's persistence. And then here's the fifth one, and it's the power of persuasion.

The power of persuasion. What a great, great influence a mother has on a child. A father has influence on a child, but he does not have influence like a mother.

A mother makes the deepest impression on a child and specially during the early days. I remember reading about Timothy in the New Testament. In 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 5, the apostle Paul said, When I called remembrance, the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois and thy mother Eunice, and I am persuaded in thee also. So, why did Timothy love the Lord?

Because of his grandmama and his mama. Now, I think I have an influence on my children. You say, pastor, the sermons you've preached, that's what's influenced your kids the most, isn't it?

No. I hate to say that. It's a bitter pill. But no, no, not the sermons I've preached. I hope they've enjoyed my messages. I hope they have remembered one or two things I may have said over these low many years and thousands of sermons they've had to endure, poor things. But that's not what has influenced the children. You know, the thing that has influenced our children is the life they've seen Joyce and I live in our home. That's what's influenced our children. Not the sermons I've preached from this pulpit. As a matter of fact, the sermons I've preached from this pulpit would have a reverse effect on our kids if they weren't seeing it lived at home.

It would turn them off. And I want to say something else. It's not primarily my influence. It's Joyce's influence.

I've watched. I just stand back in awe. I have seen our children come to her in times of need. I wonder, why don't they come to me?

I know so much more than everybody. Why don't they come to me? They don't come to me.

They go to her. As a matter of fact, I was reading a statistic. About 23% of the boys said if they had a problem, they would go to their father. And 77% said that they would go to their mother.

All the influence of a mother. And you see, look, if you will, in this passage here, the influence of Hannah. Look in verse 21.

And the man Elkanah and all his house went up to offer unto the Lord the yearly sacrifice and his vow. But Hannah went not up, for she said unto her husband, I will not go up until the child be weaned, and then I will bring him that he may appear before the Lord and there abide forever. She said, I'm not going to leave him. I'm not going to let somebody else have these precious years. You can go if you want. And that's a fine thing for you to go, husband.

But I have a responsibility. I'm a mother. I'm going to train my child. I'm going to be with my child.

And then when he's old enough to travel, then I will bring him to the house of the Lord. Isn't that a wonderful mama? That's the influence that she had.

You go on to read in this story that Hannah was the one who, when Samuel went to stay with the prophet Eli, that Hannah was the one who every year she sewed a special little coat for him and brought it to him. And every stitch was stitched with love. That's the power, the power of a mother's influence. I was thinking as I was getting ready to preach this message about the influence of my own dear mother in my life and how I thank God for her. One of my earliest recollections is to see my mother down on her knees just like this mother.

Used to wonder when I'd walk in the bedroom sometime and there would be mama down on her knees. I cannot tell you the profound influence that had on my own heart. I think of the late, great Dr. Robert G. Lee, the former pastor of this church, would talk about the influence of his mama on his life. And remember when he went away to Panama and came back and his mother made him look her in the eyes and tell her that he had been pure and clean the whole time he was away down there in Panama working. Abraham Lincoln said, All that I am and have and ever hope to be I owe to my angel mother.

I've had the privilege of having some face-to-face time with President George Bush. And sitting in President George Bush's library, he looked in my face and I thought I saw tears come to his eyes when he spoke about his mother and how godly his mother was. And he said, If she's not in heaven, there's no one in heaven. They talked about his godly mother. I think about Augustine, that great father of the faith, one of the church fathers. But what many people don't know about is that Augustine had a mother whose name was Monica. And while Augustine was a wastrel and a profligate, Monica was on her knees praying for her son Augustine to be saved and Augustine was saved as a result of those prayers.

But I'm thinking about another boy. This boy was born to a cruel, a selfish, a domineering mother. She had no real time for him. As a matter of fact, she'd been married three times and the second husband they divorced over this. It was abuse. She was abusing him.

And that's why they got a divorce. This boy's mother said, Don't pester me. Don't bother me. Don't ever call me when I'm at work.

I don't want to be bothered by you. He felt total rejection. He had a good IQ, but he dropped out of high school. He didn't have a trade. He didn't know what to do.

He couldn't even get a driver's license. He went to a foreign country and met a girl there and married her. But after a while, she got tired of him and left him.

He persuaded her to come back. He was a total failure. There was about only one thing he knew how to do. And that was to shoot a rifle. And he got a rifle and went to Dallas, Texas and got up in a book repository and pointed that rifle out the window. And in 1962, he shot Kennedy.

And all the world knew about Lee Harvey Oswald, he finally had some attention, didn't he? It was a mother who rejected him, a mother who forgot him, a mother who had no time for him, a mother who said to this boy, who was a relatively smart boy, don't pester me. What is the weapon that a mother has in her arsenal? What is that weapon, friend? That weapon is the power of her persuasion, her influence.

I thank God for that power. And if you take these five things, if you take that priority, if you take that prayer, that purpose, that persistence, that persuasion, put them together, I believe by the grace of God, you'll raise godly children. Let me close with this parable. A young mother set her feet on the pathway of life. Is the way long, she asked?

And her guide said yes. And the way is hard. And you will be old before you reach the end of it. But the end will be better than the beginning. But the young mother was happy and would not believe that anything could be better than these years. So she played with her children and gathered flowers for them along the way and bathed them in the clear springs. The sun shone on them and life was good. And the young mother cried, nothing could be lovelier than this. Then the night came and the storm came and the path was dark and the children shook with fear and cold. And the mother drew them close and covered them with her mantle.

And the children said, oh, mother, we're not afraid because you're near us and we know that no harm can come to us. And the mother said, this is better than the brightness of the day for I've taught my children courage. And the morning came and there was a hill ahead. And the children climbed and grew weary and the mother was weary too. But all the time she said to the children, a little patience and we're there.

A little patience and we're there. So the children climbed and climbed and when they reached the top they said, mother, we couldn't have done it without you. And when the mother lay down to sleep that night, she said, this day is better than the last for my children have learned fortitude in the face of hardness. Yesterday I gave them courage.

Today I gave them strength. And the next day the strange clouds came, clouds of war and hate and evil. And the children groped and stumbled, but the mother said, look up, lift up your eyes to the light. And the children looked up and saw above the clouds the everlasting glory and it guided them and brought them beyond the darkness.

And that night the mother said, this is the best day of all for I have shown my children God. And the days went on and the years and the mother grew old and she was little and bent, but her children were strong and walked with courage. And when the way was hard they helped their mother and when the way was rough they lifted her for she was light as a feather.

And at last they came to a hill and beyond the hill they could see a shining road and gates flung wide. And the mother said, I have reached the end of my journey and I know that the end is better than the beginning for my children can walk alone and their children after them. And the children said, you will always walk with us, mother, even when you have gone through the gates.

And they stood and watched her as she went on alone and the gates closed after her. And they said, we cannot see her, but she's with us still. A mother like ours is more than a memory.

She is a living presence. If you've had a godly mother, thank God for her. And if you are a mother, would you pray, God, make me a godly mother?

And if you're not yet a mother, but it may be God's plan for you to have children, would you pray, God, put the proper desire in my heart and help me to be one day a godly mother? Father, seal the message I pray to our hearts and thank you, Lord, for the power that you've shown us here in the life of Hannah. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. And we would love to hear how the ministry and the messages of Adrian Rogers have inspired you in your faith journey.

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Remember the principles of priority and purpose. Commit to praying with persistence that you may influence your children for the kingdom. And join us next time for more from Adrienne Rogers right here on Love Worth Finding. A listener shared her poignant story with us recently. Maybe it will inspire you if you're going through something similar. She said, recently this program has given me insight as I've longed to be closer to God.

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