Chapter One
A Mother''s Heart ... or That Monster-Mother Thing
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Hannah answered and said, "No, my lord, I am a woman oppressed in spirit ... I have poured out my soul before the Lord ... I have spoken until now out of my great concern and provocation." 1 Samuel 1:15-16
I couldn''t believe what I was hearing. "We''ve done all we can do foryour son." The doctor''s words played over and over in my mind.Justin was supposed to start first grade today, not be in seriouscondition in the hospital....
I got off the phone with our twenty-year-old, knelt by my bed, and wept.Alison had been discouraged for weeks, couldn''t sleep, and felt totallyunsupported in her new location. "I feel so alone. I can''t connect withanyone here ..." Her voice broke, and all I heard was her crying. Yet she wassix hours away-too far to hug or comfort-and my heart ached for her....
When our son Chris signed up for the Eastern Religion class at the university,I wasn''t surprised. Chris had always been a seeker, but he wasn''tseeking in campus Bible study groups ... not now at least. What "truths"would he be hearing? What if he turned his back on his faith? ...
Your fragile child is seriously ill-again.
Your shy, tender-hearted daughter is away from home-adrift and allalone.
Your bright, inquisitive son is learning to think for himself-butlooking for guidance in all kinds of places.
Sound familiar? Has your heart ever ached so strongly for your childthat you seriously wondered if it might rip apart? As moms, no matter whatstage of mothering we''re in-experiencing the delight and fear of beingresponsible for that first, fresh-from-heaven newborn, or wanderingaround in our empty nests-we are concerned for our children. We holdthem when they''re sick, ache when they''re lonely and lack friends, worrywhen they struggle in school and even more so when they rebel and makebad choices. We want to protect and nurture and guide these children weliterally carried for nine months.
A recent movie reminded me of how strong this mother love is. In SafePassage a mother of seven boys is watching her fourteen-year-old, Percy, playin a school football game. Decked out in his green and white uniform, Percyclutches the football and races toward the goal line. Just as his mom yellsfrom the bleachers, "Look out!" Percy is crushed by a huge linebacker on theopposing team. Knocked unconscious, the boy lies motionless on the field.
Instantly, Percy''s mother is on the field with the coach, trainer, andplayers. She scoops her teenager up in her arms and frantically carries himinto the field house as the coach yells, "Wait a minute, Mrs. Singer! We''llget a stretcher!"
Moments later when the doctor brings him to with smelling salts, heasks Percy, "What''s your name?"
"Percival Singer," he answers.
"Who is this?" the doctor asks.
Surprised to see his mom in the field house, "My mother," heresponds.
"She''s a pretty strong lady. She carried you all the way off the fieldherself," the doctor continues.
"She what! In front of the guys? ... like a baby?" Percy asks, shocked andhumiliated. He then turns to his mother. "How could you?" he asks. "Whydidn''t you just leave me there?"
"I''m sorry, I just couldn''t help it," she answers. "When a womanbecomes a mother, there''s this little part of her, this monster-mother thing,that grows and grows, like the things in your cereal box that grow to threehundred times their size. When a woman becomes a mother, it just rulesher life-this monster-mother, three-hundred-times bigger part. I saw youlying there. I was scared. I wanted to get you to help. And I couldn''t hearor see anything else!"
Her answer is one most of us moms can readily identify with. This"monster-mother thing," this mother-bear instinct, begins emerging thefirst day we become a mother, and absolutely takes over when one of ourkids is hurting or needs help. In truth, this powerful mother heart is a giftfrom a loving God who knows children need lots of love and nurture.
But with powerful mother love comes a world of other, equallypowerful emotions engendered by our own flesh and blood-fear, worry,frustration, anxiety, joy, delight, guilt. "Our children bring about intenseemotions in our hearts," says Fern Nichols, founder and president ofMoms In Touch. "When they are responsive to us and to the Lord it bringsjoy, peace, harmony-we''re on a roll. But when they are not responsive tous and they are not responsive to the Lord, it brings turmoil and anxiety.We feel hurt, betrayed, and excluded."
No matter which stage of the mothering process you''re in right now,no matter on which end of the emotional spectrum you find yourself, thequestion is the same for you and me, for all of us. How do we handle this"monster-mother thing"?
God''s Answer to the "Monster-Mother Thing"
Throughout the Bible God tells us what to do when we are anxious,worried, or distressed, whether it''s about our children or any other issue oflife. He says:
"Call to Me, and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mightythings which you do not know" (Jeremiah 33:3).
"Let him have all your worries and cares, for he is always thinkingabout you and watching everything that concerns you" (1 Peter 5:7, TLB).
"Gather together and pray ... while there still is time" (Zephaniah2:1-2, TLB).
"Arise, cry aloud in the night.... Pour out your heart like water beforethe presence of the Lord; lift up your hands to Him for the life of your littleones" (Lamentations 2:19).
Let''s look at a mother who did just that, for her prayer is not only thefirst recorded prayer in the Bible by a woman but a pattern of effectiveprayer I''ll be sharing throughout this book.
Like Mrs. Singer, Hannah was greatly distressed, but over a differentmatter. She deeply desired a child and had been unable to conceive. Tomake matters worse, her husband''s other wife, Peninnah, had borne himseveral children, and she taunted Hannah for her barrenness, making herpain even greater.
Elkanah, Hannah''s husband, loved her, but he couldn''t understand heragony. "Hannah, why do you weep and why do you not eat and why isyour heart sad?" he asked. "Am I not better to you than ten sons?"Husbands, even loving ones, sometimes don''t understand a woman''s heart,but God does.
So Hannah went to the temple and poured out her request to God,making a vow that if He would give her a son, she would dedicate him tothe Lord all the days of his life. In her great distress, she "prayed to the Lordand wept bitterly." Her groanings were so deep in her heart that her lipsmoved, but no words came out. Seeing her, the priest Eli accused her ofbeing drunk. Hannah''s answer to Eli was, "No, my lord, I am a womanoppressed in spirit; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink but I havepoured out my soul before the Lord." Eli then gave her his blessing andasked the Lord to grant her request. Hannah left the temple, no longerburdened and sad, and the next morning she rose up and worshiped God.
The Lord heard Hannah''s prayer and granted her petition. In time,Samuel was born to Elkanah and Hannah, and Hannah nurtured himuntil he was weaned. Then the time came for her to fulfill her vow and takehim to the temple to live and serve God. He was probably no more thanthree years old. How difficult it must have been for her to let go of herbeloved firstborn son, the one she''d prayed and wept for! But as she hadtrusted God to answer her prayer, so she trusted Samuel into Eli''s handsand God''s safekeeping, dedicating him to the Lord''s service in the temple.
Despite it being God''s temple, this was no godly environment. Theleadership was weak, and Eli''s sons were evil and worthless; "they did notknow the Lord." Sin abounded. Yet Hannah left Samuel there for Eli totrain.
Each year Hannah stitched little Samuel a robe and took it to him atthe temple. I can just see her hemming him in prayer and love, every stitcha prayer-for God''s protection and His favor, and for His glory andpurpose to be accomplished through her son''s life.
What were the results of Hannah''s bringing her need to God in prayerand trusting her child to Him? Her sorrow turned to joy. Freedom andblessing abounded. As she dedicated Samuel to God, her heart sang a songof praise which begins with "My heart exults in the Lord." Later Godblessed her with three more sons and two daughters. Samuel grew beforethe Lord, becoming God''s chosen spokesperson in a time in history whenwords and visions from God were rare. God''s power and sovereigntyprotected her son, and God used him in a great way to fulfill His plan. As1 Samuel 3:19 says: "Samuel grew and the Lord was with him and letnone of his words fail."
The Power of Prayer
Although we may have a hard time imagining relinquishing our childrento God''s service at age three as Hannah did, we can learn much from thiswoman and her prayers. Like Hannah, we can''t put our children in aprotective bubble until they get through childhood and adolescence. Wecan''t control all the forces that try to undo our careful training and nurture.We can''t always pick them up, kiss the hurt, and make everything better,especially when they get big enough to be on the playing field. But we canfollow Hannah''s example by scooping them up and carrying them to Jesus,who loves our children more than we ever could.
God has given us the same powerful resource to bring all our concernsabout our children to Him-the power of prayer. When the love of amother for her child is connected with God''s power through prayer, anirresistible force is released that changes people (including us!), situations,schools, and even communities. Our prayers make a highway for God tocome and bring His salvation and intervention. In this book you''ll readstories of modern-day Hannahs, women in distress, mothers like you wholove their children and whose greatest desire is to call forth God''s best fortheir children-and whose prayers are laying the tracks for God''s power tocome.
The stories cover the span and seasons of a mother''s life-from caringfor that totally dependent baby, to walking with children through theschool years, to being a mom of a college kid (where did the time go?), andeven to being a grandmother. These true stories of prayers offered andprayers answered show what a mighty influence our prayers can exert.They will refuel you, encourage you to persevere, and offer hope as we seeover and over that when mothers pray, mountains move. The mountainmay be a learning problem, drugs or alcohol, a difficult relationship,rebellion, or a medical crisis. No matter. When mothers pray, school andteachers change, prodigals come home, and sometimes the stirrings ofrevival are seen. And when we pray for our children, we are also changed.We learn to let go with grace, our anxiety and heaviness are lifted, peacereturns. We see God acting among us. We see His faithfulness.
Our Problems with Prayer
Does that sound too good to be true? Is your desire to pray tinged with abit of guilt, some doubt, some anxiety? Perhaps you feel like many othermothers I''ve interviewed. Maybe you''ve even asked some of the samequestions they did:
"With my busy schedule-caring for kids, running a household, working in and outside the home, caring for an aging parent, and everything else-how can I find time to really pray?"
"What do you do when you don''t see any results from your prayers? I''ve prayed for years for my children, but I don''t see any change."
"With all the distractions, how can I keep my thoughts from wandering? Is God really going to listen to me when I have trouble giving Him my undivided attention?"
"I hear others talk about having a quiet time, but with children at home, my schedule is never the same two days in a row. What can I do to be consistent in prayer?"
"How can I pray more effectively for my child?"
Being a Martha at heart who juggles several plates at one time, I canrelate to these questions. So besides sharing my own struggles and journeysin prayer, I''ll share practical suggestions in each chapter to enrich ourprayer lives. There are ideas for both Marthas and Marys, for those of uswho are busy and easily distracted and for those who find it natural to bestill, to know that He is God and sit at His feet.
Some of the stories you''ll read have a wonderful resolution, but othersare in process-with the "rest of the story" of God''s working in situationsand lives still to be seen as we persevere in prayer. Although many areaccounts of answered prayer, in no way am I suggesting that prayer is amagic formula for getting our hearts'' desire. Much about prayer and howGod works is a mystery, but this we know: God invites us to pray. He hearsus and blesses us when we pray. He gives us His Word to equip us andguide us in how to pray and what to pray about, and He promises a specialeffectiveness in praying in agreement with others.
Prayer isn''t a secondary thing; it''s the most important thing we can dofor our children and ourselves, and it will dispense the most blessings. If allthat we do as mothers flows out of the fountain of prayer, we will experiencegrace, joy, and rest in the heart of the Father. It doesn''t mean we won''thave difficulties, but we will be able to face them with more energy andconfidence.
My Prayer for You
My prayer is that the Lord will use this book to encourage you, to enrichyour prayer life, and to fill you with hope. May it help you know that justas God met mothers in Bible times like Hannah, as He has heard theprayers of mothers throughout history and across continents, so He islistening to you, desiring to show you His love and power as you come tothe throne of grace and call on Him.
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Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13
Continues...
Excerpted from Cuando las Madres Oran / When Mothers Prayby Cheri Fuller Copyright © 2004 by Cheri Fuller. Excerpted by permission.
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