May 14, 2000      A Mother’s Prayer       I Kings 17:9-24

By Ronald George Jr. at the Fayetteville Baptist Church

  Mrs. Monroe lives in Darlington, Maryland.  She's the mother of eight children.  And except for a few interesting experiences, she's just like any other mother across America.  One experience was so unique that John Haggai put it in his book:  How to Win Over Worry.

   She came home one afternoon from the grocery store and walked into her home and everything looked pretty much the same, though it was a little bit quieter than usual.  She looked into the middle of the living room and 5 of her darlings were sitting around in a circle, exceedingly quiet, doing something, with something in the middle of a circle.  So she put down the sacks of groceries and walked over closely and looked and saw that they were playing with 5 of the cutest skunks you can imagine.    She was instantly terrified and she said, "Run children, run! Each child grabbed a skunk and ran, in 5 different directions. She was beside herself and screamed louder, more frantically, with great gusto. It so scared the children that each one squeezed his skunk!  As the writer put it, "Skunks don't like to be squeezed!"

 What is a Praying mother?  Who is she?  What does she look like?  Are you a praying mother?  Will you become a Praying person?

Scripture Text:  1Kin 17:9 (KJS) Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which [belongeth] to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman [was] there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. 11 And as she was going to fetch [it], he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. 12 And she said, [As] the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I [am] gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die. 13 And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go [and] do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring [it] unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. 14 For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day [that] the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth. 15 And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat [many] days. 16 [And] the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah. 17 And it came to pass after these things, [that] the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him. 18 And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son? 19 And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed. 20 And he cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son? 21 And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again. 22 And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived. 23 And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth. 24 And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou [art] a man of God, [and] that the word of the LORD in thy mouth [is] truth.

1. A Mother is a Woman Who is In touch with God:  This widow woman had been in touch with the Lord who had sent Elijah, God’s Prophet, to assist her in her plight.  The preacher was obedient to the Lord and this single mother was being obedient also.  Both received the blessings of God.  It all begins with God who works his way into our lives and requests that we respond.  Have you? 

    A mother and her 3-year-old daughter were riding in a car when suddenly the little girl put her head on her mother's chest and began to listen.  "What are you doing?" mom asked.  "I'm listening for Jesus in your heart," was the reply.

   "Well what do you hear?"  The innocent child looked up with the satisfied look of discovery in her eyes and said, "Sounds like he's making coffee to me!"

 2.    A Mother’s Prayer May Be Unspoken:  Although we don’t read of any prayers this mother prayed we know that she had listened to the Lord.  She was willing to help the prophet in obedience to the direction she had received from the Lord.  She had been in prayer for her and her son.  The Lord had heard her prayer and was preparing to help her in a very unusual way.  Will you go to the Lord in prayer today? 

 3.    A Mother’s Prayer Intervenes For Her Family and Friends:  She was in prayer for her son.  Many may not pray or care that they know God, but she does and she takes them to the Lord in prayer.  She is aware of what lies ahead for her loved ones without the intervention of the Lord, so she prays.   She knows that God will take care of her loved one so she prays.  For those whose mother has already gone to the Lord you have the privilege of having a mother who is intervening for you directly in the face of the Creator.  Will you intervene for others? 

   Some time ago, a boy was discovered in the street, evidently intelligent, but sick.  A man of kindness asked him what he was doing there.   "Waiting for God to come to me." 

   "What do you mean?" said the gentleman, touched by the pathetic tone of the answer of the boy, in whose eyes and flushed face he saw the evidence of fever. 

   "God sent for mother and father and little brother," said he, "and took them away to his home up in the sky; and mother told me, when she was sick, that God would take care of me.  I have no home, nobody to give me anything; and so I came here, and have been looking so long up in the sky for God to come and take care of me, as mother said he would.  He will come, won't he?  Mother never told a lie." 

   "Yes, my lad," said the man, overcome with emotion. "He has sent me to take care of you." You should have seen his eyes flash, and the smile of triumph break over his face, as he said, "Mother never told me a lie, sir; but you have been so long on the way!"

4. A Mother’s Prayer Seeks God First/and puts feet on those prayers:  she put her faith into practice by giving to Elijah the first cake.  She listened to what the prophet had to say.  She was interested in the Lord’s word.  She obeyed God’s direction in her life.  She gave God the first fruits of all she had.     

  Elizabeth Barrett Browning's parents disapproved so strongly of her marriage to Robert that they disowned her.   Almost weekly, Elizabeth wrote love letters to her mother and father, asking for reconciliation.   They never once replied.  After ten years of letter writing, Elizabeth received a huge box in the mail.  She opened it.  To her dismay and heartbreak, the box contained all of her letters to her parents.  Not one of them had ever been opened!

   Today those love letters are among the most beautiful in classical English literature.  Had her parents opened and read only a few of them, reconciliation might have been effected.

   The Bible is God's letter of reconciliation to us.  We should open and read it thoroughly and often.  -- Ron Rhodes. The Heart of Christianity, Harvests House, 1996, p. 107.

 5.    A Mother’s Prayer is Humble:  she realized that she was a sinner and that her sin could have been the cause for the terrible sickness that befell her son.  She was upset that her son had died, and also Elijah had come to her home to reminder her that she was a sinner.  But the Lord had decided to take her son to be with him.  Many times we may ask why?  What have we done?  What should we do?  God has a plan for the people that he calls his own.  Rom. 8:28

    There is a custom among shepherds in the Alps.   In the summertime when the grass in the lower valleys withers and dries up, the shepherds seek to lead their sheep up a winding, thorny, and stony pathway to the high grazing lands.  The sheep, reluctant to take the difficult pathway infested with dangers and hardships, turn back and will not follow.  The shepherds make repeated attempts, but the timid sheep will not follow.  Finally, a shepherd reaches into the flock and takes a little lamb and places it under his arm, then reaches in again and takes another lamb, placing it under the other arm.  Then he starts up the precipitous pathway.  Soon the mother sheep start to follow and afterward the entire flock.  At last they ascend the tortuous trail to green pastures.

   The Great Shepherd of the sheep, the Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour, has reached into the flock and He has picked up your lamb. He did not do it to rob you, but to lead you out and upward.  He has richer and greener pastures for you, and He wants you to follow.

         -- J. Vernon McGee, Death of a Little Child.

6. A Mother’s Prayer Is Persistent:  she continued to call on the Lord even after He had delivered her once.  She asked again for the life of her son, but now her son was dead because the breath had left him. She continued to pray to God even though her son was now dead.   

  On February 15, 1947, Glenn Chambers boarded a plane bound for Quito, Ecuador to begin his ministry in missionary broadcasting.  But he never arrived.  In a horrible moment, the plane carrying Chambers crashed into a mountain peak and spiraled downward.  Later it was learned that before leaving the Miami airport, Chambers wanted to write his mother a letter.  All he could find for stationery was a page of advertising on which was written the single world "WHY?" Around that word he hastily scribbled a final note.  After Chambers's mother learned of her son's death, his letter arrived.  She opened the envelope, took out the paper, and unfolded it.  Staring her in the face was the question "WHY?"

 7.    A Mother’s Prayer Depends Upon God for the Salvation of Her Self, Family, and Friends:  Have you?  Will you?