Be Intentional

These days feel heavy to me. Not just the daily… the inconveniences of a pandemic and the unknowns of the future. Not the economy, politics, uncertainty. It’s not just what I see in the news. 

My heart feels heavy. It’s the unstable things below the surface. 

Spiritually, I feel it in my soul. 

More than anything else, I feel a heaviness for my kids.

In many ways, I always do. I believe that as a mom, I will until the day I die. It’s a gift God has given me. A calling. I am a caretaker of their soul, a watchman over all that threatens to lull them away from the deep love of an Almighty God. 

I’m not responsible for their soul. But I am responsible for how the Lord has called me to nurture and guide their soul. And I never want to take it lightly.

Because there is a war going on. And daily I need to be alert. Be intentional. Go to battle in prayer.

I can pray for better circumstances, greater blessings, happier days. But those things won’t necessarily point my kids to eternity. In my heart of hearts, I don’t want more comfort for them, I want more Jesus for them.

I have learned a lot from Hannah, Samuel’s mom. She has taught me to pray in a deeper way for my kids. From a place of sacrifice and surrender. She has taught me to be intentional. 

1 Samuel tells of Hannah’s heart, longing for a child. And then when she was given a child, she gave him right back to the Lord, took him to the temple to serve God all the days of his life. 

This isn’t easy. Believe me, I know. I didn’t have a choice in handing my child over to the Lord forever. Hannah did. And her decision had ripple effects for eternity. 

I want to live with that kind of faith. The kind that makes sacrifices in this world that matter for the next. 

I have a prayer journal filled with requests for my kids. 

But one of my big requests that encompasses all the other ones, one I pray when I sometimes don’t know where to begin with my prayers… when I have a glimpse of something heavy… when I’m overwhelmed with the chaos of fighting children or the weariness of a depraved world, is:

“Lord, reveal yourself to them.” 

This is what the Lord did for Samuel. “And the Lord revealed himself to Samuel.” (1 Samuel 3:21)

Hannah did all she could to usher Samuel into the Lord’s presence. Samuel remained where the Lord was. And his proximity to the Lord meant he could hear his voice. This was where the Lord spoke to him. 

This is what we can do as parents. Put them where they can see the Lord. And trust that the Lord will reveal himself to them.

In our current world, I don’t think this is an easy thing to do. The distractions are everywhere. Culture doesn’t give easy opportunities to usher our children into the Lord’s presence.

So we have to be intentional. Here’s how:

1. Say no.

To the things of the world. To the things that distract from eternity. To things that stifle the word of the Lord in our children’s lives.

It’s ironic and sad to contrast Hannah’s intentionality with her son to Eli’s apathy and spiritual laziness toward his. Even though his sons grew up in the presence of the Lord they were evil and wicked. They were selfish, entitled, immoral, comfort obsessed, prideful, greedy, self-serving and indifferent to holiness. 

(Sounds a little too much like our culture to me.)

Eli couldn’t control his sons. He says something to them about their sin and then… nothing. It’s almost like he buried his head in the sand, sorta shrugged and said, “I don’t know how it ever got this bad. What to do… what to do…?”

I feel like I say no to a lot. (Ask my children. I’m certain they will confirm this.) Not because I want to suck all the joy out of their lives, but because I want for them what is better. What is richer. What matters for eternity.

And so many of the things I say no to are distractions from the deeper things. 

Our culture is not an environment conducive to hearing the Holy Spirit. We have comfort at our fingertips, distractions everywhere we look. We are seeped in entitlement and immediate gratification. 

We walk a narrow path, surrounded by slippery slopes of destruction. I know I can’t say no to everything. And I can’t lock them in a secure little bubble. Nor do I want to. They are called to be lights in the world. They have to learn to navigate it. And we have to chose to navigate it wisely for the sake of our children’s souls. This means sometimes saying no when everyone in culture (and even the church) is saying yes.

2. Say yes.

Let’s be intentional with the environment our kids are in. Church is essential. Healthy youth groups are beneficial. We need to pursue mentoring relationships for our kids. And we must cultivate friendships that honor the Lord and help our kids look to Jesus.

Hannah chose to move her son to a completely different town and leave him in the temple. We aren’t going to drop our preschooler off at the church for the pastor to raise (that would be weird), but what she did was pretty drastic. And when we are talking about our kids souls, we are called to be drastic, not popular.

She did all she could to usher her son into the Lord’s presence. The ark of God was symbolic of where He resided in the temple. Long after the priests have gone to bed, Samuel remains near the ark. “The lamp of God had not yet gone out and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was.” (1 Samuel 3:3)

He could not have been closer to the Lord in the physical sense. As a young boy, he’s the only one remaining near the Lord’s presence. Eli had gone to his bed. Who knows where his wicked sons were. But Samuel was lying down near the ark. This communicates he never left the Lord’s presence. He even slept there. How intentional are we to be in the Lord’s presence? How intentional are we to usher our kids into the Lord’s presence? 

Samuel’s life illustrates expectancy and availability. God can speak to us anywhere. He sought after Moses from a burning bush and grabbed Saul’s attention on the road to Damascus. I pray my kids will experience God when they sit still before him, wait on him, and are available to his call and leading. 

3. Pray. 

I can get distracted with all the things I should “do” to make sure they know the Lord. Church and youth group and Awana and praying as a family and reading the Bible to them. And sometimes I think of my missed opportunities because of my own sin or laziness or distractions.

But it’s not what we do, it’s what the Lord does. Our prayers are heard in the very throne room of God, moving unseen obstacles and empowering the beautiful work God desires for our kids.

Like Eli’s sons, you can be in the presence of the Lord, but not know the Lord. Prayer bridges a gap not seen by human eyes. It breaks through hard hearts and closed ears and invites the Holy Spirit to do work immeasurable in the physical realm. It is a valuable tool to be used with fervency and conviction.

This encompassed Hannah’s entire perspective on raising a child who served the Lord. 1 Samuel 1:15 tells us Hannah “poured out her soul before the Lord.”

Do I pour out my soul to the Lord? Or do I pour out my worries and anxieties to the people close to me? Do I verbally process issues with others more than I pour them out to the Lord? Hannah was “deeply distressed.” (1 Sam 1:10) When I look at culture today and the world my kids are growing up in, am I deeply distressed? 

Sometimes.

And other times, I subconsciously plug my ears and cover my eyes and pretend it will all go away. 

But it’s not going away. Evil runs deeper than the latest cultural trends and the heavy social issues. When it comes to spiritual matters, I should always sense deep distress that forces me to my knees. The prayers I pray must not be simple, trite prayers prayed more out of habit than conviction, but deep, spirit-moving prayers where my soul is poured out before the Lord. 

Samuel was born in dark times. Even the men of God were apathetic and sinful. God hadn’t really spoken in years. “The word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.” 1 Samuel 3:1

And yet Hannah had faith. She believed in a God that was mightier than her circumstances. Whose will was stronger than the moral decay. Whose plans could not be thwarted by the destruction of society. Whose sovereignty reached beyond the desperate state of the culture. And she prayed. With great conviction and expectancy.

Moms, we have to wake up. The times we are living in are dark. We can’t just keep hoping. We must be intentional. The spiritual world we are facing should greatly distress us. We must pour out our hearts before the Lord. We must do what is drastic for the sake of our children. 

Hannah lived a life of praise, prayer and submission to the Lord. She knew with confidence that “He will guard the feet of his faithful ones.” 1 Samuel 2:9 

And she chose faithfulness. Uncompromising, drastic, life-altering faithfulness. 

And what happened as a result? “The Lord revealed himself to Samuel.”

We can’t control our children. We can’t control their souls. But we can do all we can to guide them to a place where their hearts are open, their lives have fewer distractions, and their souls are ready to receive the Lord’s presence. 

I’m struck by all God did with Samuel’s life. God obviously had great plans for him and for the entire nation of Israel because of his wisdom and leadership. God wasn’t surprised when Hannah dropped Samuel off at the temple. It wasn’t simply Hannah’s idea for Samuel to follow the Lord and be used by him. The Lord had a plan for Samuel that he pressed upon Hannah’s heart. 

And her heart was receptive to it. She was listening to the Lord. She was willing and obedient. 

I want my heart to be listening. I want to be willing and obedient. The Lord has plans for my kids lives, plans developing even now. I want to be receptive to them. I want to hear his leading. I want to be ready to make sacrifices, do what is unpopular in this world and encourage an environment where the Lord’s voice is easily heard.

I want to live like Hannah. And have the conviction to do all I can to bring my children to the Lord’s presence. Say no the shallow things of this earth, and yes to the deeper things of heaven. I want to pour out my soul with great faith so their hearts are ready when the Lord reveals himself to my kids. 

“Samuel continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the Lord and also with man.” (1 Samuel 2:26)

May this be true of our children.