“Pardon me, my lord. As surely as you live, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord. I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.”
1 Samuel 1:26-28 (NIV)
The Bible gives us the example of Hannah as an earnestly praying woman who later became an earnestly praying mother. After waiting many years to conceive, she showed her gratitude to God, by offering her son Samuel, to be trained in the temple at a young age. He learned the skills and protocols of high priesthood and became a great priest and prophet. It happened because his mother prayed for him throughout his years.
Ezra was a teenage boy living in Israel after the Holocaust. Jewish refugees began to return to Palestine which has been a homeland for Jews and Arabs for the past 3,000 years. In 1947, the land was under control of the British, who colonized the land and wanted to keep it in their control. Instead of using their authority to influence the peace between Jews and Arabs, they trained and equipped certain groups of Arabs to kill Jews who were entering the country as refugees. This caused further division which led to an underground Jewish resistance group, whose main goal was to drive the British out of the country.
Those members of the resistance were mostly teenagers and young adults. Ezra was one of them, but his parents were religious Jews who disapproved of fighting all together. Ezra was sure about his decision to join the underground, so his mother prayed fervently for his safety. When Ezra came home each day, he saw and heard his mother praying the same thing. She prayed ‘Lord God, please blind the enemy and protect my son.’
His mother was referring to the biblical story of Abraham’s nephew, Lot, who lived in Sodom and was protected by angels when a gang of predators were trying to barge into his home. The angels struck the men at the door with blindness and saved Lot. Abraham was the one praying for his nephew, just as Ezra’s mother was praying for him.
The British imposed strict curfews, and arrested, shot or hanged anyone without a trial, if they found them associated with the underground resistance. Ezra and his friends were walking down the street one night, unaware of a newly imposed curfew.
Out of nowhere, a jeep full of British soldiers headed down the street toward the three teens. The three boys froze, but the jeep kept driving right past them. It was as if the soldiers were blind to the boys even though they were in clear view. Ezra remembered his mother’s prayer to blind the enemy.
Another time Ezra and his friends were gathered in one room of an apartment building, while a group of British soldiers were searching the building for underground resistance groups. They heard soldiers nearby but they searched every room except the room Ezra and his friends were hiding in. Once again, Ezra thought of his mother’s prayer to blind the enemy.
Ezra shared his stories of survival with a CNN world news journalist. Even against all odds, he believes that miracles happened because of his praying mother. God still hears our prayers and protects those we pray for.
I don’t have a story of my own about protection, but I do know about answered prayers of a mother. I see answers through the new progress my son, Jon, is making. He is more sociable and likes to be with others. He routinely gathers all trash from the tables and tosses it in the garbage, using his one good arm. He is the only resident who carries his food tray after he’s finished, and places it back on the rack. His nurse saw him doing it with one arm and offered to take his tray and he said, “No, I’ll do it.”
I think his new interest in tidying up makes him feel more useful. He also now uses a toilet and washes his hands afterward, all on his own. It makes me glad to see his progress and I’m grateful for all the friends who have been praying for him.
Whether you had a mom who prayed for you, or you are a mom, an aunt, a grandmother or a spiritual mom to someone, God hears our prayers and answers according to His timing. He also sends His angels to do what is needed to keep our loved ones safe.
Lord, thank you for showing your great lovingkindness through all our answered prayers and please continue to hear, answer and protect us in miraculous ways. Amen
