What was this mother thinking about to name her child pain, that is what Jabez means! Maybe his mother had other children which were not so painful, and this time the pain was exceptional! The two mentions of Jabez in the verses today are the only verses that mention him.

The closing verses of 2 Samuel 11 tell us that God was not happy with David. The next chapter gives us His thoughts and the consequences of the sin that David committed. Nathan the prophet directly accused David of his sin, but he did that by testing him with riddles!

One of the saddest things about the story of Hosea is that his wife, Gomer, did not become a righteous woman after their marriage. But the Lord was consistent. And each of the children from the union was called by a word which referred to a message from Almighty God.

Elisha was discussing with his servant one day and Gehazi suggested that the only thing this couple did not have was children. One quick prophetic word from this man of God was all it needed. Within a year she gave birth to a boy. What joy that must have been.

John the Baptist was a much longed for baby. I often wonder why God waited so long to bless Elizabeth and Zechariah in this way. But the timing had to be right for so many other things that were connected. Notably the birth of Jesus. This was a new season.

That spiritual situation is still the same today. God knows every baby born, and has a plan for each of their lives. Numbers 2:1 tells us that God also planned that each tribe stay together in its own group with their tribal banner at the side of their own camp.

This chapter gives us the amazing account of how God planned to rescue His people from this slavery. The mother of Moses hid her baby son for 3 months then prepared a floating basket for him. This God inspired idea was the beginning of His plan to save His nation.

God warned the children of Israel before they got to their promised land that their behaviour would affect the lives of their babies. All the way to their great grand-children and even further. That was followed by the promise of love to a thousand future generations, for those who obeyed.

The Lord calls each of us, but few have heard His voice so clearly as Samuel did that night. This boy had learned well from Eli, but he did not imagine that God would call him by his name in the middle of the night. He supposed it was Eli.

How many of us, when we pray for others, want to know the whole story? That is not necessary because God already knows what is happening in the life of that person. Sometimes we use too many words in our prayers to explain to The Lord what He already knows.