Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Going to War!

 For today, I am drawing Hannah. 

 I first trace her face on to my background using carbon paper, 
and a pen that does not have any ink.

 I paint her face with flesh, and a darker flesh paint 
to shade the sides of her nose and above her eyes.

 After drawing flowers and a bird with a pencil, 
I paint the background with a dark paint.

 Then i put accent colors on the flowers and birds. 

 I use a white pen to make the fine details.

 I think of this like embroidering!

  "If you remember me and do not forget me, if you give me a male child, 
I will give him to the Lord for as long as he lives..." 1 Samuel 1:11

Have we seen the power of prayer in our life?  
Hannah has. Hannah was a barren woman and she was getting a lot of insults because of it, and she became desperate. She prayed and prayed and prayed. 
She prayed with perseverance and dedication and much effort. 
But she did not pray just for any child, she prayed for a male, 
and she promised God that if He gave her a son, 
he would serve the Lord all his life, he shall not drink wine or liquor, 
and his hair shall never be cut.  
In other words, he shall become a Nazarite, "separated", specially dedicated to God.  
Well, a woman can promise God that her son will become a priest, or pastor or even a saint, but how can she keep her promise if her son does not wish to be either of those things?

Prayer can change the destiny of our life and of our children.  
We need to pray for our children just as Hannah prayed for Samuel. 
Samuel became a great prophet. 
Saint Monica prayed for her profligate son, Augustine, who left the Church, 
had concubines and bore a son out of marriage.  
But she did not give up praying. 
Augustine converted to Christianity, became a great writer, 
a priest, then a Bishop, and then a Saint! 
I was listening to the testimony of John Hagee, a fiery preacher. 
He is the second son of a preacher and heard 10,000 sermons growing up 
but he had no desire to be a Christian. 
One day, coming home late and tiptoeing past the bedroom of his mother, 
he heard her sobbing out to the Lord like Hannah, 
"Lord God in heaven, save my son, John!!! 
If he leaves this house without knowing Jesus Christ, he'll be lost forever!"  
John Hagee went to bed with his mother's prayer thundering in his ear. 
In the days and nights following, he could still hear his mother's voice. 
Two months after, he surrendered his life to Christ Jesus 
"crushed by the power of his mother's prayer".  
He said his mother went to war with the devil for his soul in her prayer room. 
Indeed, our prayer room is our war room! 
Like Hannah, Saint Monica, and John Hagee's mother, 
let us never give up praying for our children! 

7 comments:

  1. Wow! I appreciate you showing the transition of your drawing.

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  2. This is such an inspiring, encouraging post. Thank you so much, Patsy. I also enjoyed the explanation of your painting process.
    Blessing hugs,
    Teresa

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  3. great drawing. Helen #1

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  4. I wish I could paint such portraits, thx for the explanation maybe one day i'll give it a try. Vicky#4

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  5. It was lovely to see the picture come to life. Thanks for sharing!

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  6. A beautiful painting, Patsy!

    (And that is why we never give up praying, yes?)

    :)trisha
    #62 today with
    rabbits

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  7. What a beautiful picture - and yes, part of it is just like embroidery. #creativemondays

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I am so glad you dropped by! You are a blessing!
:^) Patsy