Pray like Hannah talk 4.7.10

I brought my copy of the Church Times in today because there is an article that I want to read to you. You won’t have seen this one yet. The date on the paper is 2037.
 “ The last person known to have been involved  in the church since childhood has now left. Jake became involved in the parish church as a toddler through a pre-school group. Jake has continued to attend faithfully, but has decided that the pressure of being the youngest is too great. His church is now concentrating on offering museum tours. Since the demise of Church Schools in 2017, Christianity has been an optional module in the life skills course offered by primary schools.  Churches continue to offer a range of worship and activities for adults with different tastes and interests. “It’s sad that we no longer have children, but it enables us to concentrate on our core ministry and business” said a spokesperson.”
These words echo P.D. James novel, Children of Men,  a chilling book which portrays a society in which children are no longer born. Provocatively, I ask you to consider today how long it will be before this comes true in the church.  Indeed, some churches may already be there. With regret and sadness, but often with acceptance -  “we don’t have any children any more. We are an aging congregation”.
This must never happen! We must see that it doesn’t! And looking round the church today and seeing the lovely children and their young parents here, I thank God and pray that my Church Times article will never really be written.
Because children are so important. They are not an optional extra in society, or in a church community. Why?
Firstly, children are the future: they are ones who will shape the world and carry the truth of the Gospel into the next century.  In Hannah’s time children were security, a real sign of hope and the continuation of God’s people.
Secondly, children are a blessing. Scripture tells us this over and over again. They are a joy and a delight, a sign of God’s commitment to our future and the fulfilment of his promises.
Thirdly, children belong NOW in the body of Christ. They are part of our Christian family. We don’t have to wait until they grow up, for them to matter. We don’t have to wait until they are confirmed, for them to be valued members of the church. Baptised children are full members now, and those not yet baptised we must always welcome in hospitably, as Jesus did. Jesus blessed them, healed them, restored them to life, welcomed and included them. He told us that adults need them around to teach us more about the life of the Kingdom. ‘Unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.’
Without children in our midst we are incomplete. When Hannah was faced with this emptiness she didn’t just shrug her shoulders – she prayed with passionate intensity, to the extent that Eli thought she was drunk! 
In our diocese, this month of July is Pray like Hannah month. In our church, in the deanery and all over the diocese, we are invited to join in and pray like Hannah.
Praying like Hannah is an opportunity for us to pray passionately for children to be part of our lives, our church family.  It’s about longing for children to know they are loved and wanted by God and - how are they going to know that? By being loved and wanted by God’s people.  
Hannah’s prayer is answered. The child she dreamt of is born.  He makes his home in the temple and grows up to be one of the most influential leaders in Israel. We are also praying for a generation of Samuels – boys and girls who will grow up to be godly scientists, teachers, politicians, financiers, nurses, pilots, parents; priests. 
We need children to grow up knowing they are loved by God, prepared to follow the way Jesus showed us, to speak up for those who are ignored and to struggle for righteousness in the world. That’s why we will pray like Hannah.  
When we pray we have to be prepared for the answers to our prayers to be different from our expectations. We also might find that we are required to embody some of the answers to our own prayer. Maybe as we pray we will see different ways of sharing the faith with children, new ways of being church, new opportunities to work with schools and families.  Maybe as individuals we will hear God’s call to spend some of our time and energy working with children or young people.
As you leave today you will be given a prayer calendar; a different way to pray for children for each day of the month of July. Some of them are ways of praying that you might never have tried, or even thought of. I never have! Some of them might seem a bit, well, wacky. Give it a go! Put the sheet up in your kitchen or on the fridge with a fridge magnet and look at the entry for each day.  Maybe some of those ideas will enrich our prayer life in general – many of the ideas can be used for different topics of prayer. The main themes are illustrated in our displays at the back – for example there is a map of the town with each school, nursery, playgroup etc arrowed in, so we can pray for the children in each of them, and we hope that visitors during July will see it and add their prayers. They will also see the ribbons we will use in our prayers today, and the theme that each colour represents. They will be invited to take a bookmark away to remind them to pray for children.
‘Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.’
Amen.