John Newton's Mother Prayed Before He Was Lost

In 1733, a devout woman in Wapping, London, held her infant son John Newton and dedicated him to the Lord's service. She taught him scripture, prayed over him daily, and whispered God's promises into his young ears. She died before his seventh birthday. What followed was a life that seemed to mock every one of those prayers. John Newton became a sailor, a deserter, a prisoner, and eventually a slave trader — brutal, profane, and by his own admission, utterly wretched.…