Day 4:  Choosing Joy

(When you see “these children”, insert the names of the children for whom you are praying.)

Lord, give these children joy in your presence.  May this joy be their strength.   Nehemiah 8:10

                                                                                                          In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

There is a huge difference between joy and happiness.  Happiness is based on circumstance.  If everything is going just as I wish, just as I planned, then I am happy.  But joy is deeper.  Joy is not dependent on circumstance.  Joy is what Jesus brings to our souls, even when we are not happy.

As parents, we often wish happiness above all for our children.  That sounds like a noble  wish, but in reality we would be short-changing our children if all they ever felt was happiness.  So many wonderful attributes can only be learned in the hard times.  If our children only experience happiness, then they will be handicapped in their character.  And yet, the modern day parent, including myself, tends to work very hard to ensure that their children are happy every moment.  This result is inevitably a whole generation of self-centered, happiness-seeking individuals.  And this will eventually lead to an empty, meaningless existence—just the opposite of the happiness we so eagerly sought.

Don’t get me wrong.  I am generally a happy person.  And I want my children to be happy children.  In our 28 years of parenting, we have often ask our kids, “Are you having a happy childhood?”  It is very important to us that our children look back on their childhood with happy, fond memories.  But that is not all I want for them.  I want above all for them to seek joy.

J.O.Y.  Jesus, then others, then yourself.  This is the secret to joy.  And that secret does not always equate with happiness.

As parents, let’s be willing to let our kids experience a bit of unhappiness and in the midst of it, let’s point them to joy.

Day 2: A Personal Faith

Lord, may these children taste and see that You are good. May they experience Your love, which endures forever. Psalm 34:8; Psalm 100:5

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

My mother used to say, “God doesn’t have grandchildren, just children.”  What she meant by that was that I couldn’t just ride the coattails of her faith.  I must have my own experiences, my own relationship with Jesus.  I had to taste it for myself, not just be satisfied with her experience.  May our children come to know Him and see His goodness for themselves.  And may our example lead the way… just like my mom did.

I encourage you to look up the references in these prayers in your own Bible.  I like to mark them with a pen and date them when the Lord speaks to me through them.  When my grandmother died, I inherited her Bible.  It is precious to me.  The most special thing about her Bible is that she, too, marked and dated verses as God revealed something special to her.  Her faith, and the faith of my parents, is the godly inheritance that I want to pass on to my children.  There is nothing more important.  So, I pray for them to experience Christ as a child of God, that they may have their own, unique relationship with Him.

Grow in the Lord today, so that your children will see the importance of faith for themselves.

I’m tired.

Aren’t you tired?

I am not going to list all the things that make me tired right now because we all know what they are. Though we each have our own specific things to list, we also have collective things. Confusion, speculations, opinions, imaginations, division, even hatred among friends.

So, what do we do with all this? What I have been doing lately doesn’t seem to be working. Social media, stats, “What does he say?”, “What does she think?”…

I’m tired.

And so, I have decided to TRY to do what the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 10:5.

I am going to TRY to cast down imaginations.

I am going to TRY to destroy speculations.

I am going to TRY to abolish every high and lofty thing that goes against the knowledge of God.

I am going to TRY to fix my eyes upon Jesus, the author and finisher of my faith—my faith, not necessarily my opinions or politics. (Hebrews 12:2)

I am going to TRY to put on love as the perfect bond of unity. (Colossians 3:14)

One way that we can be unified is remembering what we like about each other. Focusing on what we can agree upon, rather than on ways we disagree.

People on different teams can still be friends.

And I think one thing we can all agree upon is that we want good things for the children in our lives—whether our own children, our grandchildren, our neighborhood children, our friend’s children—we want good things for children, don’t we? Can’t we agree upon that simple truth, even if we can’t yet agree upon what that looks like?

In light of that unifying thought, why don’t we join together and pray for the children.

Yes, let’s pray for their health and safety, let’s pray for their mental and emotional fortitude. But let’s also pray for all the other things that get lost in today’s conversations.

Let’s pray for their character, their faith, their future spouse, their calling in life.

Let’s pray that all things, including today’s current difficulties, will work for their good as they learn to love the Lord.

So, dear friends, do you want to join me? I will be posting daily scripture-based prayers for our children for the next 30 days. Feel free to subscribe to my blog, or simply look for the daily posts on social media.

To all you moms out there:

I sat on my sofa in the same spot, with the same countenance as I had thousands of times before, lifting my children one by one to the Lord.

“Lord, I plead the blood of Jesus over Katie, Ellie, Joseph, Troy, Joshua, Sally, Charlie, Owen, Drew, and Rorie…” Over the years, as the number of my children grew through births, adoption, and marriage I simply tacked on names. This stream of names flows easily over my tongue as I have spoken this prayer aloud and silently many times each day. Many of my prayers are covered like a blanket over my children as a corporate plea.

“Thank you that no weapon formed against them will prosper and every tongue that rises against them will be shown to be in the wrong, as they walk in Your ways and Your truth…”

“Protect their mind, their bodies, their spirits, their souls, and their emotions.”

“May they hear a voice behind them saying this is the way, walk in it.”

“May they have the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control…”

On and on, these scripture-based prayers flow naturally over my tongue because of the frequency with which I have prayed.

Sometimes, as my Mama-Anxiety grows for one reason or another, my prayers become bolder, louder even. And this boldness comes for my benefit, to remind myself of what I know and Who I believe.

I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.

                                                                        2 Timothy 1:12

I often must recount and remind myself of the promises of God.

“Lord, You said: ‘I will contend with those who contend with you and your children I will save’. I believe You, Lord, help me with my unbelief.”

“Lord, You said: ‘All your children will be taught of the Lord and great will be the peace of your children’. You said ALL, Lord. I believe You, Lord, help me with my unbelief.”

Sometimes, I remind myself of the strength and authority that is ours in Christ.

“Lord, thank you that our weapons are not carnal but they are mighty for the pulling down of strongholds. I therefore cast down imaginations and destroy speculations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. I believe You, Lord, help me with my unbelief.”

And sometimes, after all of this, I still feel needy and afraid. And that is what I felt as I sat in that familiar place on my sofa that day.

“Lord, I need a word from You. I need the peace to know that this current worry for my child is a blip on the screen of life. I need to know that You are with us and that You are hearing my prayers.”

And then I opened my Bible. The assigned reading for that day was Isaiah 40. I have read this chapter countless times over the years. But my eye paused on verse 11, and I saw this Living Word in a new, fresh way which breathed life and hope and peace to my worried and troubled Mama-Heart.

He will feed his flock like a shepherd.
    He will carry the lambs in his arms,
holding them close to his heart.
    He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young.

Isaiah 40:11

My lambs—my children—are carried by the Great Shepherd. They are safe in His arms and He holds them close to His heart. What relief!

And as the their mother, He gently leads me along with them.

For the first time, I stopped to think about mother sheep. We as believers are often referred to in scripture as sheep being led by Jesus, the Great Shepherd. But I had never thought specifically of mother sheep. Mother sheep can nuzzle their young. They can be near their young. But they cannot carry their young. They can’t hold them up. They are not physically capable of doing so. They were not created nor designed by the Creator to do so. Oh, we try. We try really hard to carry our kids along, carry their burdens, make life easier for them, stress-free, failure-free, pain-free. But we can’t.

But Jesus, the Great Shepherd can. He can carry them. He can protect them. He can help them. He can hold them close to His perfect, powerful heart. And then in His great compassion, He turns gently to us, knowing our Mother-Heart, and leads us along as well.

As peace filled my heart, praise filled my mouth. I praised Jesus for His provisions and His promises. I praised Him for carrying my children and comforting me. I praised Him for helping me, once again, in my unbelief. I once again, for the millionth time, gave my children to the only One who can carry them. Praise God that it is not up to me.