A revelation hit me the other day.  As a new again mother, I have forgotten how hard it is to get anything done.  Caleb and Jayce are four years apart.  It only took four years to forget what it’s like to have a baby around.  It actually took me about 20 minutes just to type these first two sentences, between trying to get Jayce back to sleep and getting myself a cup of tea (totally over the whole ‘no caffeine’ thing, just dilute the milk with some formula and we’re good).  Anyway, a revelation hit me.  So many moms are struggling with just getting some time to pray, worship and have quite time with the Lord.  It’s hard, and I’m a pastor!  But alas, I’m struggling just like every other mother out there.

Not only do I struggle because I’m a mom, but I struggle because I’m in ministry.  Sounds odd considering I’m paid to pray, but with so much work involved with ministry I end up putting my tasks before my prayer time.  And when I do pray, I find myself praying more for the congregation I serve than my own family- not cool. My family comes first and I struggle at times to make sure they take priority.  Also, I’m not a natural intercessor.  I find it a struggle to pray basic prayers, so I often turn to the scriptures for ideas- not a bad problem.  

One night while walking back and forth with my bundle of joy (oh let’s be real, he’s my bundle of fuss), I looked up at the Ten Commandments I had plastered on my wall a few months prior to him being born (Exodus 20). I thought, “Hello?!”  I looked at each Commandment and prayed over Jayce as I held him. As I walked around my living room, I prayed that he would love God more than anyone and anything else.  I prayed all the way to number ten; that he would not be jealous of anyone, that he would be content with what he has in life and desire to live a simple life as to give more of his time and provisions to the Kingdom.

Praying the Top Ten covered all the basics and more; from respecting God and other authorities, to his purity, to his integrity.  Sometimes as moms we are expecting our devotions to be the same as they were BC (before children).  During our BC years we could spend time in worship without someone pulling on our shirt, without being interrupted, or having a child play the question game as you try to write your blog!  The bible says to pray without ceasing- pray all the time. It doesn’t say, “You must spend 3 hours in complete silence with no interruptions to talk to me.”  Why?  Because God knew that would be impossible for parents.  God is so GOOD!

TODAY’S CHALLENGE

Don’t get me wrong, we need those times to escape and lock ourselves in the bathroom in order to have peace (I do this with a fist full of brownies).  We need those times to just break away and go for a prayer walk, to have an extended period of time alone with God.  However, that will not happen every day.  Pray while you are cooking.  Pray in the spirit while in the shower.  Turn on your Bible App in the car and just listen to God’s Word as you drive.  Believe me; God isn’t mad at you because you haven’t “done your devotions”.  He longs to spend time with you; you just do it in a different way now.

PRAY WITH ME SISTERS

“Lord, I pray you would help us make you a priority in our daily lives.  Help us also to put our families above our congregations.  With so many hurts, problems, board decisions, budget issues (or lack of), it is so easy to place them above the ones in our own homes.  I ask that you would give us wisdom on how to better prioritize our time.  Prompt our minds when we could be praying during our simplest takes.  Help us, and open doors for us, to have extended alone time with you. Thank you for your grace and goodness in this area. In Jesus name, AMEN.”

For my non-intercessor easy friends- here is a basic outline that I hope helps.

• Not having any Gods before the Lord and not having any idols:
  • I prayed that God would be #1 in my babies’ lives.  No boy/girlfriend, spouse, children, no amount of money, false religions-ANYTHING, would take first place.
  • Their lives would be ones that live to Glorify God above anything.

• Respecting God’s name:
  • Not using His name as a swearword, but also having a healthy fear of the Lord.
  • They would respect His name and reputation.

• Remembering the Sabbath:
  • Prov. 10:4- I pray against the spirit of laziness and they would be extremely hard workers.
  • Though I want them to be hard workers, they would not be workaholics (like myself) and spoke refreshing and rest- no burnout.

• Honoring parents:
  • Pray they would not only honor us as parents, but ALL authority.  Teachers, pastors, bosses, etc.
  • Eph. 6:4-I pray we would not exasperate our children, praying that God would help us as parents not to hinder our child’s salvation.

• A loving, compassionate heart:
  • Seeing God’s creations through His eyes and not their own.
  • They would be slow to anger and offense which leads to bitterness and then hate.

• Giving hands instead of taking hands:
  • For honest children full of integrity and character.
  • I also like praying Eph. 4:28- that they wouldn’t steal but would use their hands for work and would be generous givers.  Especially givers to the Great Commission.

• Living a pure life- before and after marriage:
  • Protection over their body, eyes, mind and heart- for them and their future spouse.
  • Would flee temptations such as pornography, romance novels, etc.
  • Them, and their spouse would only have eyes for each other.
  • Would be thankful in their marriage no matter what, it can always be worse!

• A honest mouth:
  • Having mouths that speak truth no matter what the cost.
  • The inability to speak lies, and if so will be caught every time.
  • Eph. 4:29- Mouths that do not speak anything unwholesome, but only what builds others up.

• A thankful, grateful heart:
  • What a struggle in our culture!  Praying against materialism.
  • To live a simple, minimal life in order to give more to the Kingdom.
  • To be humble, thankful, grateful for anything and everything they have.