My Favortie Books on Prayer

Super excited to be joining up with Courtney from Women Living Well once again this week as she counts down to the release of her new book by sharing some of her inspiration for the book in her Top 10 Marriage and Motherhood Quotes Series.  You can read about my favorite quotes on Praying For Our Children here and my favorite quote on Marriage here from the previous 2 weeks of the series.

Prayer is such an important part of a believers life.  It is something we are told to do without ceasing in 1 Thessalonians 5:17. While we can't pray ALL of the time we can do it often by simply living a life of prayer. What do I mean by that?  Just be in a constant attitude of worship and prayer to our Father. I am not perfect at prayer but it is something very dear to me. I was not raised up being taught how to pray nor was it modeled in front of me which is probably one of the reasons I have so many books on the subject in an effort to learn as much as I can about prayer. What it is? What is its purpose? Who can do it? Why we do it and so on??

This is one of the reasons I am excited to share with you my favorite books on prayer. These books along with teaching from my Pastor and just praying myself have changed my life. You know the old saying practice makes perfect- well I am far from perfect but I am learning more all the time and the way we get better at doing a thing is by practicing it often - the same way someone would practice often at a particular sport or playing the piano, etc. 

The books in my picture are the following:

7 Absolutes to Pray Over Your Kids by Blaine Bartel

Praying to Get Results and
The Art of Prayer - A Handbook on How to Pray by Kenneth E. Hagin

The following 8 books are all by Stormie Omartian
The Power of a Praying Husband
The Power of a Praying Wife Devotional
The Power of a Praying Wife
The Power of a Praying Parent
The Power of Praying Together
The Power of a Praying Woman
The Power of Praying Through the Bible
The Power of a Praying Life

A Woman's Call to Prayer - Making Your Desire to Pray a Reality by Elizabeth George

My Bible

I also have Stormie Omartian's Book "The Power of a Praying Teen" (not pictured because it is with my boys devotion books).

A few of my favorite verses on prayer are:

Phillipians 4:6 says (Amplified) Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (^[a]definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God.

Mark 11:24 Jesus says For this reason I am telling you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe (trust and be confident) that it is granted to you, and you will [get it].

Matthew 6:7 Jesus again teaching says And when you pray, do not heap up phrases (multiply words, repeating the same ones over and over) as the Gentiles do, for they think they will be heard for their much speaking.

Just talk plain.  We don't have to use fancy words or be an awesome speaker to talk to our Heavenly Father.  He desires for us to talk to him and have a relationship with Him. 

The best teacher on how to pray is Jesus Himself.  In Matthew 6:9-13 he says this:

⁹ Pray, therefore, like this: Our Father Who is in heaven, hallowed (kept holy) be Your name.

¹⁰ Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

¹¹ Give us this day our daily bread.

¹² And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven (^[a]left, remitted, and let go of the debts, and have ^[b]given up resentment against) our debtors.

¹³ And lead (bring) us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

You can read about my prayer journal/binder  or my prayer card notebook that I wrote about in earlier posts by clicking the links.  You can also click here to read my posts in an ongoing series I am working my way through using Stormie Omartian's book "The Power of a Praying Parent" or to read my post on Specific Prayer here.

Do You Pray For Your Children?

I am linking up this week again with Courtney Joseph from Women Living Well for her series on Top Ten Quotes on Marriage and Motherhood.

This week I wanted to share several passages out of one of my all time favorite books.  This book has helped me find just the right prayer to pray for my boys many times.  If you are a parent then you definitely need this book. 

The book is The Power of a Praying Parent by Stormie Omartian.  I have an ongoing series here on my blog that I started nearly a year ago where I go through this book chapter by chapter.  Stormie's book is packed full of powerful information and scripture to stand on while praying our children through life. 

Here are my top five favorite quotes taken out of Chapter 1 - yep, it's that good.  The following quotes are taken from the first chapter of the book.

"For it's the power of God that penetrates a child's life when a parent prays."

"When we don't pray, it's like saying we have no need of anything outside of ourselves."

"God knows our thoughts and our needs, but He responds to our prayers."

"It's not enough to pray only for the concerns of the moment;  we need to pray for the future, and we need to pray against the effects of past events."

"In fact, we don't even have to be parents.  We can be a friend, a teacher, a grandparent, an aunt, a cousin, a neighbor, a guardian, or even a stranger with a heart of compassion or concern for a child.  The child may be someone we hear of or read about in the newspaper;  the child may even be an adult for whom we have a mother's or father's heart.  If you're aware of a child who doesn't have a praying parent, you can step into the gap right now and answer that need.  You can effect a change in the life of any child you care about.  All it takes is a heart that says, "God, show me how to pray in a way that will make a difference in this child's life."  Then begin with the prayers in this book and see where the Holy Spirit leads you."

So my question to you this week:  "Do You Pray For Your Children?" 

Free Printable Marriage Prayer

Hop on over to the Time-Warp Wife's blog for a printable copy of this beautiful prayer.

Free Printable Marriage Prayer

National Day of Prayer 2013

What exactly is National Day of Prayer?

The National Day of Prayer is a special day set aside in our country where people gather together at churches, schools, courthouses, etc... and publicly pray. Our Country was founded by primarily Christian men and it was and has always been a Nation that is blessed by God. We are a Christian Nation, founded on a belief in THE ONE TRUE GOD. We are blessed to be able to call on the Name of Jesus in a Public Place without fear of retribution.

National Day of Prayer was established by Congress in 1952 and signed into Law by President Harry Truman but The Continental Congress had called for such a day going all the way back to 1775.  In 1988 President Ronald Reagan amended the law to make the National Day of Prayer the first Thursday in May.

The Honorable the Congress having recommended it to the United States to set apart Thursday the 6th of May next to be observed as a day of fasting, humiliation and prayer, to acknowledge the gracious interpositions of Providence; to deprecate [to pray or intreat that a present evil may be removed] deserved punishment for our Sins and Ingratitiude, to unitedly implore the Protection of Heaven; Success to our Arms and the Arms of our Ally: The Commander in Chief enjoins a religious observance of said day and directs the Chaplains to prepare discourses proper for the occasion; strictly forbidding all recreations and unnecessary labor.” —George Washington, First President of the United States[10][11] (Quote taken from Wikpedia)  

The National Day of Prayer task forces mission statement is this:

The mission of the National Day of Prayer Task Force is to mobilize prayer in America and to encourage personal repentance and righteousness in the culture.

This morning I drove my youngest son to school so that I could attend The National Day of Prayer event being held there.  What an honor and a privilege to be able to do such a thing.  I remind my kids often how blessed they are to be able to attend things like this or their Bible Clubs and Prayer Groups.  Not even in America are all schools ok with it.  We are blessed.

I urge you today to take time out to pray.  It doesn't matter if you live in the United States or not.  It also doesn't matter if you are able to attend a public event (although it will bless your heart if you can).  What does matter is that we take some time today and every day to talk with our Heavenly Father.  Take time to call upon the Name of Jesus and pray for our elected leaders, our military, our schools, communities and our children.

Do you attend any Public National Day of Prayer Events?

Destroying an Inheritance of Family Bondage

Chapter 22

In the book Stormie says that we all know we get our hair and eye color from our parents or grandparents but did you know that we also pickup character qualities too?

When some people think of family bondage they think of alcohol, drugs and depression.  Things that are life threatening and life altering for the family for many generations but did you know that things such as lying, unforgiveness, perfectionism and a bad temper can also be an inherited trait?

As an adult I see many character qualities in my parents that I do not wish to mimic. But we also need to look at our own lives and consider our character qualities and think is this something we would rather our own children not inherit.

For example: 

Do you have a tendency to stretch the truth?

Do you cuss?

Do you smoke or chew tobacco?

Do you tell dirty jokes?

Do you have hatred for someone in your heart?

Are you happy or do you exhibit anger?

Are you selfish, always thinking of yourself?

People will look at this list and think "well saying a little cuss word every now and then doesn't hurt"  but those same people would punish their children for saying the "little" cuss word.

 

And I am not saying that chewing tobacco or smoking is a sin and will send you to hell but I am saying if you chew tobacco then there is a much greater chance that your children will also.  We should not want our children to be bound in any way.  Not bound to smoking or drinking or lying or being selfish, etc...

Seriously think about your behavior and character traits and if they are something you want your children to inherit from you.  I want to leave a good inheritance to my children. 

Proverbs 13:22 says  A good person leaves an inheritance for their children’s children,  but a sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous.

Specific Prayer

One day I will write all about our families journey to home ownership and living debt free but today I just want to touch on a small portion of it with hopes of encouraging you in your prayer life.

Be Specific When You Pray.

What exactly do I mean by that? 

If you read in Genesis 24 about Abraham's servant - he prayed a very specific prayer. Abraham sent him to find a wife for his son Isaac.  The servant prayed  for God to make him successful and he prayed that when a women came to the spring to draw water and he asked for a drink that the woman who is to be the wife of Isaac would give him a drink and also offer to water his camels.  The Bible says that before he had even finished praying Rebekah came to the spring to draw water.  He asked for a drink and guess what she did?  That is right she not only gave him a drink but offered to water his camels as well.

That is pretty specific.

How about Gideon?   In the book of Judges Chapter 6 God tells Gideon that He is going to use him to save Israel.  Gideon being a bit skeptic told God that if he was truly the one to save Israel to give him a sign.  He would put down a blanket on the ground and in the morning if the blanket was wet but all the ground around it was dry then he would believe.  And the next morning that is exactly what happened.  Gideon still not convinced asked God to allow him one more request.  This time he said in the morning let the blanket be dry and the ground all around be wet.  God did exactly that.  The rest of the story is pretty awesome so I encourage you to read it all on your own as well as the above story. 

Gideon was very specific with God. 

We should be too.

Philippians 4:6 says Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.

Before my husband and I bought our home and property we were told that the owner was wanting to sell it and we were also told a few prices that he was thinking of asking for it.  We were unsure of our future living situation and didn't really know where we were going to end up and the amounts of money that were rumored to us were more than what we could pay and more than what we wanted to pay.  Here is where specific prayer came in.  My husband and I had been praying for "Our Home" for many years.  We had been saving for it, paying off other debts and felt like we were following God's plan for our lives so we prayed once more.  Our Prayer went a little something like this - "Lord, if this is where you want us to be and where you would have us to live and raise our kids we ask you to work it out for us.  If this is where we are supposed to be we pray that the owner will not ask one penny over (and we named the dollar amount).  If he asks even one penny over this amount we will know that this place is not for us."

We are now living in our house - the same one we prayed a very specific prayer about.  The same one that God showed up and showed off big time over and blessed us with and answered our prayer to the EXACT dollar amount.

God is no respecter of persons the Bible Says - If He will answer specific prayers for Abraham, Gideon and Me - You can be sure that He will do it for you.

Acts 10:34  Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism.

How about you?  Do you pray specific prayers? 
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Note:  In time I will write "our story" of home ownership and the journey we have been through achieving this but it is a rather long story so until then.....

Inviting the Joy of the Lord

Praying Parent - Week 21

Are your children happy? 

I can say yes, my children are normally happy and joyful.  Of course there are times when they don't get their way and for a time they are not so happy but it quickly passes. 

I do my best every morning to wake my children with a smile on my face and in some goofy way.  I am usually singing some silly wake up song to them (yes even at 12 and 14) because that is just who I am.  I try to make our mornings flow smoothly because I am with them a total of about 35 minutes each morning before they hurry off to catch the bus to school.  I hear friends say and read posts on facebook all the time about how awful their morning was and that really makes me sad.  I try so hard to keep the house happy and upbeat of the morning because I NEVER want to send my kids off away from me in a bad, sad, unhappy, not joyful mood.  Now, I am not perfect and of course there has probably been the rare occasion that they have left mad or upset but it is definitely not the norm.  I love them and God gave them to me and my husband to be a good stewards over. God wants our children to be happy and full of joy.

But guess what?  No matter how hard I try to keep them happy and joyful - true joy doesn't come from me or how "GREAT" I try to make their mornings.  True joy and happiness comes from God.

John 15:10-11
I have obeyed my Father’s commands, and I remain in his love. In the same way, if you obey my commands, you will remain in my love. ¹¹ I have told you these things so that you can have the same joy I have and so that your joy will be the fullest possible joy.

Psalm 16:11 
You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy, at Your right hand there are pleasures forevermore.

Romans 15:13
 I pray that the God who gives hope will fill you with much joy and peace while you trust in him. Then your hope will overflow by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Isaiah 61:10
I am overwhelmed with joy in the Lord my God!  For he has dressed me with the clothing of salvation and draped me in a robe of righteousness.  I am like a bridegroom in his wedding suit or a bride with her jewels.

Pray for your children to remain full of the Joy of the Lord. Teach them that the way we have and keep this joy of the Lord is by staying in His presence and by realizing that He is all we really need.

Staying Attracted to Holiness and Purity

This subject for me is one that is near and dear to my heart.  It is more of a concern than many of these other prayers that we have covered.  Why?  Because I know from experience how easy it is to get off the right path and to walk down the wrong one at full speed. 

I want different for my children.  I want them to not make the same mistakes that I made.  I know that children will mess up and make mistakes but we teach our children in ways that neither my husband or myself were taught when we were growing up. 

One thing that this chapter makes me think of right off is how I am always "preaching" to my boys how they are different.  In a good way.  In a way that the Bible tells us we are supposed to be. 

1 Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;

(a peculiar people - special people, different people)

Romans 12:2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

John 15:19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.

We are to be lights shining in darkness.  We are to be the leaders and I know that this is hard task for any of us but especially for children.  It is hard to be the different one in a crowd.  It is hard to say no when all of your other friends are doing something (of course then we may need to talk about the kind of friends our children keep).  My boys are good kids, who know what the Bible says, who know to do right but they are still young men of God who are living in this sinful world and they have to make choices everyday.  They are targets for the devil which is why we must clothe ourselves and our children in the armor of God.

Ephesians 6:10 - 17  Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Will they mess up and choose wrongly?  I pray not.  We must teach our children, model the correct behavior for them and PRAY for them to stand out and stay attracted to holiness and purity.  So I encourage you to pray for your children to stand out and be different.  Pray for godly friends for them so that they have others of their own age to help encourage and support them. 

Proverbs 20:11  Even a child is known by his acts, whether [or not] what he does is pure and right.

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I also want to announce the winner of my Give Away for a copy of The Purposeful Mom's newly released eBook - God's Word in my Heart. The winner was picked at random through the website random.org. Thank you to the ones that entered and the winner is my sweet friend: Dee I will be sending your email info to Jenn at the Purposeful Mom and she will email you the link to download her book. Again, thank you for entering.

Bible Study Binder and Prayer Journal

Yesterday I did a post about how I now organize my Bible Study essentials - You can read that post by clicking here.  Today, I am showing you my Bible Study/Prayer Binder. I have been using this method for about 7 years now.  I started with a regular one inch 3 ring binder but quickly outgrew that.

Now I use a Mead 3 ring binder sort of trapper keeper that is much larger.  It keeps all of my papers very neat, well organized and easily accessible.  This binder is also portable just like my Bible Study Basket.

This is a look on the inside at some of my various tabs.  I have a total of 5 large tabs titled prayer, husband/wife, parenting, inspirational quotes and holidays.  These large dividers are labeled for different areas of prayer or study and I add to these as needed.  When I print things from different blogs, Bible studies or receive different papers from church that I want to hold on to this is where I file them.  

I also have several smaller tabs (as seen below) behind my larger prayer tab.  I have one for "family issues" which are things that directly affect my immediate family as a whole then I have a divider for each member of my immediate family.  I also have a divider titled "family" and one for "friends" which is where I list prayers or journal about individuals that fall into those categories.  This is where I write things I am praying for concerning a particular person in that group.  

                                     

I love this system because instead of having many pieces of paper laying around the house they all have a home, which makes me happy - "a place for everything". 

Do you have any kind of Bible study binder that you use?

Join me next week as I show you my system for Bible Verse Memorization and my Bible Study Notebook!

Feeling Loved and Accepted

This weeks chapter is about feeling loved and accepted. 

What makes you feel loved?  What makes you feel accepted?  I grew up in a home where deep down inside I knew that I was loved and looking back now as an adult I KNOW for sure that I was loved but there were many days where chaos reigned in our home, mostly between my older brothers and my dad and that spilled over onto my mother and me.  I grew up wandering a lot of times if my dad was even capable of "love".  The love was there and compared to alot of dysfunctional families, growing up in my house was a dream but for me it didn't feel that way and I didn't feel love like I should have.  Notice I said, I didn't feel loved. 
 
Feel (v) means : to seem to yourself to be in a particular physical or emotional state

To seem to yourself.  Sometimes we feel something to be true even when it really isn't.  Sometimes though unfortunately for some children the feelings are real and the situation is bleak for them. 

The day I got married, before the doors opened for me to walk down the isle I was alone with my dad and I told him I loved him.  He in return told me that he loved me.  We both "choked" up as this happened.  See, for me that was the first time I could remember my dad telling me that.  Oh, I am sure at various times growing up he told me but I could not remember any of those times probably because they were clouded by some unhappy childhood memories. 

I have made it a point from day one of having kids that I tell them "I love you" everyday and I "love" on them.  A hug, a kiss on the cheek, a cuddle before bed, a rub on the back or pat on the shoulder - all signs of love and affection for my precious boys that God as entrusted me with. 

What happens when we don't feel loved and accepted?

*  We fall in with the wrong crowd at school  because they accept us and we end up doing things we normally wouldn't. 
*  We experiment with drugs and alcohol to help us attempt to cover or hide the "feelings" of being rejected.
*  We have sexual relations with people when we know we really shouldn't but it's hard to walk away from someone showing you this very close kind of love and acceptance - even if it's not really love.  But to a young person it "feels" that way. 

When our children do not get what they need at home from us they will go looking for it in other people and places.  Remember even if the love and acceptance is there for your children they may not "feel" it and it is our job to make sure they do.

Some things we can do to help our children feel loved and accepted.

*  Pray for your children to feel loved and accepted.  Pray that God would open their minds and hearts to you and that they would know beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are loved. 
*  Praise your children.
*  Love on them and tell them you love them.  Don't just assume they know you love them!  Kids (and adults) need to be told these special "3 little words".
*  Spend time with them.  Quality and Quantity - both matter.
*  Do special things with them and for them.

What about you?  Have you ever personally felt rejection?  What are some things you do to show your children they are loved and accepted?

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From the Book

(The following are quotes and passages from Stormie Omartian in her book "The Power of a Praying Parent")

Rejection brings out the worst in people.  Love and acceptance bring out the best. 

A person may not actually be rejected, but if he believes he is, the effect is just as damaging as if it were true.

Knowing that God loves us and accepts us changes our lives.

Jeremiah 31:3 (NIV)

The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying:  “I have loved you with an everlasting love;  I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.

Isaiah 41:9 (NIV)

I took you from the ends of the earth,  from its farthest corners I called you.
I said, ‘You are my servant’;  I have chosen you and have not rejected you.

 

Romans 5:8 (NIV)

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Securing Protection From Harm For Our Children

The title of this is Securing Protection from Harm and the one thing that came to mind after reading it was Psalm 91.  What an amazing chapter in God's Word that we can pray and claim over our children.  Make it personal!  When you read and pray these verses insert your child's name into each verse.  Example:

⁷ A thousand may fall at your side (Joey), and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not come near you.

⁸ Only a spectator shall you (Joey) be [yourself inaccessible in the secret place of the Most High] as you witness the reward of the wicked.

Psalm 91:1-16 (Amplified Bible)

¹ He who ^[a]dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty [Whose power no foe can withstand].

² I will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge and my Fortress, my God; on Him I lean and rely, and in Him I [confidently] trust!

³ For [then] He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence.

⁴ [Then] He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings shall you trust and find refuge; His truth and His faithfulness are a shield and a buckler.

⁵ You shall not be afraid of the terror of the night, nor of the arrow (the evil plots and slanders of the wicked) that flies by day,

⁶ Nor of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor of the destruction and sudden death that surprise and lay waste at noonday.

⁷ A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not come near you.

⁸ Only a spectator shall you be [yourself inaccessible in the secret place of the Most High] as you witness the reward of the wicked.

⁹ Because you have made the Lord your refuge, and the Most High your dwelling place,

¹⁰ There shall no evil befall you, nor any plague or calamity come near your tent.

¹¹ For He will give His angels [especial] charge over you to accompany and defend and preserve you in all your ways [of obedience and service].

¹² They shall bear you up on their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone.

¹³ You shall tread upon the lion and adder; the young lion and the serpent shall you trample underfoot.

¹⁴ Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him; I will set him on high, because he knows and understands My name [has a personal knowledge of My mercy, love, and kindness—trusts and relies on Me, knowing I will never forsake him, no, never].

¹⁵ He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.

¹⁶ With long life will I satisfy him and show him My salvation.

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From the Book

(The following are quotes and passages from Stormie Omartian in her book "The Power of a Praying Parent")

Being a praying parent doesn't mean that nothing bad will ever happen to your children or that they will never experience pain.  They will, because pain is a part of life in this fallen world.  But the Bible assures us that our prayers play a vital part in keeping trouble from them.  And when a painful thing does happen, they will be protected in the midst of it so it will be to their betterment and not their destruction.  -- Stormie Omartian

Psalm 4:8 In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.

Releasing Our Children Into God's Hands

Let me begin this post by saying that if there was ever a time to be praying for our children it is NOW.  Last Sunday evening before my first post on Monday for this series a young boy in my son's class was shot and killed.  A young boy in my 6th graders class that was only 12 years old.  Apparently things were very bad in his home and he decided at 12 years old that life was not worth living.  This past Friday I had the heart wrenching task of taking my son, my 11 year old son to the funeral home to say his goodbyes.  We must pray for our children.  If we don't then who will?  Please pray for this young mans family.  God knows who they are.  I am quickly reminded of last weeks post and the following quote from the book.

"We don't even have to be parents. We can be a friend, a teacher, a grandparent, an aunt, a cousin, a neighbor, a guardian, or even a stranger with a heart of compassion or concern for a child. The child may be someone we hear of or read about in the newspaper; the child may even be an adult for whom we have a mother's or father's heart. If you're aware of a child who doesn't have a praying parent, you can step into the gap right now and answer that need. You can effect a change in the life of any child you care about. All it takes is a heart that says, "God, show me how to pray in a way that will make a difference in this child's life." -- Stormie Omartian

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When my oldest son started kindergarten it was a huge deal for me.  He had attended a Christian Preschool for 2 years prior to starting "real" school but that was a couple days a week for 3 hours each day not 5 days a week all day long.  The first day of school I drove him but on the second day I put him on the school bus.  The big yellow school bus that looked like it would swallow him whole when he walked up the steps because he was so small.  I got on the bus with him and introduced him to the driver and then left him, all alone on the big yellow school bus.  You see as our children grow and mature we can't always be with them. 

There will come a time that our children are out of our sight and care and in the hands of someone else whether it be at school, at church, a friends house, a babysitters, daycare, on the school bus or a great many other possible places.  For some of us it happens a little sooner than others but it will happen to all of us.  It is not possible for us as parents to be with them ALL the time but I have good news for you - God can be with them and is with them ALWAYS!

When I put my son on the school bus that morning I was like a crazy lady getting my younger son in my car so I could "follow" the bus down the road.  Yes, I really did that.  I followed my son's bus all the way to school and parked to watch him get off the bus and walk in to the school.  I wanted to be sure he made it there safely.  I had not yet learned to "release" him to God.

I have learned since that I have to trust God to watch over my boys and take care of them.  He does a better job than I could ever do and He loves them more than I am possible of so why would I not release them into His hands? 

What about you?  When have you had to release your children into God's hands and trust Him to take care of them?

From the Book

(The following are quotes and passages from Stormie Omartian in her book "The Power of a Praying Parent")

 

Chapter 2 - Releasing our Children Into God's Hands

 

Partner with God

 

"Lord my son is the biggest "care" I have, and I release him into Your hands.  Only You can raise him right and truly keep him safe.  I will no longer strive to do it all by myself but will enter into full partnership with You."

 

We can trust God to take care of our children even better than we can.  When we release our children into the Father's hands and acknowledge that He is in control of their lives and ours, both we and our children will have greater peace.

 

We can't be everywhere.  But God can.  We can't see everything.  But Gd can.  We can't know everything.  But God can.  No matter what age our children are, releasing them into God's hands is a sign of our faith and trust in Him and is the first step toward making a difference in their lives.  Prayer for our children begins there.  --  Stormie Omartian

 

Matthew 7:11  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

 

1 John 3:22  Whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.

 

Psalm 127:3  Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward.

  

 

 

Becoming a Praying Parent

For those of you who have never read this book I highly recommend it!  I have had it for many years and have read it and prayed the prayers in it many times over my children.  

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Even before my boys were born like most Christian parents I prayed for them.  With my first son there were several times that the devil tried to cause problems with him during my pregnancy and immediately following his birth and we had to pray and stand against the attack from our enemy.  Once they were born I prayed for God to heal them when they were sick, I prayed for their protection and for blessings in and upon their lives but also like so many parents I truly did not understand the importance of covering EVERY area of their lives in prayer until I found Stormie's book "The Power of a Praying Parent".

Becoming a praying parent requires work and dedication.  It is a job to keep the details of our child's life covered in prayer.  I am not the perfect praying parent, I am learning just the same as you.  The important thing is that we pray.  We don't have to be perfect - God sees our hearts and will honor our faithfulness.

As we begin this journey together Pray for the Holy Spirit to bring to your mind the things you need to be in prayer about so you can begin making your own personalized list and pray for God to help you to be a praying parent. 

From the Book

(The following are quotes and passages from Stormie Omartian in her book "The Power of a Praying Parent"

Chapter One - Becoming a Praying Parent

What is Prayer and How does it Work?

**It's seeking the presence of God and releasing the power of God which gives us the means to overcome any problem. 

**When we pray we are humbling ourselves before God and saying, "I need Your presence and Your power, Lord.

**When we don't pray, it's like saying we have no need of anything outside of ourselves.

**God knows our thoughts and our needs, but He responds to our prayers.

Make a Personalized List

**It's not enough to pray only for the concerns of the moment;  we need to pray for the future, and we need to pray against the effects of past events.

**Ask God to show you how to pray for each child over the next 12 months.

Pray God's Word

**God's Word is "living and Powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword" (Hebrews 4:12) and it pierces everything it touches.  God says His Word, "shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it" (Isaiah 55:11). 

**When we employ God's Word in prayer, we are laying hold of the promises He gives us and appropriating them into the lives of our children. 

"It's the power of God that penetrates a child's life when a parent prays". 

"We don't even have to be parents.  We can be a friend, a teacher, a grandparent, an aunt, a cousin, a neighbor, a guardian, or even a stranger with a heart of compassion or concern for a child.  The child may be someone we hear of or read about in the newspaper;  the child may even be an adult for whom we have a mother's or father's heart.  If you're aware of a child who doesn't have a praying parent, you can step into the gap right now and answer that need.  You can effect a change in the life of any child you care about.  All it takes is a heart that says, "God, show me how to pray in a way that will make a difference in this child's life."  --  Stormie Omartian

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WOW, that is POWERFUL!

Are you ready and willing to take on this task of praying for our children? 

James 5:16 (b) (Amplified) says The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working].

Prayer Card Notebook

My "quiet time" or devotion time is very important to me. I try to make it happen of the morning before the busy-ness of the day creeps in but sometimes that doesn't happen. I have my bible, highlighters and pens, my prayer/study journal with paper, my devotion book(s) of the moment, scripture memorization cards (a recent addition) and my prayer card notebook.


1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 The Message

Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.


Of course this verse doesn't mean literally to pray all the time and never do anything else. It does however mean that we should pray wherever, whenever we can, want and need. I pray all the time, as I am going through my everyday tasks at home, driving my kids to ball practices, during devotion time and any other time someone comes to my mind or when it is impressed on my heart by the Holy Spirit.


Philippians 1:3-4 The Message

Every time you cross my mind, I break out in exclamations of thanks to God. Each exclamation is a trigger to prayer. I find myself praying for you with a glad heart.

So in keeping with my favorite organizing things I do and love today I am going to tell you about one of my favorite "quiet time" organizing things. I really hadn't given much thought to it until the other day. I was flipping through my cards, praying and reviewing some of the praise reports and answers to prayers when I came across one for my cousin who also happens to be my best friend. I sent her an email reminding her about the goodness of God and told her about the things I had been praying for her about that have now come to pass and just wanted to share. She was interested in my "prayer cards" that I had told her about and wanted to know how I had set it up and how I organized them so I decided that I would share with you as well in case you would like to make your own.

 First I bought a 3x5 index card notebook at Walmart and card refills. 

                               

 Next, I made dividers and labeled them. I have one for me (my personal requests), one for my husband, my kids, friends and family, etc... You could have as many or as few of these as you like or none at all.

                                

Then, I started writing down prayer requests on the card along with the particular scripture that I am standing on. As things change in the situation or prayers are answered I record that on the card as well.

                              

That's it! Very simple. I have been using mine for about 6 1/2 years now and I love it! I still write requests down on post it notes sometimes and stick them to the front of my bible (especially if they are very important) and I also have some prayer/praises written out in my prayer/study journal that are extra long (I'll tell you about that another time). This little note card prayer book is an awesome way to keep track of all those prayer requests.

What are some of your favorite ways to keep track of prayer requests?