A Practice of Prayer

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion - to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.

Isaiah 61:1-3

Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths.

Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation;

for you I wait all the day long.

Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love,

for they have been from of old.

Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions;

according to your steadfast love remember me,

for the sake of your goodness, O Lord!

Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way.

He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.

All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness,

for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.

Psalm 25:4-10

The days are short. Well, yes, each still has 24 hours on my clock here at home, but they are short. They are short when I consider the great needs of our children and those needs feel overwhelming. The days are short when I consider my time and how I want to use it wisely to build others up or be built up in God Word (Acts 20:32). The days are short when I add in necessary household and parenting chores that I desire to do joyfully (Philippians 2:13-15). The days are short when I desire find time to learn and read in order to grow in wisdom to help our family (Ephesians 5:15-16). The days are short. Time is precious. I want to live purposefully with our children.

In the past it has been hard for me to set aside the academic content of our homeschooling because our big girls are so far behind in school. As a licensed teacher, setting aside schooling when the children are struggling (and when it is required by the state) was something I never considered doing and was even rather judgmental when I'd heard others recommend it. The truth is that the most basic needs our children have is not for academic knowledge. It is for heart knowledge and saving faith. They need to know, truly know and believe, that they are loved but us and by God. They need to know that they are safe in our home and family. In this they need to learn that God is sufficient for all their needs, including their need for safety. They need to know that God has a good plan for them and in His sovereignty and love He provided a way for them to be a part of our family and to redeem them eternally into His family. Without these understanding and believing these truths, the rest of academic learning pales in comparison and is relatively meaningless. Can you imagine trying to teach a child who really believes that they are unloved, unlovable, and in serious danger? And now try teaching the child who blames the teacher for being in this hurting condition. This is exactly why it is so important for our children to understand God's truths for them.

Regardless of the challenge of teaching children with hurt pasts, I have realized something beautiful that comes from a change in focus for our entire family, from academics to Biblical truths. Setting aside our academic expectations and hopes in order to focus on God's Word and His Truths has grown something beautiful in the hearts of all of the children. It has created in them a desire for more of God's Word. It is teaching them a habit of prioritizing God's Word. It is teaching them to treasure Christ, and that is priceless! The very hard past two years that we have struggled through together has allowed us to see that Christ is our treasure in good times and in hard times.

The children and I have made a practice of starting our morning and breakfasts with a Bible lesson, followed by independent quiet times where the children are slowly working through Psalms and the Gospels. Some days are more independent than others. After that we meet to discuss what we have read and practice our memory verse and have a time of worship and prayer. This has been such a joy to me. After years of playing the piano for enjoyment and worship, I have been desperately missing having time to play piano as an expression of my heart. The children have loved learning new songs and taking turns praying for friends, family members, missionaries, and church family. It is a blessing to my heart to see them excited to pray for others and I see God doing a beautiful thing in their hearts through the reading and study of His Word, worship, and prayer each day.

It is a joy to make a practice of prayer during our school times. We have not avoided all academics and it is not that the children do not enjoy learning. We see such benefit and blessing in choosing God's Word as a priority first and throughout the day. Usually the rest of our academics follow with necessary breaks for play time, meals, story time, exercise, and chores with breaks for training and discipling the children in God's Word as correction and encouragement becomes necessary throughout each day. Suddenly it is bed time and time for a one-on-one devotional time that we have chosen for each child. Each of our children craves independent time with us and this is a special time for them. We enjoy this time at the end of each day and find that early bedtimes help to facilitate meeting this need.

It is my prayer from the verses above that our precious time in God's Word will be for our children like a garment of praise instead of a faint spirit, that our children would understand His path for us as steadfast love and faithfulness as we seek Him daily.