Prayers

2 Thessalonians 1:11-12

To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

One of the sweetest parts of our parenting journey has been learning to pray. It's not that we didn't pray before we were parents - we did, often! But we have learned to pray in a much different, desperate, dependent way in this season and it is a precious lesson. We have learned to pray passionately for our children, taking verses like the one I read above and bringing our children's hearts to God, asking Him to fulfill every resolve for good and every good work of faith by His power in their lives for His glory. When our children struggle with a particular behavior of selfishness, entitlement, anxiety, or anger, it is good to be able to come to God's Word and pray for a merciful response as He is merciful (Luke 6:36) and to ask for wisdom because He has promised it to us (James 1:5).

In our own struggles as parents, our weaknesses abound and we are at times caught in the same behaviors of entitlement or impatience and it is heartening to know God's grace is sufficient for us in all times and His strength is made perfect in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9-11), when we seek Him humbly for His glory. Being able to pray for God's grace in our weakness is a precious gift - available to each of us!

Finally, learning the joy of praying together consistently with our children for other people has been a true blessing to our hearts. I have seen our children's hearts become less self-focused and more compassionate as they learned to care about the needs of others through prayer. It is a sweet, sweet gift to experience as a mom!

Please join us in prayer today for Elijah, our little friend from church who is going in this morning for bone marrow transplant surgery. We have been praying for him all month as he and his family endured all the work-ups and surgery preparations. His family is passionate about adoption and orphan ministry, and together they are a wonderful encouragement and support to many other adoptive families in our church and community. Please pray with us for Elijah today that God would be glorified in Elijah's life and in this grueling surgery, and in the following month as Elijah recovers and for his family. You can follow along for updates at Not Just an Ordinary Life.