Power in Prayer

“And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.” - ‭‭1 John‬ ‭5‬:‭14‬ ‭ESV‬‬

It seems like we, as Christians all believe to some degree that prayer has power. We don’t always see proof of God’s protective covering over us or those we pray for though and sometimes we even question the effectiveness of our prayers.

I try to get a variety of perspectives on the events happening in the world around us so I often read things that wouldn’t necessarily be picked up on and published in standard media outlets. Lately I have seen much evidence that prayer is having a major impact on our world.

One story was actually related to me by my daughter who saw an Instagram reel from a satanist-turned-Christian. She had previously been someone who was used by demons to identify people who were susceptible to attack. She said that it was obvious when someone was praying because there was a blue protective shield over them and the demons would stay away because they were afraid of those people. Prayer protects us. Even when we aren’t necessarily praying for our own protection, prayer IS protection in and of itself. Be constant in prayer.

The other story I read just the other day. It was a story about self-proclaimed witches trying to cast spells to negatively impact former President Trump in this election. There were quotes from forums discussing potential spells they could cast to harm President Trump by “witches” discouraging it saying it would not only waste time and energy but actually have the opposite effect because “there is an energy around him that feeds off the negativity and turns it for good” and acknowledging that “there are a lot of people praying for him”. What was amazing to me was the acknowledgement that prayer is EFFECTIVE! They admit that God is real and provides real protection and yet they reject Him!

The sad fact is that the conversations quickly turned the focus on to Trump supporters saying “they are more vulnerable”. And they are probably right because many of Trump’s supporters are not believers in Christ. We need to pray for the protection of our Nation.

Yesterday my husband read to me something that was about steps to dismantle a free society and it is scary to see how the current administration has been working so obviously and ao effectively to implement these steps with very little pushback from us! So we need to pray, but we also need to vote and to speak out against the obvious attacks on morality and our freedoms.

The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. James 5:16b                

Be Joy!😃

“A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭17‬:‭22‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Today I went grocery shopping. Mundane task that seems simple enough but for me it is exhausting and anything but mundane. And yet, I absolutely love grocery shopping! Today I spent time praying while I was driving to my first stop (to fill up the gas tank). I was praying I would be open to anything the Lord brought my way. And I was praying I would recognize any blessings or spiritual battles.

My shopping day was uneventful - there were a few really big smiles that came my way from other shoppers (which I returned of course) but nothing worthy of mentioning in a blog post. 😉 I DID bring a stack of gospel tracts with me and placed them in several shelves throughout the store. 😁

After stopping for fuel and going making 3 different stops, I got home and put my groceries away. I didn’t have time for lunch before I had to leave to pick up my son from school (early release today). He took his shower and did his chores and then I left to pick up my daughter. After I got home with her I had to get my son to his counseling appointment. My daughter stayed home to do her chores (bless her for being responsible to do the cleaning while I was gone). I stayed in the car while my son went in to talk to his counselor. I was so tired! I really wanted to take a nap in the car but I didn’t want to be sleeping when the session was over so I toughed it out.

On our way home traffic was horrible and there was a lot of construction on our route. I stopped to let someone turn from a side street and enter traffic in front of me. And there it was! The woman driving that car smiled so big and waved so aggressively in thanks to me that it made me smile and wave aggressively back and as she merged in, I got a good look at her license plate. It was a custom license plate that said BE JOY. I drew my son’s attention to it and he got a big smile on his face too. That driver, smiling and waving like crazy to me was being and spreading joy.

We have so many reasons to be joyful and it’s really important to SHOW that joy outwardly. It’s contagious and it’s exactly what our hurting world needs.

I want to be joy, show joy, spread joy and share my joy in the Lord.

An old Sunday school song keeps repeating in my head this evening: “The joy of the Lord is my strength”. By the time I had that encounter with the joyful driver, I was depleted of strength and energy. Her joy and her license plate reminded me where my strength comes from and how much I needed to call on the Lord for strength to get through the rest of the evening. I felt a big boost in my energy level after that and was able to get dinner on the table, lunches packed, etc. without the energy crash that often comes after a long, busy day.

One person can make a difference in the life of a perfect stranger. Be joy - be that person who lifts the spirits of those around you!

PRAY!

“But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” - ‭‭Luke‬ ‭21‬:‭36‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Early yesterday morning the oldest of 5 children from a Christian home in Fall City shot and killed his parents and 3 of his younger siblings and badly injured the remaining sibling. I didn’t know the family but I have several friends from all around the area - people I have known since high school - that went to church with the family and homeschooled their children in the same co-op as this family. I spent a sleepless night last night in prayer for everyone touched by this tragedy.

This morning I got a text from a dear friend in a different state asking me to pray with her - entering into spiritual warfare on her behalf because of a heavy oppression she has been feeling recently.

On the radio last night I heard a host talking about signs that he believes point to America rejecting the trend of atheism and being ready to turn back to God. I have been noticing hopeful signs of this as well and pray it comes to fruition.

These seem like random, unrelated events but I believe they are connected. The Holy Spirit is moving and working and turning hearts to the Lord. We need to, as believers, pay attention and listen to the direction of the Lord. We need to be strong witnesses, loving examples and work in harmony with the Spirit to reap the harvest.

We need to be in CONSTANT prayer because the devil doesn’t want anyone to be saved and he certainly doesn’t want our Nation to return to morality. So he is craftily using all the tools he can wield to paint a picture of Christians and conservative families that choose to educate their children at home as unhinged, unstable and to be looked upon with fear and distrust.

Don’t be distracted by the darkness and all the chaos! Get on your knees and PRAY!

It’s never too late to have a happy childhood!

Matthew 18:2-3 - Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.

Our son was born with a unique set of traits that hinder him from maturing at the same rate as his peers. Yesterday was his 13th birthday and his list of desired birthday gifts included things like Lego sets, fidget toys and animated movies. He asked for some practical things like shirts and gift cards as well so he is trending in the right direction. But in general, his list this year looked very similar to the list he had last year.

Our son likes to spend time on his iPad. He is still using the first iPad we ever bought for him. It has 32G of memory that was long ago maxed out making software updates a challenge and it won’t accept the most recent upgrade of Safari because it’s just too old. It lags when playing online games with his sister and it needs to be replaced. But he didn’t ask for one for his birthday. We decided to buy him a new iPad and surprise him with it. We loaded it with all the games (saving all his progress) and applications he has on his old iPad - we even put the same pictures he was using as wallpaper and on his lock screen. It was the last gift he opened at his party on Saturday. We expected him to be so excited! This was a newer and much more powerful iPad with a 256G capacity! But as he opened his gift he looked sad and looked up at us and said “I just don’t know if I’m ready to give up my old iPad.” Wow! The iPad is still sitting in the box, waiting for our son to decide whether he wants to keep it or not - he hasn’t even turned it on to give it a try. And while it was disappointing that he didn’t show the excitement in receiving this expensive gift, I am proud of him for being honest about his feelings and not just acting excited to make us happy. We are concerned about his difficulties with forming such strong emotional attachments to things snd we are working on it. But he showed integrity and honesty that is often lacking in kids today and is refreshing in a teenager.

We often try to encourage our son to grow beyond toys and animated movies. We talk to him about trying to fit in better with his peers. But lately I have been watching our son and finding myself wondering WHY we want him to watch more mature movies, etc. There are a lot of great animated movies that are fun, innocent, wholesome and that appeal to all ages. Why do we want to fill the minds of our children with even hints of the sinful world around us? Our son shows a desire to maintain his innocence and is more careful about what he watches than most people. In many ways, it is admirable to hang on to that innocence for as long as possible.

I think our son’s response to the new iPad was a lesson in being content with what we have. It shocked us all because we all know how much he values time on a screen. We also are aware that our son is very sentimental and doesn’t like to let go of old toys, etc. But while he doesn’t like to let go of the old, he is usually excited about the new - gifts, experiences, food, etc.

In some ways, our son has learned the value of being content with what you have and rarely asks for more. A typical 13 year old would be asking for a phone. Not our son, he has never once asked for a phone. He trusts our judgment in deciding when it is the right time for him to have a phone.

I am trying to step back and look at our son in a different way than I have in the past. He doesn’t develop strong emotional connections with people easily but he is friendly and kind to absolutely everyone. He waits and watches to see how a person behaves and treats him over time before he decides to count them as a real friend. He guards his heart.

We were forced to take our son out of the Christian school he attended for 5 years and put him back into the public school system because of some of his unique learning needs that the private school was unable to help him with. It has been an interesting journey. There have been blessings along the way but one of the hard things is all the foul language our son is exposed to just in daily conversation between kids at his school. It’s something he brought up the other night. But he hasn’t picked up the bad language and told me that he is ignoring it. And when he heard a lesson in history trying to claim a different story about Christopher Columbus than the one he heard at the Christian school, he asked me about it and rejected the revisionist history lesson. He is guarding his mind.

So, while we DO want our son to mature and take on more responsibilities and to learn to take an interest in learning how to do more, do we really want him to allow more of the world in to his heart and mind? I don’t think so! We want him to know enough to keep himself safe. But if he never wants to watch anything more “mature” than Despicable Me or Garfield movies, what is the harm to him? And if he is careful about who he calls a friend, he is less likely to be influenced into making poor choices.

This is a long way of saying that I think WE should be more like our son. More innocent, more honest, more content, more careful about who we trust and what we watch.

Another thing about our son to be admired is his solid, unshakable faith in God and his willingness to share that faith with others.

Our son is himself wherever he goes. He is confident and has a healthy sense of self esteem and he is not influenced by the world around him. There are things he needs to work on as he grows older. But when I really think about it, there are things about him that are qualities to be admired and that so many of us strive for years to achieve and never quite grasp. We all should try to be more childlike, less cynical, more protective of our hearts and minds and this is ultimately what leads us to Christ!

We are being watched

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,” - Hebrews‬ ‭12‬:‭1‬ ‭ESV‬‬

I was reading this passage this morning and I remembered a speaker at our church who used to say “Let’s see what the therefore is there for.” In this case, the THEREFORE comes after Hebrews 11 which is often referred to as the “faith hall of fame.”

The last 2 verses of Hebrews 11 say:

And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us. Hebrews 11:39-40

Then, the first verse of Hebrews 12 indicates that these great men of the past are witnesses to our lives and watching how we walk in our faith! I had never really thought about that before. I knew that the angels were watching. But Moses? Abraham? Noah? David? Jacob? Isaac? Daniel? And a whole host of men who died before Jesus came and paid the penalty for their sins. They are now waiting and watching, relying on us to contribute positively and help bring about the fulfillment of scripture and I am INTIMIDATED by that thought! Daniel, who braved the lion’s den rather than be disobedient to God is watching me live this comfortable life and is probably so disappointed (understatement) by my ridiculous fears of being offensive to my neighbors if I share the gospel with them.

I can’t now move forward without thinking about the crowd of biblical greats watching me and praying I will be faithful and obedient in my walk with Christ. We are generally aware we are being watched by the world, by our children, by our neighbors, etc. But would it change anything about your attitudes, actions, thoughts or conversations, to know that we are being watched by the Old Testament saints? It does for me!

Meals Together

“He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.” - Song of Solomon‬ ‭2‬:‭4‬ ‭ESV‬‬

I heard on the radio yesterday that less than 30% of American families sit down and eat dinner together as a family. I knew that the number had been declining in this busy world but that low percentage really shocked me! The program I was listening to was about eating healthier and they were promoting the health benefits of preparing your own meals at home with fresh ingredients and taking time to sit down with your family and eat a balanced meal that includes fresh fruits and veggies.

I was surprised because it wasn’t THAT long ago that the majority of our population gathered together as families at dinner time. I grew up in a neighborhood with and played with kids from catholic AND atheist families and one thing we all did every evening was go inside for dinner with our families.

When I reported this shocking number to my daughter, she said she wasn’t surprised. She said that her friends (at a Christian school) all think it’s weird whenever she has to disconnect from them to have dinner with her family. I thought that surely the percentage of families in a Christian school or in our churches who eat dinner together would be much higher but apparently I have been out of touch with reality!

I pray we, as a society, get back to a place where we recognize the value in setting aside the craziness of our schedules and regularly carving out time for meals (without phones or electronic devices) with our families. It benefits us in so many ways! We eat healthier, we practice our face-to-face social skills which is so desperately needed in this world, we discover things about each other and grow closer as a family, we pray and thank God for our food which teaches our children to be thankful and how to pray, we have opportunities to teach good manners and when dinner is over, the kids have an opportunity to learn how to help and contribute by clearing the table. There are no downsides to eating meals together - it is a matter of being intentional about the habits we develop and instill in our children.

Yes, we are busier than ever before and we can’t ALWAYS eat together. Tonight our daughter will be eating pizza with friends at a fun group event so she wont be home for dinner. However, that is the exception rather than the rule. The three of us that are home WILL eat dinner together (hamburger/vegetable soup that I made yesterday with cornbread and fruit). Everyone who is in the house at dinner time knows that we will unplug from our devices, set aside our projects, gather at the table, pray and eat dinner together.

I am really curious now because I thought that was what everyone in my circle of friends did. I didn’t think our family was an outlier in this area. I am interested to hear whether we are alone in hanging on to this traditional family value. Will you comment below if you also make an effort to eat dinner together every evening?

Love can be hard sometimes

John 15:17 - These things I command you, that you love one another.

You never really know how you will respond in a certain situation until you are faced with it. It’s vital to be daily in God’s Word and to maintain a close relationship with the Lord so you have an immediate source to turn to for help. And choosing a loving response can look very different depending on the circumstances.

One way I choose to love my family is by being open to hearing about every last detail they want to share with me about their lives. I am not always immediately available to listen for an hour about the coolest new features of an iPad game but I generally find the time at some point in my day to focus my attention and listen to whatever my husband or children want to share.

As a result, my family knows that I am a safe person to talk to about everything from hair products to vehicle maintenance to homework woes and especially about the more serious issues that come up in life.

I didn’t know that my daughter would bring home so many serious issues going on with her friends - and starting so young! When she was in second grade, my daughter befriended a girl whose family had moved here from Arkansas to begin a church plant. She was the oldest of 3 children and she confided in my daughter that she and a 5th grade boy at their school who, also attended her church, would sneak off into a closet at church and “kiss on the lips”. I was immediately concerned for the safety of this little girl and my innocent daughter didn’t understand why. I had choices to make. I REALLY didn’t want to have this conversation with my 2nd grader - she was too young! But I realized that she was going to be a person who people trusted and confided in and if I was going to be a Godly example, I needed to handle this moment properly. So, after praying about it and explaining in the most sensitive way possible the reason her friend was potentially in danger and why I needed to act, I contacted her parents and shared what I had heard. Thankfully, as it turned out, she had been lying for attention. Her parents took it seriously and she apologized to my daughter and there was no resulting damage to their friendship.

Being loving to our children means being loving toward their friends as well. I don’t think it would have mattered at the time to my daughter if I hadn’t intervened. But because I did, she learned several valuable lessons - the most important of which is that love sometimes means doing something hard and her Mom is willing to do the hard stuff of love to protect her and her friends.

Fast forward to 5th, 6th and 7th grades where my daughter and several of her friends were targeted and threatened by a girl who was mentally challenged but had unfettered access to the internet and was, herself, being exploited by a pedophile. I repeatedly met with this girl’s mother over coffee to talk to her about what was happening with her daughter and how it was impacting MY daughter and, as sweet as she was to me, she refused to believe her sweet daughter could have been behaving in such ways and came to see my daughter as a bully who was spreading lies and trying to hurt, not help her daughter. Ultimately I had to bring the issue to the attention of the school administration for everyone’s safety (thankfully they got the police involved) and in the end, her parents withdrew her from the school - still maintaining her innocence despite overwhelming evidence. It was a painful process but I would not have been showing love to anyone if I hadn’t stepped in.

Now, I am known by my daughter and her friends as the one that can be counted on to have the hard conversations with other moms and to do my best to get help for her friends when they need it. High school is emotionally very difficult. I have already had one conversation with a mom about a potential eating disorder in her daughter. My daughter now asks her friends when they are concerned as a group about someone “Do you want me to ask my mom to talk to their mom?”

Until I am asked to get involved now, I generally just sit back and pray while I wait to hear how serious the problem really is. But I am not afraid to step in and do the hard thing because I love genuinely. Jesus loved ME. What He suffered for me was far worse than any discomfort I might feel about confronting another mother about a problem her child is facing and praying with her about how to help. And the really funny thing is how my daughters friends all started calling me “mom” and programmed my number in their phones a “other mother”. But it’s kinda awesome too.😉