Challenge Number 2

Jen and I started this blog back in April in the hopes that we could encourage each other and our friends 'far away' to pray DAILY for our own children. And each others children if we wanted to or there was a need for prayer in a specific area.

Over the next few weeks we would like to encourage you to pray about joining us on this journey to cover our children in prayer.

This has really hit home with me this past week as I have heard of two adults (whom I know personally) who are the children of close friends of my extended family that are in great need of prayer.

No matter what age our children are it is important to lift them daily to God in Prayer.

Not my Will, but Thine be done

We just finished up our care group study on prayer. I am also reading "Fresh Brewed Life" by Nicole Johnson. I picked it up at the Women of Faith Conference the girls and I went to in 2005.

This quote really struck me:

... God wastes nothing. Not our joys, not our sorrows - nothing. ... He knows the fragrance that comes from surrender.

I think we only get this kind of surrender through prayer. Just as Jesus did. We bring our lives to Him and wrestle them to the ground and let them go. Notice I didn't write. "bring your problems to Him and get over them." this is hard stuff. Don't be afraid to wrestle with God. It makes the surrender more real and honest. Sometimes I pray with people who are afraid to be real. They are questioning God, or even angry, but their prayers sound very sweet: "God, I just know that You know what's best for me, so I just thank You for all that You've given me, and I just praise You for who You are." It's not my place to judge anyone's prayers, but I think God would be honoured with a bit more honesty. He made our hearts, and He knows what's in them.

Bold and italicized - my own.

That was the part that really caught my attention. We have been talking alot about God knowing our hearts anyway, so why lie to him.