Prayer

New year Continuing to hope!

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As I sit here in the waning hours of 2024 I find myself considering what the new year will bring. I hear the pop of fireworks going off and can see neighborhood houses lit up and filled with guests. In recent years with all that has been going on in our home I have often looked for a quiet place to sit and put down my thoughts about the year that is coming to a close.

This year I am more focused how 2025 will be different for our family. With all that has gone on in just the last few weeks everything has changed as to how my husband and I will be relating to our kids in the coming year. There is grief and hope all meshed together in what is going on. How our family looks has been changed forever. As I am watching the clock tick down another minute closer to the end of 2024 I am reminded that my hope should be in my heavenly family and not my earthly one.

Your year may be starting off much like mine as you hear people wishing you a Happy New Year, but it does not feel like it will be happy or new. The calendar may change, but you expect that not much else will. May I offer some encouragement to help bring you into the new year with more hope?

“But when the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law that we might receive the adoption as sons. Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!'” Galations 4:4-6 NASB

Remember who you are: You have been adopted into a heavenly family and are fully loved. You are covered by grace that came from Jesus’ sacrificial act on the cross. You have the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit living within you who prays for you when words are hard to come by. You have the right to cry out, “Abba Father!” and He hears you! Not only that, He sees our tears and He collects them in jars remembering our grief and working all things to His good purposes.

(Galatians 4:6, Ephesians 2:8, Romans 8:26, Psalm 56:9)

Knowing these things, I pray that you have hope in 2025. Specifically asking that the Lord will help you to pray for your children expectantly and boldly. That you would be filled with His joy and peace as you believe He is working in their lives. Trusting He will enable you to love them even when it is hard. That you would be filled with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Believing that the same Spirit will give you the strength to do the things that will point them ultimately to their Father in Heaven. Most of all, I pray that you will experience your Abba Father in new ways. That you will be given abundant reasons to be thankful. That you would experience the blessing of encouragement from other believers as you walk this journey with your wandering wayward children.

Hope for 2025! “Now may the God of Hope fill you with Joy and Peace in Believing, so that you will abound in Hope by the Power of the Holy Spirit” Romans 15:13 NASB

Here is a prayer from Every Moment Holy by McElvey that might help you as you work to pray expectantly in the coming year.

Momentary Liturgies for the Practicing the Presence of God: 

Upon Randomly Thinking of Another Person

God, as I hold _______
a moment in my thoughts,
I ask that you would hold them
eternally in yours,
remaining ever at work
in their heart and life,
even now directing their paths
toward your good ends.

Amen

From the book “Every Moment Holy” Volume 1 by Douglas Kaine Mckelvey; Rabbit Room Press, 2017

The Darkness that overwhelms…

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I must confess that I have felt upside down the last few weeks.  This is the season of darkness before the return of light.  I have always struggled with this time of year when I know the light will decrease day by day until that very short day in December comes and the light begins to slowly return.

I am a sun-loving individual. I enjoy the warm days with the blue skies and leaves rustling in the summer breeze. Those once brilliant greens of summer have long since changed from brilliant reds and golds to a withered brown and have fallen to the ground.  All that is left is a few dry leaves that rattle in the chilly air of late Fall. For me it is the beginning of the dark and cold days of winter. 

This is the time of year where we reminisce about the months that have gone by and look forward to the approaching holiday season. Usually the sparkle and lights of Christmas lift my spirits, but more recently those things do not seem to have the same effect. Memories of my children’s laughter and exclamations of joy have faded as the new realities of what is going on in their lives have taken center stage. 

After expressing this to a friend she asked me, “What would it look like for you to experience the knowledge of and belief in the love that God has for you?”  My response to her was, “I think it would feel like this season of darkness would feel less fearsome.  The sorrows and regrets that I experience would be lessened because I would know that I am not alone in the midst of them. There would be a calmness in the knowledge and the faith that God loves me always.”

Can I ask you a question? Are you struggling with a season of darkness? My friend shared a verse with me that day that lead me to a place of comfort. She reminded me about what we have in Christ. 

In 1 John 4:15-16 it says:

“Everyone who confesses that Jesus is God’s Son participates continuously in an intimate relationship with God. We know it so well, we’ve embraced it heart and soul, this love that comes from God.” ~The Message

The ESV version says, ” Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.  So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”  

Abiding is a two-way intimate relationship with God.  We cannot acknowledge and believe in God’s love without practicing the presence of God.  How do you practice the presence of God? One way is being silent with Him. I know that sounds crazy, but studies have shown the positive impact of finding a place and just being quiet. Taking time each day to just sit in silence with God and being still does have a profound impact on your understanding of God’s love for you.

How you can abide with God:

  1. Find a quiet place where you will not be distracted.
  2. Be silent.  Really just be quiet!
  3. Wait on God and just breathe.
  4. Push away the thoughts that creep in and continue in your silence.
  5. Listen for what He has to say to you.
  6. Write those thoughts down.
  7. Close with prayer by
    1. Taking time to glorify God
    2. Confessing any sins that might have been brought to mind in the silence
    3. Expressing gratitude and thankfulness to God
    4. Bringing your needs before Him.

Your first few times doing this will feel awkward, but eventually you will hear God speak to your heart in the silence. And your soul will be refreshed by your time spent with Him. 

Isaiah 30:15 ”For thus the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has said, “In repentance and rest you will be saved. In quietness and trust is your strength.”

 Psalm 46:10 “Be still and know that I am God.”

Sword of the Spirit

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Normally I try to post every other Tuesday, but this week has been a struggle.  I am sure you all have experienced a week where there are days too full of things, both good and bad, happy and sad, productive and time consuming to take the time to think.  Followed by other days where there is nothing to do but you find yourself too overwhelmed, sad, angry, or tired to think. If you are nodding your head right now then you understand how this week has been for me. 

As I pondered what to put into words to encourage you in your journey with your prodigal or prodigals, it occurred to me that when I need to be refreshed in my spirit and hear from God I have a journal that I can pull out and read. This precious resource holds verses and thoughts I have written down over the last several years.  They are words that I feel God used to build up and enable me to move forward on my path of faith. I thought I would just share a few of those verses with you today.  Also at the end of my post I am including a short prayer that is easy to memorize and say at any moment of the day for those you hold so dear in your heart. 

The verses below were the result of a search I did after reading a daily devotional in Judy Douglass’ book “When You Love a Prodigal”. 

In the devotional, Judy said, “If we are going to consider how we can radically love our prodigals, we ourselves must be certain of, confident in, and comfortable with God’s love for us.”

“So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us.” 1 John 4:16-19

“The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.” Zephaniah 3:17

“…the Lord appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.” Jeremiah 31:3

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:37-39

“…for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”  2 Timothy 1:7

“But I trust in you, O Lord ; I say, “You are my God.” My times are in your hand; rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors! Make your face shine on your servant; save me in your steadfast love!” Psalm 31:14-16

I am sure you can think of other verses that talk about God’s love for us that are special to you. We can be encouraged that God loves us extravagantly and we can share some of that extravagant love with our wayward hearted children.  

Here is the prayer I mentioned before:

Momentary Liturgies for the Practicing the Presence of God: 

Upon Randomly Thinking of Another Person

God, as I hold _______
a moment in my thoughts,
I ask that you would hold them
eternally in yours,
remaining ever at work
in their heart and life,
even now directing their paths
toward your good ends.

Amen

From the book “Every Moment Holy” Volume 1 by Douglas Kaine Mckelvey; Rabbit Room Press, 2017

Expectant Prayer

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“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7

We are in the midst of a difficult time. Both of our kids have turned away from God and have embraced a different lifestyle that is leading them further away from Him. As I ponder the impact of my kids’ decisions I wonder what do I pray?  How can I pray expectantly when I am aware that things are not likely to change anytime soon?  How do I pray through the disappointment and pain wondering if what I see them doing today is going to be the story of their lives?

First, I think it is important to realize that there are things that I cannot change or control concerning the story unfolding before my eyes.  Second, I need to believe that the Author of that story, the God who was, is, and always will be, is intimately involved in writing that story.  He is moving their story towards the conclusion He has in mind.  It is a grand story that I will read one day even though now I can’t even read past the page I am living out. 

How can I be confident God is working in our children’s lives? I only need to look back on the story of my own life up to this point and reread those pages with the knowledge of where I am today in mind.  Those pages reveal the truth of God’s faithfulness thus far in my life. I know I can trust Him. In that reality I can pray expectantly because I know the story is not finished yet for me or my kids.  

As a young couple we had prayed expectantly for years for a child. We waited while loss after loss assailed us.  Just after another loss broke our hearts we looked to God and whispered, “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” (2 Chronicles 20:12) He answered, “I long to be gracious to you and show you compassion…wait for me.”(Isaiah 30:18) In the midst of that expectant prayer we were denied an opportunity to go on an assignment that we desired overseas.  In that moment of disappointment our expectant prayer was answered because we were available to be stateside when the opportunity to adopt our first child became available.  We were finally able to rejoice saying, “I cried out to God Most High and He fulfilled His purpose for me….God sent His love and faithfulness.” (Psalm 57:2-3) A temporary opportunity was denied in moving overseas but a forever family was created because of it. A new line in our story was written.

I will pray expectantly for my children because I have time and breath to do so. I will pray expectantly for my kids knowing that God has shown me that He is a part of their story. I will pray expectantly for my kids because I have hope that their eyes and ears will be opened and their hearts changed so that they will turn to God and be healed one day (Matthew 13:15). I may not get to read that page this side of heaven, but I am confident that page will be waiting for me when I get there. I can pray expectantly because my Heavenly Father has said, “Delight yourself in me and I will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalms 37:4)  He has smiled at me and said, “Be joyful always, pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is my will for you.”  ( I Thessalonians 5: 16-18)

Right now my heart aches with the pain of the decisions my kids are making but I know that is not the end of the story.  “I am still confident of this, I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”  “Wait for me” He says, “Be strong, take heart and wait for me.” (Psalm 27:13-14) And so I will, wait that is, for the pages to be written. I will wait for the chance to look back and see how the mystery of their story is unfolding.  I will wait expectantly for answers to be revealed.  I will daily give thanks for God’s faithfulness that is new every morning. (Lamentations 3:22-23)

“The Lord Almighty has sworn, “Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand.”  Isaiah 14:24 

How can you pray expectantly for your children or grandchildren today?  What are answers to prayers you have experienced in the past that would help you to trust God today with the future?  Take some time to ponder and write these things down and then start praying daily with an expectant heart.