Prayer

I remember when I really got serious about following Christ, I felt like such a failure when it came to prayer. I would hear about prayer services, or long prayers in bible study and think, “Good gracious, how do people pray that long?” “Who has that much to say to God?” Now several years into my own journey I know how people pray that long and why they have so much to say to God.

“If we don’t know that we need help, prayer will always be peripheral to our lives, a matter of mood and good manners. But the moment we know we are in trouble, prayer is life-or-death matter.” (Lifeguide OT 8, Psalms)

This was from my bible study this week and when I read it I knew that one reason God gave me children was to teach me how to REALLY pray. Not prayers of “mood and good manners” but prayers of need. There is something about being a mother that allows us to really see the ugliness of our own hearts and just how badly we need God.

Psalm 3

A psalm of David. When he fled from his son Absalom.

1O LORD, how many are my foes!
How many rise up against me!
2Many are saying of me,
“God will not deliver him.” Selaha
3But you are a shield around me, O LORD;
you bestow glory on me and liftb up my head.
4To the LORD I cry aloud,
and he answers me from his holy hill. Selah
5I lie down and sleep;
I wake again, because the LORD sustains me.
6I will not fear the tens of thousands
drawn up against me on every side.
7Arise, O LORD!
Deliver me, O my God!
Strike all my enemies on the jaw;
break the teeth of the wicked.
8From the LORD comes deliverance.
May your blessing be on your people. Selah


This Psalm written by David shows his progression from need to the confidence he has in the Lord for deliverance. It is a progression that we need to have in our own prayers. There have been so many times that I have thrown up an “O Lord, help me with my children” prayer but I definitely didn’t progress to the confidence in the Lord part.

God uses our children to remind us just how much we do need Him. In our prayers lets also remember to progress from need to confidence in the Lord like David.

Lord, there are some days I question my ability to be the mother my kids need. But you have used my children in a way to show me that I really don’t have the ability with out You. I need your help Lord, each and every day. I need it to love my children, to have enough energy to take cake of them and some days just to put a smile on my face. I desperately need your comfort in our bad days and your encouragement on our better days. I pray Lord, that you would help me to be more like David. Help me to not only bring my needs to you but to follow my needs with confidence and praise to You. You have given me the blessing of raising up the next generation and I pray Lord that I would be able to be the example that they need so that they can grow up with a deep and sincere confidence in You.