It has been a beautiful, picturesque fall; it has been a prayerful fall.
The Tuesday morning book club which meets at The Well just concluded our reading and discussion of Prayer Saturated Kids by Cheryl Sacks and Arlyn Lawrence.
I have personally felt an inner urging toward the obedience of prayer, so this book just seemed to be another part of God’s puzzle, putting me together, completing me, teaching me. The book is hands-on and practical and it discusses the importance of praying parents who pray for their children and who also pray in front of and with their children.
Prayer is more than a discipline, it is a relationship. Prayer is all the little things about a big thing, and prayer is that big thing about all the little things. If I could offer any encouragement to young Christian mothers out there it would be “Just do it.” Take that step from reading about prayer, from studying about prayer, from hearing sermons about prayer and spend time in prayer. Prayer Saturated Kids really challenges readers to take concrete steps toward implementing a variety of prayer methods into daily family life.
I have always been a person who prays, but I have not always shared those prayers with my children. There are many prayers written on the hard drive of my computer (I tend to write my prayers), but do I really want my children to only see my devotion to prayer after I am gone and someone finds the boxes and boxes of writing? The book and the book club discussions have motivated me to come out of the prayer closet and speak some perhaps linguistically inferior prayers aloud and in front of my son.
The prayer time at Moms in Touch (also held at the Well on first and third Thursdays) and the book club study on prayer have enriched my autumn with a harvest of answered prayers already! These answers are not always definitive miracles or desired results; most often the answer comes in the form of an incredible sense of peace no matter the circumstances of my day, my week, my month, my year, my life. Prayer has broken my pride and healed a relationship, and the beautiful truth about prayer is that when prayer breaks you, it is a very clean break. The bones of life fuse back together and there is no limp, no crimp in the wings.
I’d like to tell you prayer has made me perfect, but then again, not. Prayer has guided me to seek less perfectionism in myself and in others. I have learned this autumn that no matter how much head knowledge I may possess and no matter how many Bible verses I have heard thousands and thousands of sermons on in my lifetime, no matter how many good deeds I perform, no matter how wonderful my family might look (on one or two days out of a year) I am a woman who needs prayer. God doesn’t instruct us to pray because he needs to hear our thoughts verbalized or written or danced or run like a race or drawn in a beautiful picture…He instructs me to pray because I need it. I need the relationship. Prayer is the first thing. Prayer is often the last thing. God gives me words, and it’s a beautiful thing when I choose to give those back to Him. Or to take His words to me in silence. Or to laugh with Him at the same time He is laughing with me. Prayer is pouring out. Prayer is absorption. We must teach this to our children. We must.
The mom's book club meets Tuesday mornings from 9:30-10:30am at The Well. The book they are getting ready to delve into is Unplug The Christmas Machine. New members are welcome!
Prayer Saturated Kids, the last book featured is available as well.
Moms in Touch meets the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of each month at 9:15am for a prayer meeting. Guests are welcome.
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