6 Day Mom + Wife Devotional Series | Prayer
Topic: Who are you praying for?
Challenge of the Day:
Set aside just 3 minutes of time today to pray. Incorporate these three points into your prayer time:
1. Pray for the things you need -- strength, clarity, health, motivation.
2. Thank God for what you have been given.
3. Pray for someone else -- your friends, your kids, your husband, someone you dislike or even a stranger
Quote of the Day:
"With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his
power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith. We pray this so that the
name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord
Jesus Christ." -- 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12
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If all of your prayers and requests to God were to come true, whose life would be affected, yours or the lives of others?
I read this question a couple of weeks back and I'm not even sure where I saw it but I've been thinking about it ever since. And so, I thought this mom devotional series would be the perfect opportunity to dive into prayer.
Growing up, we prayed before dinner and we prayed before we went to bed and of course, we were taught to pray in times of stress, sadness and helplessness. And while those are all great times to lean on prayer and to lean on God, there's a whole lot more to prayer than that.
I don't know about you, but I tend to pray a whole lot more when I'm down. I pray a whole lot more when I'm having a rough day at home with Ava, when my marriage isn't going well, when I feel like my life is falling apart. I pray in times of stress and in times of loss and of course, God is there to listen to me through all of those struggles and to provide me comfort when it's needed. Prayer allows me to feel understood and shows me that someone is listening and has my back when it seems like I'm all alone. Praying in those times is crucial, but what about the happy days? The days when I feel like I'm on top of the world?
Do you pray through the great times too?
There are three different parts of prayer that I've been working hard to incorporate into my life:
1. Prayer during times of need. (that one's easy)
2. Prayer to thank God for your blessings. (I usually forget about this one)
3. Prayer for those around you. (and this one, not so easy and so often forgotten)
You see, the first two are often geared toward yourself --
God, please help me to stay calm and patient when Ava is driving me crazy, those times like today when I've rocked her and held her and rubbed her feet and for an hour and a half she's screamed and screamed and screamed in my face and refuses to nap. God please help me during these times. God give me the strength to make it through struggles in my marriage, in my job and in my the every day struggles of life.
God, thank you for my beautiful baby girl. Thank you for allowing me to have a career I love where I can be by Ava's side every single day. Thank you for a great family and wonderful, supportive friends.
Those prayers cover 1 and 2 -- me, me, me -- but what about #3?
Now I'm not saying you shouldn't ask God for help for yourself because of course, that's a huge part of having faith and being able to lean on Him, but thanking him for what you have and what you've been given is huge too. And it's a large part in not only strengthening your relationship with God, but learning to be thankful even when it seems like everything is crashing down around you.
"Every day may not be great, but you can find great in every day."
It's so true. Even on the worst day of your life, seek to find something positive and something great. It's really the only way to live and I promise, it's possible.
And that brings me to the third part of prayer: others.
When you pray, pray for others. Pray for your neighbors you don't even know, pray for the best friend you don't care to talk to anymore, pray for the person who wrote a mean comment on your Instagram page that they would find light in their life, and of course pray for your loved ones, every single day, no matter if they're sick or healthy or rich or poor. Pray for the people you love and for strangers every single day. It's not easy, but it's important.
And with that, I'll leave you with today's challenge and this is one I'm going to work on every single day of my life moving forward. Scroll on up to the top for today's challenge!
<< Photos by Briana Lindsey Photography >>
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