Previous posts in this Day in the Life of a New Prayer Warrior series are here: part 1; part 2; part 3; part 4; part 5.
A Shifting of Weight...from me, to Him.
Wasted hours...so many wasted hours...spent worrying about my children, my parenting, over the past nine and a half years. Yes, my oldest is 9.5 now. How different these years would have been, had I started out as a prayer warrior!
Certainly I covered worrisome issues in prayer, but I spent far more time lamenting. My ratio of lament to prayer was probably 4 to 1--four times as much lamenting as praying.
By the grace of God, that has changed! Now approximately 28 days into a daily, disciplined prayer habit, a knee-jerk reaction is born. A worrisome thought comes to me, and I handle it with prayer--snippets here and there as the thoughts come, and later at night, as part of my structured prayer.
The Spirit has so convinced me that I'm powerless without Him, and so convinced me that my part is to pray and then obey the Spirit's instructions......that I believe with my whole heart, my whole mind, this very important truth:
I'm walking in His will! I'm an approved worker in Christ!
The future is His. Today is His. I'm at peace, because I'm doing my part.
The Power of Confession
Even when I fail, which I still do of course.....I find peace quickly through confession. Confession--part of a daily prayer habit--is a constant humbling.
Confession brings immediate forgiveness, an immediate fresh start. The enemy loves to drag us down over every failure. His way is to bring an hour or a half-day's depression over a two-minute failure. Can't control your sharp tongue with your children?
These whisperings are not of God. Defeat them, through immediate confession.
Remember that the only thing keeping us from a habit of confession, is a preoccupation with Satan's lies. Drown his voice out....with Truth!
Choose humility and peace, through confession.
Improve Your Marriage Perk
Do you and your husband spend a lot of time--waste a lot of time--discussing each child's difficulties and failures? Does it ever help...or just drag you down...drag your relationship down, as you argue over what should be done?
Sadly, we used to do this. With a special-needs child in our midst, and another entering a heavy whining phase (4.5-year-old Mary), together with an into-everything 2-year-old, and a 7-year-old who suffers from moderate insomnia, perfectionism, and a picky-eating habit.......well, we always had plenty to discuss.
And due to second-shift hours, we have precious little time together...certainly none to waste.
Tense discussions about the kids can kill libidos, too, which is unhealthy on many levels.
Satan attacks marriages in many ways, and instigating arguing--drowning out prayer--is one of his favorite tactics. Don't succumb.
We've defeated this unhealthy cycle by a consistent, three-times weekly husband/wife prayer habit. We're doing our part. The answers will come to us, through the Spirit. We just have to be on alert for His instructions.
Pray....and walk away.
That's my new self-speak. Pray...and walk away.
A life without consistent prayer stalls you, keeps you spinning....rather than moving forward.
Pray....and walk away. Walk away from pain, depression, failure, lies. Walk away from stagnant Christianity.
A Shifting of Weight...from me, to Him.
Wasted hours...so many wasted hours...spent worrying about my children, my parenting, over the past nine and a half years. Yes, my oldest is 9.5 now. How different these years would have been, had I started out as a prayer warrior!
Certainly I covered worrisome issues in prayer, but I spent far more time lamenting. My ratio of lament to prayer was probably 4 to 1--four times as much lamenting as praying.
By the grace of God, that has changed! Now approximately 28 days into a daily, disciplined prayer habit, a knee-jerk reaction is born. A worrisome thought comes to me, and I handle it with prayer--snippets here and there as the thoughts come, and later at night, as part of my structured prayer.
The Spirit has so convinced me that I'm powerless without Him, and so convinced me that my part is to pray and then obey the Spirit's instructions......that I believe with my whole heart, my whole mind, this very important truth:
I'm walking in His will! I'm an approved worker in Christ!
The future is His. Today is His. I'm at peace, because I'm doing my part.
The Power of Confession
Even when I fail, which I still do of course.....I find peace quickly through confession. Confession--part of a daily prayer habit--is a constant humbling.
Confession brings immediate forgiveness, an immediate fresh start. The enemy loves to drag us down over every failure. His way is to bring an hour or a half-day's depression over a two-minute failure. Can't control your sharp tongue with your children?
You stupid, no good, failure of a parent! You don't even deserve these children. You're ruining them.
These whisperings are not of God. Defeat them, through immediate confession.
Remember that the only thing keeping us from a habit of confession, is a preoccupation with Satan's lies. Drown his voice out....with Truth!
Choose humility and peace, through confession.
Improve Your Marriage Perk
Do you and your husband spend a lot of time--waste a lot of time--discussing each child's difficulties and failures? Does it ever help...or just drag you down...drag your relationship down, as you argue over what should be done?
Sadly, we used to do this. With a special-needs child in our midst, and another entering a heavy whining phase (4.5-year-old Mary), together with an into-everything 2-year-old, and a 7-year-old who suffers from moderate insomnia, perfectionism, and a picky-eating habit.......well, we always had plenty to discuss.
And due to second-shift hours, we have precious little time together...certainly none to waste.
Tense discussions about the kids can kill libidos, too, which is unhealthy on many levels.
Satan attacks marriages in many ways, and instigating arguing--drowning out prayer--is one of his favorite tactics. Don't succumb.
We've defeated this unhealthy cycle by a consistent, three-times weekly husband/wife prayer habit. We're doing our part. The answers will come to us, through the Spirit. We just have to be on alert for His instructions.
Pray....and walk away.
That's my new self-speak. Pray...and walk away.
A life without consistent prayer stalls you, keeps you spinning....rather than moving forward.
Pray....and walk away. Walk away from pain, depression, failure, lies. Walk away from stagnant Christianity.
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