Become A Praying Parent

(Below are Nicole's thoughts on Chapter 1 of The Power of A Praying Parent by Stormie Omartian. Please feel free to leave a comment, suggestion, question and/or scripture at the end of this post.)

Weapons of Warfare: Chapter 1

You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. -John 15:16

The righteous man walks in his integrity; his children are blessed after him. -Proverbs 20:7

Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. -John 14:13-14

Do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. -Ephesians 6:4

Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints. -Ephesians 6:17-18

I have been super excited about doing this study. I mean, there is no greater way for us to protect our children than prayer. Praying does wonders for everyone. I can't wait to see how we've all grown over the next couple months. I look forward to becoming a Prayer Warrior Parent with you all.

This week we're looking at Chapter 1, Becoming A Praying Parent. In this chapter, we learn why it's not only important to pray but to pray over our children. I love how Stormie introduces us to a personalized prayer list. This is when we make a list of things to consistently pray over our children. However there are two things that Stormie discussed that really touched me the most.

"...As I covered Christopher in prayer and released him into God's hands, God released my mind from a particular concern. This doesn't mean that once I prayed for something I never prayed about it again, but at least for a time I was relieved of the burden. When it surfaced again, I prayed about it again. God didn't promise that nothing bad would ever happen to my child, but praying released the power of God to work in his life, and I could enjoy more peace in the process. I also learned not to force my own will on my child in prayer." - p 16 Stormie Omartian

When I read this, I think of us. Mothers who have children with autism. I remember how much stress, how much worry, how much heaviness was on my shoulders, in my mind, in my heart on a daily basis before I prayed and released autism into God's hands. It was very difficult for me to do. I honestly thought that no one, including God, could handle and help my son like I could. How wrong I was. When I finally realized how foolish I was being, my load got a whole lot lighter. Like Stormie, the fear and the unknown continue to creep into my mind. I feel this horrible feeling in my heart that it just causes me to worry. Then I stop and pray. Sometimes I have to do this on a daily basis and other times an hourly basis. The most important thing to remember is that when we do give God the control over this, we stop stressing. We have that peace that Stormie mentioned. The peace that will give us the strength to help our children. Do I think it's still important to research? Yes. I will continue to research how to help my son and every other child with autism until they find a cure. If we continue to pray for God's Will to be done in our children's' lives, it will be done. As Stormie mentions above, just be careful you're not praying for your will to be done in your child's life. We have to trust that God loves our children even more than we do. He knows what has to be done in their lives. Let's just keep them covered in prayer that whatever happens in their lives is part of God's will. We may not understand or see the reasoning behind it but we will trust in God because we've prayed His will over their lives.

"Possibly the hardest part of praying for our children is waiting for our prayers to be answered. Sometimes the answers come quickly, but many times they do not. When they don't, we can become discouraged, despairing, or angry at God." page 25

In the times where we see that our prayers are not being answered how we want them to or when we want them to be answered, we need to do what Stormie suggests on page 26..."Instead of giving up, resolve to be even more committed to prayer. Pray with other believers. Stand strong and say "I've only begun to fight.", keeping in mind that your part of the fight is to pray. God actually fights the battle."

I am very excited to study this prayer book with all of you. For now, I'm off to make my list. I've decided that today I'm going to take Stormie up on her suggestion of making a list. My list is going to be things I want to pray over my children for the week. Then, every time I'm anxious or my peace is dwindling, I know to read over my list and pray over my children. I invite you to do the same!

Lord,
I pray that you will help each one of us as we start this journey of praying over every part of our children's' lives. Help us remember that You have the answers to all of our questions and the solutions to all of our problems. Help us be the parents that you designed us to be and to accept your will in our children's' lives. Lord, we look forward to the time of praying over our children but as you know our lives are demanding so help us remember to stop and cover them in prayers.
In Jesus name we pray,
Amen
* Exciting news about the remaining posts...We know you have all been our faithful Wednesday readers. However, with this particular study, we will be doing two posts each week. Please join us on Monday as we look at Chapter 2 and again on Thursday as we look at Chapter 3. We encourage you all to join in the conversations. Any suggestions you may have to help us all in our prayer walk over our children will be much appreciated!