Faith- Part II

It is so amazing all that has happened to challenge my Faith since my last post.  It would appear that Satan was just saying OK let me see if you really know what you are talking about? Let me briefly share some with you.  On Thursday 8/25/11, my 38 week pregnant niece realizing that her baby was not moving went in to see her OB/GYN. 14 or so ours later she delivered a stillborn baby  7lbs 5 oz.  The following day my husband and I went to Maryland to help our daughter move , our son drove down to help us the following day, after a very busy day moving and getting wet with rains from hurricane Irene we set out to go back home to Delaware, my son was driving by himself ahead of us about 5 minutes.  My phone rang and my son’s voice was on the other end- mom I was in a bad accident, I am getting ready to call the police, I lost it for a moment, and then I started to pray, his car was such a mangled mess, but he walked away without any obvious injury.  In the midst of ever thing happening, our car would not start, it is raining and Triple A could not give us a time that they would be there, one of the 3 police cars that responded to the accident gave us a jump start and we started on our way home. We were happy to get home 1.5 hours before the state of emergency went into effect in Delaware.  Emotionally and physically tired  we sat down to eat something , then the lights went out, so our sump pump could not work, we bailed water from our basement  until 6 am that morning when we stopped totally exhausted, our basement of course completely flooded. With my tired and weak voice I burst out in singing “I have the victory hallelujah” I am still waiting on my electricity to be restored and a call back as to when someone can come to assess the damage to our basement, but I refuse to let my Faith be shaken, because God is faithful and promises that what the enemy means for bad He will turn around for our good. As bad as things seem, I rejoice because it could have been worse.
What is Satan throwing at you to shake your Faith in God? Is it your job, your children, your marriage, your finance, whatever it is, stay anchored and know that God is able to bring you through.

     As mentioned previously, Without Faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6) and it was also established that as Christians we have all been given the measure of Faith (Romans 12:3).
However, If we look at Romans 10:17 it says: Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ (NIV).  What is this message that we should be hearing in the word of God?  The message I believe is the good news of Salvation and all that comes along with being born into the family of God, and being an heir of God’s Kingdom, joint heir with Jesus. The word of God is necessary for our faith to expand. The more knowledge that we have of his word the more our Faith should grow. So I do believe that instead of praying for more Faith- we need to be more focused on getting to know God’s word.  Knowing God’s word is also knowing God. The more we know someone the more we are apt to trust them.  Could this be a reason why it is so difficult for some of us to trust God?
Faith is also a mentioned in Galatians 5:22 as a fruit of the Spirit. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith (KJV). Paul use fruit not fruits, which suggest that this is like a cluster or like a tangerine -one tangerine has many pegs, therefore this kills the argument of person saying I have peace but no faith, or I have love but no peace. We all have this clustered fruit.
The subject of Faith is a very big topic, which I have just dented, however I do hope you have gotten the picture of why this is important as we pray for and with our children.  Sometimes it would seem that nothing is happening as we pray, but do not look at what it seems instead see it happening in the spirit. Call things that are not as if they were. Romans  4:16-18  ¹⁶Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all, ¹⁷(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were (KJV).

In my bible study class we have been looking at the first 3 chapters of Ephesians and I would like to share with you a portion of this. I found it so reassuraing, and I hope you will find it so as well.
Ephesians  1: 15-23 ¹⁵ For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, ¹⁶ I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. ¹⁷ I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit^[f] of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. ¹⁸ I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, ¹⁹ and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength ²⁰ he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, ²¹ far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. ²² And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, ²³ which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.   

So here's our prayer today:
Father, I thank you that your word contains all that I need to know about who you are. The more that I read your word, the better that I know you and the more I realize that I can trust you completely. Open the eyes of my heart, Lord so that I may be enlightened in order to know the hope to which you have called me. Thank you for your incomparable great power, the same one that raised Christ from the dead. Help me to call those things which be not as though they were as I wait for their manifestation. In Jesus name Amen.

In His Service

Vilma

Oh - my lights are back on Praise the Lord !!!!!!!!!

Faith- What about it?

For today’s post I want to focus our attention on the word FAITH.  It is important that when we pray for our children that we pray correctly. This may not feel comfortable to some people, but most of us when we pray; we fail to do so according to the word of God.  We pray contrary to God’s word or we tend to ask God to do things that He has already done and has given us the power and authority to do.  Sometimes we pray and we say all the right things and at the end of it all we start to speak negatively about the very thing we just prayed and ask God for.

     I have been a Christian for a very long time, and I learned how to pray before I could read and had a very active prayer life, however it was not until over the last 10 years that I received some teaching about Faith and prayer through the Andrew Wommack Ministries, that started to open my eyes to a whole new level in my prayer life. I started out believing and praying differently, but because I was so accustomed to the old way of praying, in addition I kept surrounding myself with people who believed differently, my prayer life kept going back and forth like a yo-yo between my new teaching and the old way I was accustomed to praying. Over the last 2 years I was diagnosed with a heart condition, I decided to dig deeply into the word of God and scriptures pertaining to healing and began to listen to the Andrew Wommack teaching again. This truly revolutionized my life not only in my healing but it transcended to every area of my life. I must also give credit to my Pastor Morgan Ikonne who God brought into my life about 15 months ago. Whose teachings are similar to what God has being revealing to me.  Unlike some people who may hold on to a good thing I want to share it with you. I will not be able to give you all the information in this post but will continue in the next post and as time goes on I will share my full story with you.

Faith is extremely important for Christians. The bible says Hebrews 11:6- And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him (NIV).
God would not keep something away from you when that something is a requirement for pleasing Him
I often hear a number of people saying things like “you have no faith” or he or she has more faith than I do. However I would like to disagree with statements like this. Here is my reasoning:
Romans 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
The measure refers to a specific unit of measurement or amount. If the Bible said a measure of Faith, then I could agree with you because it could mean that the amount of faith given differed according to what was used to measure it- a spoon, a cup, a glass or a bucket.. So why do some people seem to have more than the next person. I would say that the more one exercises his Faith the more his Faith grows in God. Think of 2 people going to the gym, one goes occasionally, runs on the tread mill and lift about 2-3 pounds when in the mood, the 2^nd person goes at least four days a week, and started out lifting  five pounds and gradually increasing the amount of weight that he lifts each time. Which of these two persons would look more rip?  I believe the 2^nd person would.  What am I saying? Your measure of faith will only grow as you work it.

So what is Faith?  Most people will quickly refer me to Hebrews 11:1 now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see (NIV).

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (KJV).
What does this mean in our everyday language? When I think of FAITH, the first thing that comes to mind is Faith is something that I already have and must use or exercise in order to please God. I think of Faith as seeing in the Spirit the manifestation of things before they actually come to fruition. It is a confidence in knowing that what I am waiting for will happen, even if I do not understand what God is doing.

So because I already have Faith, I am not praying to God for Faith, instead I pray for the strength, willingness and determination to use or exercise the FAITH that He has already given to me.

Let me connect some dots: children are gifts from God, mothers are special to God, we must forgive those who have in the past hurt us and our children, there are many promises from God for our children, and the other dot is that Faith is necessary to please God. It is extremely important to know these things as we pray for our children. This certainly will affect the way in which we pray. Let me leave you with one other verse- Romans 8:32 says: He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Not some things but all things.

Father, I thank you that you have given me the measure of Faith, help me to start exercising my Faith, trust and confidence in your word, because without Faith it is impossible to please you. Help me not to be confined by my five senses instead to transcend to the spiritual level in Jesus name Amen.

If you have been blessed, please share this site with someone. Please feel free to make comments.

In His Service,

Vilma

Promises in the Word for my Children

I have established in my previous posts that children are a blessing from the Lord, I also showed how very special mothers are to God, I have shown where regardless of the circumstance in which our children were born they are still blessings from God as the Devil does not give life. I explained why we need to let go of un-forgiveness and move forward. If we do not forgive the ones who hurt us then we cannot expect God to forgive us for our transgression.

For this post I would like to look at some of the many promises that God have concerning our children. This is important because if we know what these promises are, it will help us when we pray to pray according to God’s word.  Let me hasten to say that knowing the promises is not enough; we also must fully believe these promises. Another word that we can use to replace believe happens to be another “F” word –FAITH.  We will discuss this more in our next post.

The apostle Peter in speaking to the multitude (Acts 2) that had gathered around them told them to first repent then to be baptized and that they would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and in verse Acts 39 he told them -For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, [even] as many as the Lord our God shall call. What was Peter saying? I believe he was saying that the promise of the Holy was also to our Children.

Here are some promises concerning our children.

Deut. 29:29 "The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the Words of this Law.

Deut. 30:6 The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.

Deut. 7:13 He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers. He will bless the fruit of your womb, the crops of your land--your grain, new wine and oil--the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks in the land that he swore to your forefathers to give you.

Ps. 8:2 "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast Thou ordained strength because of Thine enemies, that Thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger."

Psalm 25: 12-13   Who, then, is the man that fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the way chosen for him. He will spend his days in prosperity, and his descendants will inherit the land.

Ps. 37:25-26. 25 I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. 26 He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed."

Psalm 112: 1-2   Praise the LORD. Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who finds great delight in his commands. His children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.

Psalm 115: 14 May the LORD make you increase, both you and your children.

Psalm 127:3 Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him.

Psalms. 128:3,4 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your sons will be like olive shoots around your table. Thus is the man blessed who fears the LORD.

Proverbs 20:7 The righteous man leads a blameless life; blessed are his children after him.

Proverbs 22:6 Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.

Isaiah 44:3-5  For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. They will spring up like grass in a meadow, like poplar trees by flowing streams. One will say, 'I belong to the LORD'; another will call himself by the name of Jacob; still another will write on his hand, 'The LORD's,' and will take the name Israel.

Isaiah 59:21 As for me, this is my covenant with them," says the LORD. "My Spirit, who is on you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth, or from the mouths of your children, or from the mouths of their descendants from this time on and forever," says the LORD.

Isaiah 61:8-9 For I, the LORD, love justice; I hate robbery and iniquity. In my faithfulness I will reward them and make an everlasting covenant with them. Their descendants will be known among the nations and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the LORD has blessed."

Jeremiah 33:16-17 This is what the LORD says: "Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work will be rewarded," declares the LORD. "They will return from the land of the enemy. So there is hope for your future," declares the LORD. "Your children will return to their own land.

Matt. 19:14 "But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto Me: for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven."

Acts 16:31-33 " And they said, Believe on the LORD Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house... And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway."

Although these promises speak specifically of our children, all the promises in the word of God also apply to our children.

So how do I pray?

Father I thank you that you have so many promises fin your word that apply to my child/children as well as for their children. I thank you that according to what you have promised my children will be saved, and that your word will not depart from their mouth. I thank you for pouring out your spirit upon them and your blessings on their descendants. I rejoice Lord, in knowing that the secret things which are revealed by you belong unto us and to our children forever.  Father I thank you that regardless of what may happen, my children will never beg for bread. I thank you that as I train them in the way they should go, they may stray but help me to remember that they will not depart from these teachings. I thank you for this reassurance In Jesus name Amen.

In His Purpose

Vilma

Letting go of Un-forgiveness

8/9/11

In my last post I discussed the fact that regardless of the circumstance, in which we conceived and had children, they are still God’s gift, because the devil, does not give life he only comes to steal, kill and destroy. Remember Christ comes to give Life and to give it more abundantly. Choose Life that you may live. Start to see your child or children as God sees them “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14). Not as illegitimate as we sometimes call children born out of marriage. They are real children, not imitation or carbon copies; yes they will need salvation just as you and I and the President, the Queen or your Pastor, but they are just as loved by God. We will defer this for another post. You get my point.

As mentioned previously moving on is difficult for a lot of us to do, however difficulty does not translate impossibility. Today, let us talk about letting go, letting God and moving on. Let us talk about the big “F” word FORGIVENESS. When we harbor un-forgiveness in our heart it hinders our prayers from being answered by God. Un-forgiveness decreases our potential to be great parents.  When we allow un-forgiveness to remain with us, it will become a root of bitterness (Hebrews 12:15). Think about weed growing in your flower garden, what does it do?  If left to grow, it eventually chokes the flowers, it takes up their space their water, their oxygen and in a little while the flowers wither away and die. What am I saying? Un-forgiveness will choke our peace, joy, our strength, our faith, our spirit, and in no time you start to die spiritually, emotionally and physically. Many times when we find ourselves with ulcers, stomach pains, headaches, anxiety and depression, the cause may be stemming from our un-forgiveness. It is necessary to pluck it now than wait until you have no energy to do so. The man that you are holding un-forgiveness towards, has moved on, is enjoying his life and has no twitch of conscience and possible will not understand why you are mad at him. It is not worth it!

Forgiveness is a process, but you have to start the process and continue to forgive daily if you stop in the middle or turn back, you will not get to the end. In the model prayer we are taught “forgive us our debts (trespasses, sins) as we forgive our debtors “(Mathew 6: 9-13). Why?

V 14-15: For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
So when we pray to God about and for our children ask you the question, Is he hearing my prayers? Is there un-forgiveness in my heart?

Some maybe saying I have forgiven him once twice three times, he told me he would do better but he still has not gotten his act together. Let us look at Mathew 18:21-22
Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.

What Christ talking necessarily to forgive 490 times, I do not think so, I believe the lesson is to forgive as many times as you have to- ouch! Let me hasten to say that forgiveness does not mean you allow yourself to be taken for a ride each time. No it means you move away from the situation and Ask God for strength not to repeat the same mistake. You hold the key to free yourself from the prison you have put yourself in, use it. Watch God use for God what they/him meant for evil.

So how do I pray?

Father, I confess before you my hurt and bitterness towards (insert name). I forgive him for what he has done to me and his children. It is a difficult thing for me to do, so Father I need your strength to do so. I want to focus my energy to care for my children, something good that has come out of this relationship. I need to do so with Joy, and peace. Take away the anxieties that I have, thinking I will not be able to do a good job without his (their) father. I thank you that as my father you love and care for me so much that I do not need to fear. I thank you that as you said in your word, you will never leave us or forsake us. I also know that you will supply our needs. Father when days come, when the un-forgiveness seem to be coming back, help me to remember that I confessed and you forgave me and that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I thank you father that you have the whole world in your hands- great big strong hands and hence you have me and my child/children (insert names) in your hands as well. I move forward this day with all the power you have given me and I will not stop or look back until I have accomplished my goal. In Jesus name Amen.

Please feel free to make your comments or ask questions.

In His Purpose

Vilma

A gift from God?

In this post I will attempt to answer a question that I believe many mothers are asking after reading the previous two posts, A question that is reverberating in their heads but no one else seem to be hearing it. As a matter of fact they prefer not to say it, because they are afraid that they will seem too simple, too different too human. Over these many years I have learnt that if one person has a question, more than likely a number of people have the same question. So I will ask me the question on behalf of Jane, Jean, Jennifer, Janice and Joan. Are children still considered gifts from God, if you were raped, or perhaps you were not raped, but un-married, what if he was married but to someone else at the time, What if it was a “one night stand”, what happens if I was tricked into believing he loved me, but after the baby came he found the exit sign? Are you saying that these children are still gifts from God?  As painful as this may be I must say yes they are.  Let us look at two key verses. The first of these verses we looked at in an earlier post.

Psalm 127: 3-5 (NIV)  ³ Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him.  ⁴ like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth.  ⁵ Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.

I have read this verse in various translations and none of these translations had “some” before the word sons or before the word children. Hence these children are not set a part they are all inclusive.  The second verse that I want to look at is:
John 10:10 -The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have [it] more abundantly. (NIV)

The devil cannot give life, he can only destroy it. Satan cannot create he will try to make imprints of what is already created, the gift of life is something that he will never be able to do
To fully explain let me take you back to Christmas time. You have just completed all you’re shopping. Your gifts are wrapped neatly and hidden in the closet. Perhaps in Jane’s situation the intended person for the gift she had wrapped so nicely became so anxious that he just could not wait until Christmas morning and before you know it he peeked at the gift. Maybe in Jean’s case before she could get the gift in the closet some body grabbed at it and ripped the paper off without thought or care then walked away and left it exposed. For Jennifer, perhaps you both decided, why wait until Christmas day, let’s do Christmas earlier and together you opened your gifts. OK Janice, I get your situation, you both opened the gift before Christmas, but when he saw it, he decided that was not the gift he really wanted. Or perhaps in your case Joan you waited until Christmas morning, together you both carefully un-wrapped the gift and are both excited with what you see. Anyway somewhere along the line things started to become a bit tiresome, you did not realize that it would take so much work to maintain the gift, maybe you have to mow the lawn, do some painting, pay the bills and one person gets so tired and then decide I can’t do this anymore and walks away leaving you alone to take care of everything. In all these scenarios the fact that they were all gifts has not changed.  Consider this, these gifts themselves are inanimate objects, unable to talk, plea or refused to be exposed. They were completely defenseless.

 In the case of Jane and Jennifer, this could equate to a person who had a child before marriage, In Jean’s case this could be seen as a person being raped or an incestuous relationship. With Janice’s case it could equate to two people agreeing to have a child and not being married but after the baby came the father walks away because it was not the boy he expected, or the color he wanted. In the case of Joan, she got married and they both had a baby but along the way, the father decided this is too much work, not what he anticipated, your marriage starts to fall apart and then he asks for a divorce and you are left all alone.  I could come up with so many other scenarios all in essence causing anxiety, bitterness, disappointment, guilt, unhappiness.  But let us think about it these babies had no voice, they could not make a decision, they were defenseless.

Moving on is easier said than done. You however must move forward and start to reprogram your mind and ask God what is the purpose of this gift. How can these situations work for the good?  In my next post I will address the process of forgiveness, because we cannot effectively pray for our children with hearts full of un-forgiveness and bitterness.

So, ladies you may now exhale, the question is asked and the answer is clear. I cannot add or subtract from the word of God. His word is the same yesterday, today and forever.

Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him.  ⁴ like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth.  ⁵ Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.

So how should I pray?

Let’s try this: Father I thank you for this gift of motherhood. Forgive me for doubting your word. Help me to reprogram my thinking so that I will see my gift as innocent and not a contributor to how it was handle and the condition in which it arrived.  Help me to focus on caring and correctly using this gift in such a way to bring you glory and honor. Forgive me of the many times that I try to take out my aggression on these innocent children. Help me stop saying- “you are just like your no-good father” but to see them in your image as being fearfully and wonderfully made.  I ask for wisdom to grow them in such a way that they will not repeat these scenarios when they get older. Grant me the patience to move forward in Jesus’ name Amen.

In his purpose

Vilma

What makes mothers so special

As established in my last post, it is important as mothers, not just to say we pray for our children, but to know how to correctly pray for them.  I advocated that we 1. Pray continuously, and offensively. That is praying before something happens and not just when something happens. 2. That we see our children in the light of who they really are according to the word of God and whose they are which will make a big difference in our prayers. 

Today I want to divert our attention to Mothers. First of all I want us to think of the word mother as more of a functional word rather than a mere title. As I look through the scriptures I have come to realize how very special mothers are to God. To fully illustrate this let us look at Isaiah 66:13.

The King James Version reads “As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem."
Israel had fallen into apostasy, and Isaiah prophesied about their captivity and also about their redemption and restoration. In chapters 58-66:24, Isaiah talks of Israel finding comfort in their future glory.  For them to fully understand the depth of this comfort he likens it that the comfort that a mother gives to her child. This is so awesome to know that God thinks so highly of the capability of a mother to comfort her children. The word mother is translated as bond like “the bond in the family” The word comforted is translated as “to console or to pity”

Mothers we are the bond that keeps our family intact. We also have the ability to console our family in whatever situation that they may find themselves. You are able to do something that God holds as a standard for Israel when they needed to get the depth of God’s love and concern for them.

Let us look also at Isaiah 49:15
It reads: Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.
 Woman: female
Sucking child here means a babe/baby.
Compassion: to love, (to find, have, obtain, or show) mercy, to have pity
Womb: the belly, also the bosom or body of anything

On the other hand God is saying can a female forget about her baby and not show love, mercy and pity to someone that came from her belly? As hard as this is to happen, there is a possibility that they may but I will not forget you Israel. Again God hold up a standard of love but he also shows that as high as a mother’s standard of love and compassion is, His love and compassion is greater.

Are you starting to see how highly God things about mothers?   Here is another verse that I want to share with you:

John 19:26-27
When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Dear woman, here is your son," and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

Jesus thought so highly of his own mother that even at the time of his death He forgot about what He was going through to focus on his mother and his disciple John.  I believe that Jesus knowing the capacity of love, compassion and care that he had experienced from his mother, wanted this to extend to his beloved disciple John as well as making John aware of the need to be to her the son that He Jesus was to her.

Let us look at other aspects of a Mother.

I believe most of us have heard of the proverbs 31 woman, a mother, wife and friend. I would like for us to look at verse 15

Proverbs 31:15 She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens. (KJV)

So many times you feel like pulling the covers up and going back to sleep, but this is how special you are. You delay going to sleep or you resist the temptation to stay in bed and you get up trying to get a jumpstart on the day, packing lunches, doing the wash, cleaning, paying bills or praying. Can you relate?

Let us look also at:

 Proverbs 10:1 The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.

It would appear that this verse is excluding the mother from feeling happy about her wise son or that the father is not concerned about his son who may act foolish. However I do believe that both parents are affected.   I also believe that the heaviness that it brings to the mother is showing the depth of emotion that she is capable of feeling as in herself she is the one who was responsible for the nurturing of the children. She is the foundation institution and teacher of her children.

Mothers have a unique connection with their children. This unique connection started at conception and as much as fathers can love and care, that period of time being housed or nestled in the womb gives mother a nine month advantage to start the bonding process. Who then is better able to pray for our children than we do?

I am a mother of two grown children, and I can think of so many instances when I may be talking with them on the phone and can tell that something is wrong. My husband has learned to just agree with me now, because he realizes that I have been correct 99% of the time.

So Let us pray: Father I thank you for how much I mean to you and the trust that you have in me to care for this child (or children) you entrusted to me.  Please help me to function in the role as a mother and not just wear the name as a title. I thank you for the capacity of love and mercy that I have within me to love and forgive the things that they may have done that may have caused me hurt,  and at the same time I thank you for the ability to come to their aid when they need consolation and pity. Thank you for the strength to get up at odd times to make the necessary provision for them. Help me to teach them with such diligence that their success will bring gladness to my heart. But if at any time they become foolish by not adhering to what they have taught, help me to know that they will eventually return to it. In Jesus name Amen.

Theme Verses for Prayers of a Mother

Most Christian mothers I am sure will readily say, "oh yes, I do pray for my children every day so this is nothing new". However here's what is new- it really is not just "what" we pray, but really "how" we pray and really "why" we pray.
It is essential to really grasp a sense of the awesome responsibility that God has entrusted to us mothers to raise His Children in such a way to propel them into their destiny. We need to remember that these children do not really belong to us they are God's children (not His grandchildren), and He loves them just as He does all His children. He also has a plan for their lives above your plans. It is good to have aspirations for our children, and as mothers we feel great when they do well in school, with career choices, with their choice of friends or their spouse. However, somewhere in the mix God their father also has a plan for their lives - our heavenly Father more that anything wants to see His children succeed.
Jeremiah 11:29 says this much better than I can.
Here's how the King James puts it:
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end (KJV).
Now let's look at how the New International Version of the Bible puts it:
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (NIV)

I believe that Our Children are a blessing/gift from God and we will need to give an account of how we use, abuse, or misuse this gift. The following are some scriptures that confirms this believe.

 ³ Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him.  ⁴ like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth.  ⁵ Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate. (Psalm 127:3-5 NIV)

⁵ Then Esau looked up and saw the women and children. "Who are these with you?" he asked.  Jacob answered, "They are the children God has graciously given your servant." (Gen. 33:5 NIV)

Romans 14: 12: So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.

Let us look more closely at Psalm 127:3-5.
In the King James Version (KJV) this scripture reads 3. Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. 4. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. 5. Happy is the man that hat his quiver full of them, they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

What does  it mean that Children are an heritage of the Lord  The word heritage means to inherit, inheritance, possession. Therefore lets us see our children as an inheritance that God has given to us.
Some people see their inheritance as something that comes easy and hence they tend to squander it, and before long it is all gone and you are left with nothing, (like the prodigal son (Luke 15) some invest it wisely so that it will continue to yield more and last longer. Then there are those who complain about their inheritance that it is too small an inheritance and see it as having little or no value.  How does this apply to our children - If you allow your children just to do whatever they want to do and you do not take the time to nurture and teach them then you are squandering your inheritance. If you call them names that discredit or fosters low self esteem then you are squandering your inheritance. When we start to compare our children with other children, and wish that ther skin was lighter or darker, that there noses were straigter or wider, their hair was straighter or curlier, that it should be a boy not a girl or vice versa, we are saying that our inheritance is too small and we are unhappy about it. When you do the best to nurture, teach, correct, discipline, praise, encourage and support them, then we are wisely investing our inheritance.
How do you see your gift or inheritance?
The verse continues in the KJV to say: The fruit of the womb is his reward. Fruit here means "bear or "bring forth" Reward means "compensation" or "benefit" put another way what we bring forth from our womb is a benefit or compensation from God.

The fact that you are a mother means that God thought so highly of you that he compensated or rewarded you with a child or children.

Verse 4 says "As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth."  arrows here means shaft of a spear, dart, staff, wound. Mighty men- refers to warriors. A spear is used by warriors to defend them against the enemies. However they will first need to know how to use the spear correctly. Our children especially in their youth, are therefor our defender against our enemies, but we need to know how to use them properly to fulfill this duty. As verse 5 ends " they shall not be ashamed (confounded,disappointed) but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

Here is what our prayer should be:
Father I thank you for rewarding me with this child(ren) as an inheritance. I recognize father that you do not do anything that is not well thought out. So I realize that I am able to do this job as you strenthens me. I will teach, nurture, encourage, discipline in love and support my child (ren) representing a wise investment of my inheritance. In the end father they will yield so much more by their choices of friends, careers, and spouses. Forgive me of trying to exchange my inheritance for something that looks more attractive, or for squandering my inheritance like a foolish woman. I also realize that they are also your children and that you love them much more than I ever could. I thank you that you have a plan for them just as you have for me. So please help me to seek you as I put my plans into place, to make sure that my plans line up with your plans for their life. In the end father, I will be happy to give an account to you about my reward. In Jesus name Amen.

Please post your questions or comments.