Prayers from home

I am currently reading through Seasons of a Mother's Heart by Sally Clarkson and I am finding it extraordinarily helpful. Sally Clarkson and her husband run an established ministry for home-schooling families and, although this book is directed at home-schooling mums, it has a lot to say to those just need encouragement in their mothering, whether or not they home school.

She splits the book into the four seasons namely, Spring, season of renewal; Summer, season of response; Fall, season of resolve; Winter, season of reflection. She takes each in turn and offers wise counsel on such things as finding joy in our children and where God has placed us, bringing our desires into line with God's will, building our house, discipling our children. She uses examples from her experience of raising four children and writes like a good friend or older sister.

One chapter I found especially helpful was on the importance of praying for our children. How easy it is to be anxious about how our kids will turn out, whether they will love God and know to do the right thing, worrying about if we are doing enough to make this happen. Instead we should divert our energies from worry into prayer: not only is this the most important thing we can do for our children, but God will use it to bring us peace. Sally writes:

The more time I spend with my Father in prayer, the better prepared I will be to help my children. And even more important, the more I can rest in the Lord knowing, by faith, that my children are in his hands. When I can trust in God's providence, draw on his grace, join in the spiritual battle through prayer, and praise his name, all the other things I do as a mother seem to pale in significance. The more I grow as a mother, the more I grow convinced that the most important impact I will ever have on my children will be through my prayers for them.

Sometimes I feel like I have fallen to my knees out of exhaustion, tiredness, or frustration. But no matter what has brought me to my knees, that is right where God wants me. It is only from being on my knees in prayer that I will have the strength and assurance to stand up and keep going as a mother. The battle belongs to the Lord. Amen!

I whole-heartedly recommend this book. Whether you happen to be home-schooling or not, it will encourage you in your motherhood mission.

More about prayer...

Yet it is not an easy thing to pray. There is a price to be paid, a price of curbed freedom, of resolute concentration, of agonizing supplication. Prayer is the acid test of devotion. To stay in the presence of God and to wait upon him, bearing your soul to His searching gaze, costs everything. The one who prays must be transformed. Prayer must make him holier, purer, more Christ-like. Prayer is a purifying medium.

Colin Peckham, from Sounds from Heaven, The Revival on the Isle of Lewis 1949-1952.

If God Already Knows, Why Pray?

It's not often these days that I have a "eureka moment" but recently it happened to me while I was reading a book about prayer. You probably know the feeling; you read something and suddenly something previously obtuse becomes crystal-clear. Now I've read a few books on prayer in my time, and some of them were quite good. But If God Already Knows Why Pray by Douglas Kelly is definitely the one of the best.

It is written in a very readable style, full of excellent illustrations and helpful stories. Dr Kelly follows the structure of the Lord's prayer and answers the question he poses in the book's title. He first deals with "If God already knows" under the headings of "Prayer depends on who God is", "Prayer and the praise of God" and "Prayer and the purposes of God". The next section deals with the "why pray", because "Prayer changes us" and "Prayer changes others". Part 3 then talks about "Our problems and God's solutions", discussing "The challenge to persevere", "Wrestling in prayer" and "When God appears to say no".

The section I found most helpful (and the source of my personal revelation!) discussed the divine initiative in prayer. Dr Kelly explains how

"God has specifically chosen to use the prayers of His saints (which they base on His written word) for His name to be glorified and His will to be done."

I believed this to be true in my head, but this did not energise me when it actually came down to the praying. Dr Kelly goes on to explain how

"effective prayers start in heaven and are sent down to us by God himself"

and after reading this section I really started to understand what this means.

"The risen Christ is interceding for us in heaven (Hebrews 7:24-28). The Spirit is there with Him, because the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are always together. And that same Spirit 'also helps us in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered' (Romans 8:26).

The Spirit leaves the throne where Jesus is praying and comes down into the believer's heart where he begins to re-echo the intercessions of Jesus. It is as though the Holy Spirit places a mirror inside our hearts and turns it in such a direction that it reflects back to heaven the deepest desires of the interceding Christ."

Eureka! Well, for me at least. If you feel you need some insights to fire up your prayer life, then read this book. Be warned, your prayers may never be the same again.

Helpful Resources

Over at Revive Our Hearts there are some useful resources available for downloading and printing. Here are some, but you can find more here.

• 10 Reasons You Can't Afford Not to be Hospitable
• A Call to Biblical Womanhood
• Biblical Portrait of Womanhood
• Men & Women: Similarities & Differences
• 10 Questions for Explore & Understand a Church
• 31 Days of Praying for Your Pastor
• 31 Days of Praying for Your Pastor's Wife
• Follow the Leaders
• 15 Ways to Please Your Husband
• 30 Day Husband Encouragement Challenge
• 31 Days of Praying for Your Husband
• Personal "Hedges"
• Mirror Mirror On the Wall: The Decision to Live Your Life for God's Glory
• Sexual Purity
• 23 Great Questions to Ask Your Kids
• 12 Ways to Pray for Your Child's Future Mate
• 15 Ways to Make Prayer a Natural Part of Family Life
• 31 Biblical Virtues to Pray for Your Children
• How's Your Love Life?

Chopsticks

A couple of days ago one of our church missionaries who is home on furlough, spoke to us at our mothers group. She and her husband have served with Overseas Missionary Fellowship for 21 years and they spend much of their time travelling throughout South-east Asia. She gave us an insight into the work that she and her husband are involved in, and as she finished she urged us to pray for a number of issues. She used the analogy of a set of chopsticks: you can't pick up food with only one chopstick - you must use them both. Similarly, in the work of missions, you need both the missionary out in the field and people at home praying.

This got me thinking about how we can pray specifically for women we know who are serving overseas. I came up with a few ideas, but you may be able to think of more:

• Relationships are so important to women - pray that they will make good and lasting friendships in their cross-cultural situation.
• Pray for them as they carry out day to day tasks in a different culture, perhaps without the amenities we take for granted.
• Pray that they will be free from anxiety about health issues, particularly if they are in a situation where healthcare is poor and health screening is non-existent.
  
• For single women, pray for any who are wrestling with the possibility that their mission service may mean they never marry.
• Pray for women working in a situation where there is a lack of male leadership.
  
• Pray for women with families who may be educating their children at home or facing the painful prospect of sending their children away for schooling.
• For women who have ageing parents left in their home country, pray they might have wisdom and peace about their situation.

Image courtesy of ZoofyTheJi, stock.xchng

The Gift of Gifts

Like many of you, I'm finding this week running up to Christmas somewhat busy. Such is the clutter of Christmas that it is hard to find time to write thoughtful posts, but it's also difficult to find time for thoughtful prayers.

At busy times like this it's helpful to have something to aid our worship. We've previously recommended the book, The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions, and this morning I'd like to leave you with one of these prayers which helps us to focus on the centrality of Christmas: the incarnation.

The Gift of Gifts

O SOURCE OF ALL GOOD,
What shall I render thee for the gift of gifts,
thine own dear Son, begotten, not created,
my redeemer, proxy, surety, substitute,
his self-emptying incomprehensible,
his infinity of love beyond the heart's grasp.

Herein is wonder of wonders:
he came below to raise me above,
was born like me that I might become like him.
Herein is love:
when I cannot rise to him he draws near on wings on grace,
to raise me to himself.
Herein is power;
when Deity and humanity were infinitely apart
he united them in indissoluble unity, the uncreated and the created.
Herein is wisdom;
when I was undone, with no will to return to him,
and no intellect to devise recovery,
he came, God-incarnate, to save me to the uttermost,
as man to die my death
to shed satisfying blood on my behalf,
to work out a perfect righteousness for me.

O God, take me in spirit to watchful shepherds, and
enlarge my mind;
let me hear good tidings of great joy,
and hearing, believe, rejoice, praise, adore,
my conscience bathed in an ocean of repose,
my eyes lifted to a reconciled Father;
place me with ox, donkey, camel, goat,
to look with them upon my redeemer's face,
and in him account myself delivered from sin;
let me with Simeon clasp the new-born child to my heart,
embrace him with undying faith,
exulting that he is mine and I am his.
In him thou hast given me so much that heaven can give no more.

Mission Focussed

This past weekend our church focussed on missions and we were privileged to have John Brand, the UK director of the Africa Inland Mission speak at our Sunday services. I have to confess that often I find mission services uncomfortable and challenging and this one was no exception. John Brand's message in the morning was entitled "Take an i test" and he explored Matthew 9:36-38, with three main points: "Are you informed?", "Are you impacted?" and "Are you involved?".

He asked us if we made an effort to keep abreast of what is going on in other nations. In particular, do we have a copy of "Operation World" and do we use it? At this point, I had to think to myself, "Now which shelf is our copy on?". He went on to ask if what we read or hear about other nations has an impact on us or do we let it wash over us - does it change the way we pray, give or spend our time? Thirdly, we are all called to be involved in mission work, without exceptions. Obviously, not all of us will go to work overseas, but have we given this possibility serious consideration? If we do not go ourselves, are we following Christ's command in Matthew 9:38 and praying that labourers will be sent out? Are we giving sacrificially of our time and money?

My first reaction to these challenges was to feel that I barely have time to pray for the needs of those immediately around me so I struggle to pray for mission work more than once in a while. But as with so many things, it comes down to discipline. Can I honestly say I don't have a spare 5 or 10 minutes each day to bring the work of missions before God in prayer?

I've been trying to think of ways I can do this, and one thing I am now doing is praying for our missionaries with my two year old daughter - we've been going two days now and so far so good! Yesterday, we got the atlas out and looked for the country that one of our missionaries works in. We talked about how she got there and what she is doing. Then we prayed a short prayer for her. I'm also going to get my copy of Operation World off the shelf and put it in the kitchen, so I can read it and pray while I'm making dinner or clearing up. If you don't have a copy of Operation World, you can go to their website for information on today's country.

Your life circumstances are no doubt different from mine, but we are all called to be involved in mission work, even if we stay at home.

"Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest." Matt 9:38

George Muller: Delighted in God

I have recently read a biography of George Muller by Roger Steer with the subtitle "Delighted in God". This is a fascinating book about a remarkable man and I highly recommend it.

George Muller was born in Prussia in 1805. He became a Christian at the age of twenty and travelled to London in 1829. He soon moved to Devon and became the minister of a Brethren chapel but he is most famous for the work he began when he moved to Bristol in 1832. At this time there was virtually no provision by the State for orphaned children from the poorest families and they were doomed to live their childhood begging on the street or consigned to the workhouse. Muller decided to open an orphanage in Bristol saying:

"I certainly did from my heart desire to be used by God to benefit the bodies of poor children , bereaved of both parents, and seek, in other respects, with the help of God, to do them good for this life...but still, the first and primary object of the work was that God might be magnified by the fact that the orphans under my care are provided with all they need, only by prayer and faith, without anyone being asked by me or my fellow-labourers, whereby it may be seen that God is faithful still and hears prayers still."

Muller opened his first home for orphans in April 1836 and over the next 63 years, the work expanded until at his death in 1898, there were five homes at Ashley Down in Bristol. Muller received nearly one and a half million pounds to fund his work, a staggering figure in this era. Throughout his life, Muller and his associates did not ask anyone for a single penny. Indeed, when times were particularly lean, he cancelled public meetings so that he would not be tempted to ask for donations. Many instances where God remarkably provided for Muller's work are retold in the book and his work still continues today, albeit in a different form.

Towards the end of his life Muller said:

"For nearly seventy years every need in connection with this work has been supplied. The orphans from the first until now, have numbered nine thousand five hundred, but they have never wanted a meal. Never! Hundreds of times we have commenced the day without a penny in hand, but our Heavenly Father has sent supplies the moment they were actually required...During all these years I have been enabled to trust in God, in the living God, and in Him alone."

As I read Muller's story, two things in particular stood out for me. First, the primary goal of Muller's work was that God be glorified. He set out to bring in all the funds required by prayer and faith alone so that the world would see that God is faithful to answer the prayer of his servant. I think that there is a lesson here for us today. As we pray for our family, friends, neighbours and needs, is our underlying desire always that God will be glorified? In fact, is God's glory the motivating desire of our heart in all that we do? As it says in the Westminster Shorter Catechism,

"Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever."

Secondly, this great God who was so faithful to answer the prayers of George Muller is the same great God that we come to today:

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." James 1:17

Praise God that we can bring our prayers great and small before him through his Son Jesus Christ.

"Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Hebrews 4:12

Wishing into Thin Air

While we were out for coffee at our local garden centre last week, I noticed that already they have the Christmas decorations out. One thing in particular caught my eye. In the centre of the display there was a large Christmas tree covered in gift tags. On these tags, various visitors had written their own Christmas wish. Most were from children asking for a train set or doll or whatever the latest toy is. Some were from adults: one person wished for a new job, another for world peace. One wish in particular caught my eye. It was from a mother, and she had written that she wished that her baby son would grow up healthy and strong, and that he would never know unhappiness. She wished that she and his Dad would always be able to provide for him. Understandable sentiments, but something about this "wish-tree" saddened me. It was covered in tags conveying many peoples hopes and dreams but who were these wishes addressed to?

As mothers who trust in Christ, we have no need to write our hopes for our children on Christmas trees as we can bring them before the Living and True God. So how can we focus our prayers on what our children really need, rather than just that they be happy and healthy (although obviously there is nothing wrong with praying for these things as well!). One resource I have found very helpful in enabling me to do this is a booklet called Praying for the Next Generation produced by Desiring God Ministries. In the introduction the author, Sally Michael says,

"How often have we thought through the spiritual inheritance we want to leave our children? Do we pray faithfully not only for them, but also for their children and our grandchildren's children? What better legacy can we leave than prayers prayed for future generations?"

She sets out twelve scriptural topics and lists related Bible verses to use as a springboard for prayer. This has helped me to focus on my children's deeper, spiritual needs in prayer, as well as their material and temporal needs. This booklet can be ordered from Desiring God here (scroll down the list to find it).

Even if we have no children of our own, most of us know children who are dear to us, whether we are related to them or not. By praying for these children we can all be "spiritual mothers"- what a great legacy to leave for future generations!

A Monday Morning Prayer

If you are anything like me, after the 'high' of Sunday, you may find yourself dreading the start of a new week and prayer seems the most challenging of tasks. In such situations, using the prayers of past saints, which are both doctrinally and devotionally rich, can be a helpful spur to the discipline of prayer. Here is one such prayer that I commend to you, tailored specifically for those slow-start mornings. It is taken from The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions. You can access these prayers online here.

Morning Needs

O God, the Author of all good,
I come to Thee for the grace another day
will require for its duties and events.
I step out into a wicked world,
I carry about with me an evil heart,
I know that without Thee I can do nothing,
that everything with which I shall be concerned,
however harmless in itself,
may prove an occasion of sin and folly,
unless I am kept by Thy power.

Hold Thou me up and I shall be safe.
Preserve my understanding from subtilty of error,
my affections from love of idols,
my character from stain of vice,
my profession from every form of evil.
May I engage in nothing in which I cannot implore Thy blessing,
and in which I cannot invite Thy inspection.

Prosper me in all lawful undertakings,
or prepare me for disappointments.
Give me neither poverty nor riches.
Feed me with food convenient for me,
lest I be full and deny Thee and say, Who is the Lord?
or be poor, and steal, and take Thy name in vain.

May every creature be made good to me
by prayer and Thy will.
Teach me how to use the world and not abuse it,
to improve my talents, to redeem my time,
to walk in wisdom toward those without,
and in kindness to those within, to do good to all men,
and especially to my fellow Christians.

And to Thee be the glory.