4 months old and growing too too fast!!

 So here are some pics, although not the best quality, of little William sitting up! Yes, I am the protective Mom waiting to catch him if he falls lol.  The cutie pie decided he likes this truck that his daddy played with when he was a baby.  We aren't sleeping through the night, and we have only been taking thirty minute naps during the day, but oh oh oh how much fun William is...even when Mommy is tired :-) Hope you guys enjoy the pics.  William is still just as sweet as can be! And he adores his dad!

How Amazing!! Prayer!

Let me start by sharing a few things that God’s word has spoken to me about prayer:

“Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way.” 1 Samuel 12:23

When God lays someone or something on your heart and instructs you to pray, it is sin to disobey (by the way, it is sin to disobey God about anything, but I frequently find it easier to sin in this area than some others)

“And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.” Luke 18:1

It must be easy to lose heart and quit praying for one another, otherwise God wouldn’t have reminded us not to!

“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” Romans 8:26

Even when we don’t know what to pray, we have the Holy Spirit praying for us.  Note to self, this is not an excuse to not pray but rather an urging to push forward without fear or worry about not praying the right things. 

“And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding” Colossians 1:9

Prayer geared toward Christ and His Gospel can propel us to not cease.  Whereas, praying for temporary things and such will soon dwindle in excitement and won’t propel us to continue in prayer.

“pray without ceasing” 1 Thessalonians 5:17

Enough said.

“I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling” 1 Timothy 2:8

We should pray because that’s what God wants us to do.  It is our way of communicating with God.  God purchased the right to have our focus and time and energy.  He gave us holy hands through the blood of his Son.  He deserves our prayers.

“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” James 5:16

We are righteous because He made us righteous and our prayers have power through Jesus. 

Ok if you made it this far, thank you.  And now I can share the most awesome thing!  Although I have no clue who reads this thing, I just hope that every now and then God will use it to bless someone. 

God is faithful.  Always.  But sometimes we lose sight of that.  Sometimes we forget.  Sometimes we get caught up in our own unbelief.  Sometimes we don’t try to understand the depth of His faithfulness to us because we are so used to our own unfaithfulness to Him.  God reminded me of His faithfulness today. 

Last Sunday, I was able to worship in the congregation for the first time in a long time.  As you have figured out by now, due to the number of baby pictures on this blog, we have a four month old son.  And in having a four month old son, the last four months have really been an all new experience and the learning curve is more like a steep incline! I’ve not just been learning about mothering, babies, breast feeding, and learning activities, I’ve been learning about who God is and how it’s just not about me! God reminded me of this on last Sunday morning as I got out of my seat to stand and praise Him, my heart was so self-centered.  I was praying for myself and my family.  All about me, me, me.  Until it hit me during a song…there are people I know who are hurting.  Hurting really bad.  And those people are on God’s heart right now! This very moment.  I prayed “God turn my heart from myself and turn it toward the things that are on your heart”.  God promptly laid two families on my heart to pray for.  In tears, I approached God with the needs of these two families.  It had been so long since I’d felt God move me to pray in tears, that my heart was blessed by the outpouring to Him.  I approached the almighty King of the entire Universe for these two families because I knew without a shadow of a doubt that He had them in His hands and He is sovereign over every aspect of their lives.  He knew their needs.  He knew that I needed to direct my attention to Him and His love for His people.  He prompted me to commit to pray for these two families daily.  So when I got home, my prayers for them continued.  As a reminder, I put their initials on my mirror in a room I go through frequently.  So the week progressed and I prayed for them.  Now, I need to confess, I don’t always pray.  I seldom even feel as though God is hearing me.  Praise God that this things ain’t about my feelings! He allowed me to be reminded that He hears.  Today, one person in BOTH of these families requested prayer! BOTH of them! Specifically talked to me about praying for them! Completely not connected to one another! In two totally different time periods of the same day! As powerful as it was to know that God had planned someone to pray for both of these families, it was most amazing to me that God reminded me that He loves His children and works through prayer.  He shows His love for His children by using others to love them also. We love one another by praying for one another.  By being in tune to God’s heart for others and coming to Him with their needs.  He knows their needs before we come.  It’s more for our own good, that He chooses to remind us to pray for one another.  It reminds us that He is in control of it all.  It reminds us that He hears us.  How awesome is the God I serve! How majestic are His ways! Anyway, it was really amazing to me that in a time when my heart was so self-centered, God lovingly turned it to pray for two families, whom in His sovereignty He allowed A WEEK LATER to ask for prayer! How cool is it that God knew their needs before they did AND communicated with someone else! Grace and Peace to you and thanks for reading!