A Mom Who Acknowledges Answered Prayer

{continuted from previous post}

Because God will answer your prayers, I challenge us to be moms who acknowledge the results of prayer. I think this helps us pray expectantly and it reminds us that we are not doing this on our own. When we watch for God to answer our prayers, and acknowledge the answers when they happen, we see that He is faithful. When we experience His faithfulness we will expect Him to continue being attentive to our prayers. Even if we cannot see anything happening, God is working. Answers might come days, months, or years from now, and in a way we’re not expecting, but God will answer according to His plan. Acknowledging God’s answers to our prayers keeps us humble, too. Did you pray that prayer before you took the kids to the grocery store…and did things go amazingly well? Remind yourself and your kids it wasn’t because you’re supermom…it’s because the Lord answered your prayer, so thank him out loud on the van ride home. Have you prayed diligently for protection for your "wild child" two year old? And did he only rip his fingernail out of the nailbed instead busting out his front teeth and giving himself a concussion when he tipped the jogging stroller? Acknowledge the results of your prayers even when you would have expected something different...like no injury at all. When we look for the answers and results, we become fully aware that it is not our work that is accomplishing things in our families…it is our reliance on God that gets things done and ensures their protection.

{I left the following three paragraphs out of my talk for time's sake, but figured time isn't an issue here :o). This story actually comes from a post I wrote a while back.}

I want to share a quick story about something that happened in our home about a year and a half ago. I don’t share it to make you think that things always play out this nicely for me…believe me, there are many times I’ve offered sarcastic prayers in moments of frustration and dealt with a mess of a situation as a result. There have been times that I’ve been too self reliant to remember to pray and paid the price. This experience, though, turned out to be great example of how things can go when we pray continuously, specifically, and expectantly…and then acknowledge the results. I share it as a call to myself to face this challenge to be a praying mom with renewed fervor.

Just to give a little background, we had a 2 year old in the house for the fourth time in our lives...and it really wasn’t any easier than the previous three experiences…in fact it might have harder. Levi had recently formed a strong opinion about wearing clothing with balls on it...like if it didn't have a ball on it, he's wasn’t wearing it and, once he got it on, he wasn’t taking it off. He had fallen asleep the previous night on the way home from church and, therefore, slept in his clothes, so I felt it somewhat important to change him that morning since he had sat in a puddle of bubbles, hiked the nature center, dribbled milk, and done who knows what else in those clothes the day before. He, of course, did not think taking off the ball sweatshirt was a good idea and proceeded to throw a fit, fighting me tooth and nail about getting dressed. In an effort to reach a compromise, I had taken him up to his room (where Natalie was still sleeping) to see if we could find something he was willing to put on. He continued to fight and, sure enough, he disturbed Natalie, who, of course, flipped out because I couldn't stay up there while she fully woke up because while all of this was going on I was still trying to get Ethan and Karis ready for school and out the door for the bus.

At the time, I had been trying to get myself in the habit each morning of asking Jesus to just wash over our home and help us fight the battle against Satan as we went through our day. Although I had had my quiet time that morning, I hadn't prayed that prayer and, in that moment, knew I needed to because I was ready to lose it. I left both babies screaming in their room and prayed that prayer as I walked out of the room and down the stairs to help Ethan and Karis…waiting to see how the Lord would make this work. As I got breakfast, juice, lunches, etc. ready, Ethan went up the stairs in an effort to calm Natalie down. Levi had made his way down the stairs, half dressed and still crying, and Karis purposefully caught his attention with a few small toys. I hadn't asked them to do this (as I had on some occasions), but it was almost like they knew it would take that big brother/big sister love to change a situation that could have unfolded much differently. Peace settled quickly into the house. I hadn’t expected that God would use Ethan and Karis to answer my prayer, but I know He did. And maybe the most amazing part of it was that when I realized what He had done, I thanked Ethan and Karis for their help and told them that God had used them to answer my prayer. If you could have seen the smiles that crossed their faces...it still gives me chills when I think about it.

I want to leave you with one last verse...perhaps my most favorite on the topic of prayer. In Matthew 18:18 Jesus tells this about prayer: “Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.” He’s given you authority, moms, to impact those eternal souls of your children. I pray that you will do just that.