As a mom, my business is my family. That means that approximately 100 percent of my day I spend thinking about and working for my family. Sometimes the worries stack up as I think about the stress my husband goes through at work, the constant squabbles and needs of my two kids, and about bringing a new baby into the family.
Prayer is a major weapon that I sometimes let collect dust. Especially when I am tired or overdone with my business of family, my prayers consist of the two minutes I can manage to fit in before I drift off to sleep at night. Usually, I don’t make it very far, and I say the same things over and over. But if prayer is a major weapon, wouldn’t it be worth a little time and effort to make it my number one business?
There are lots of things vying for our time and attention every day. If prayer is the last thing on our list, then we are not fulling taking advantage of what God has for us. I want to claim the promises God has for me and my family, and he will give them to me if I just ask.
These three books (shown below) have made a huge difference in my prayers recently, because a lot of times I struggle with only asking God for what I desperately want in that very moment. Especially when it comes to my family, I find myself asking God to keep us happy, healthy, and successful. While there is nothing wrong with that per se, there is so much more to prayer! I have learned that reading and praying scripture will help me align myself with God and what he wants for me. I trust that what God wants for my family is better than what I want myself.
The first book shown, “The Power of a Praying Wife,” is such a valuable resource for a wife who doesn’t know how to specifically pray for her husband. Husbands have struggles that we will never know or understand as wives because we don’t see things the same way they do. I am thankful for this book because it walks a wife through the specific challenges a man faces day-to-day, the doubts he feels, and the inadequacies that he may never think to share with his wife. Instead of prayers to change or fix your husband, these prayers invoke the promises of the Bible for our husbands, calling him by God’s power to be the man God created him to be. I want to pray this group of prayers for my husband and our marriage at least once a year.
The second book shown, “Praying through your Pregnancy,” has been such a gift to me, helping me treasure (or at least ride out) the highs and lows of pregnancy. What I like most about this book is that it goes week by week, breaking down the development of your baby as it grows. Along with prayers for the baby as it develops, the author also leads you through specific scripture-based prayers for your baby’s spiritual growth as well. I’ve enjoyed recording these prayers and my other thoughts in a journal as the weeks go by. It is so fun to think about and pray for the baby each week, and my other two kids have enjoyed doing this as well!
The last book, “Praying through the Bible for your Kids,” I am currently working through. This book is a read through the Bible in one year plan, with a focus on praying the scriptures read each day over your children. While going through this book, I have been challenged to not just pray for my children to do all the right things, be successful, and stay away sin and temptations, but to have a real focus on the heart, which only God can change. As a parent, worrying about my kids will only go so far. Thankfully, my children have a heavenly Father who loves them even more than I do. He is the only one who can save them and the things I do are microscopic compared to the overwhelming love of God. I must focus on praying that my children will know and respond to that love.
Because my business is my family, prayer should be my number one business. I could spend all day running myself ragged trying to solely meet the needs of my husband and children. While that is partially my role, I can’t try to take over God’s role in my family. Instead of trying to do it all myself, I want to go to God first whenever there is a disagreement, concern, or need. These books have guided me along the way, teaching me to pray things that I never would have thought to pray, and I hope they help you too!