Pray Without Ceasing.

Parents, the greatest battle we can wage for our children is on our knees.  Our mini me’s need the shield of protection we provide them through prayer.

Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-17, “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

With school schedules and the busyness of fall in full swing, it is easy to feel overtaken by day-to-day life.  The enemy wants us to feel too exhausted to talk with God.  Our lives have been especially stressful with my mom’s recent diagnosis of cancer.

Last night, my family went to see “To Joey, With Love,” which is the very sweetly produced documentary of Joey and Rory Feek’s love story.  We bought tickets for the movie long before we had heard of mom’s diagnosis.  It was so well done and a poignant reflection of the Feek’s unwavering faith in God’s plan.  When the movie was over and the screen went dark, no one in the theater said a word.  No one even moved for a few minutes.  There was just a somber silence.

Then quietly, everyone filed out of the very full theater.  When we crawled into the car to go home, my youngest mini me broke.  She cried and cried, because she was fearful of what lies ahead for my mom.  Oh, my mama heart hurt to watch my baby girl’s tears fall so relentlessly.

We held her, rocked her and try to soothe her.  She did not want to talk even though we tried to coax her into sharing more of what was on her heart.  She simply wanted to come home, shower and go to bed.  We prayed together, and my older daughter even managed to get a few laughs out of her before we finally turned out her light and closed her door.  I reminded her to talk with God while she was snuggled into her bed.

She said, “Mama, but I don’t know what to say.”

I told her that even if you sometimes don’t have the words to say, just speak from the heart and He will listen.  God knows our hearts, because He created us with loving care and detail.  I lay in bed last night and prayed for my girls, asking God’s protection and comfort.

This morning, she gave me a sleepy hug and said she felt better.

“I prayed last night, mama,” she said.  “I didn’t know what to say, but I told God to listen to my heart.”  That, friends….that is the best battle strategy that Prince Charming and I can model and teach our girls. Pray.  Pray when things are going well.  Pray when life feels tough.  Pray without ceasing.  God is listening.