A Prayer For Moms - A Prayer For Strength and Help - Psalm 28:7 - Wednesday, May 18, 2016

To honor moms during the Month of May, I'm posting prayers especially for moms! The plan is to pray through a different Psalm each week. I pray it ministers to you in a special way! Thank you for all you do! This week here's a prayer for you through Psalm 28:7.

Psalm 28:7 

Heavenly Father, I thank You for Your truth, for building me up and daily transforming me as a mom and as Your Daughter as I read Your truth and pray through it. I thank You and praise You for Who You are,  for loving me unconditionally and for being my strength through the good and the bad days. Thank You Father! 

The Lord is my strength and my shield;

Father, I'm overwhelmed sometimes with the weight of responsibilities. 

Sometimes I feel vulnerable and weak...and a bit battle worn on those especially tough parenting days!

Thank You for being my true source of strength.

As I work to dodge arrows that are shot at me from the evil one...

The arrows of negativity and self doubt...

The arrows of negative self image and worth...

The arrows that are full of lies...

and many more...

Thank You for being my shield...my protector and deflecting the numerous attacks. 

I praise You because You are my strength and shield and cannot make it through the tough times or good times without You!

in him my heart trusts, and I am helped;

I confess that sometimes I put my trust in myself, other people, my circumstance and more.

I forget Who You are and all You've done and continue to do in my life and the lives of others.

I sometimes let the hurts I've experienced in my past or present cloud the truth that You are good and trustworthy. 

I confess that sometimes I over-identify with the wrong actions of my children as if it's my fault they choose to do the opposite of how I've  taught them...Help my heart trust in Your truth and know the wrong actions truly don't define me as I work hard as a mom...they are just growth moments in time. 

Help me to continue to love my children even through tough circumstances but separate my identity from their actions as I trust in You because I find my identity in and through Christ alone. 

I thank You that I can put my trust in You fully and I ask for Your help through Your Holy Spirit to trust in You at all times as a first response and not as a last resort. 

All You are and all You continue to do in my life cannot be cataloged as it's too numerous but please help me like the times of old recall Your Goodness, Your Help in the good and hard times. In my heart and mind may You build an "altar" of remembrance so when I go through the circumstances of life...I'll always remember where my help comes from.

Shape my heart oh Lord to trust in You always and remember that it's in You that I find my help. 

my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.

Father,  I praise You. My heart is overwhelmed and overjoyed by Your love and grace for me! 

Help me experience Your joy and help me to lift up a song to You in praise and worship through the day-to-day as I walk with You. 

I give You thanks for Who You are. 

I give You thanks for Your provision each day.

I give You thanks for Your Word that I may be instructed on how to live successfully for Your Kingdom and Glory as Your servant.

I give thanks to You for Your helper, Your Holy Spirit's guidance and residency in my life. 

I give You thanks for the life You've blessed me with. 

I thank You for my children.

I thank You for my family.

I thank You for the sometimes daunting but blessed privilege it is to be a mom.

I thank You again for the privilege of being a mom especially as I think of dear friends who haven't yet had the privilege or cannot. Help me to never take it for granted. 

I thank You for the glory I can bring You through being a mom. 

I thank You for the strength You give me when I have none - especially during the time when I'm at the end of my rope with parenting issues. 

I thank You for the numerous blessings You've heaped upon me. 

Most of all I thank You for Your Love and Salvation. 

I praise You and thank You and I ask all these things in His Name, Amen.

In Christ Alone,

rlk

Share this truth with someone today: God is my true source of strength and help. Read Psalm 28:7 #ashepherdsheart ashepherdsheart.org 

PS. If this post was of encouragement to you...consider sharing it with others whom you believe will be encouraged by it! Thanks! 

A Prayer for Wisdom for being slow to speak and quick to listen...

Heavenly Father, help us to have wisdom to know when to speak and when to wait to speak and simply listen. Help us also in times of debate or arguments to be careful to not respond with words of anger as words are really hard to take back. I also think of the old saying, "sticks and stones may break my bones but words may never hurt me."  although I understand the sentiment...this statement is really a lie because words spoken in anger, etc stick with us and it takes a long time to heal! You teach us that our words can be a blessing or a curse... They can bring life or death to the hearer so help us speak words of blessing and life or not at all. This isn't to pray or say we will never have to work things out but it is to circle back around to the need for us to be slow to speak and quick to listen.... So we can speak words of wisdom, life and blessing when it's time to speak...until then, let us learn to be good listeners. These things are not easy so we really need Your help! 

 In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

#truth #wisdom #life #listen #blessing

3 Things a Son needs to hear from his Father

A few years ago I was blessed to participated in a class called The Quest for Authentic Manhood - which I highly recommend.

There were three things Robert Lewis suggests a son needs to hear from His Father. These three things as well as many more have stuck with me and I work to try and communicate these things to the sons God has blessed me with!

3 Things a Son needs to hear from his Father:

I Love You..
I am Proud of you.
You are Good at...

This list is just a starter list - but it is a great start! Furthermore if you look at the relationship of God the Father and God the Son in the New Testament, you'll see that God the Father expressed these same things to His Son Jesus, (God the Son) as suggested in the above list! (Check out the Gospels like the Gospel of Matthew for examples)

I share this list because it's important and in the context of the class the focus was on fathers and sons relationships and fathers doing significant things to bless their sons.

Now, I would also add that dads should express these things to their daughters as well and moms should also express these things to there daughters and sons.

The more parents who reinforce these things and affirm and build-up their children the better!

So, take this list and start implementing it now, keep adding to the list, and never forget these three!

My kids are still young and I've done this in writing and verbally but it's also important to mention that if your children are grown-up and off into adulthood, it's never too late to start blessing your children! Take time now to communicate to them in person and or in writing, (or both!) these things! You will bless them and whether they'd admit it or not, your sons, your children hunger for your love, support, and belief in them. If you can do this in person that would be best and following it up with a written note would be awesome!

In closing, I'd love to hear your stories about how you shared this with your children and their response. Please come back to this blog and leave a comment so you can bless others by your example and experience.

God Bless as you Seek Him!

rlk