What Are You Looking For?

Dear friends,

This morning one of my adult daughters called me, needing some information for a medical test she was about to have. I could tell from her voice that she was a bit stressed out about it, so I promised to pray for her. I don't usually do this, but I went into my bedroom, closed the door, and knelt in front of my rocking chair, leaning forward. A few moments later, my nine year old daughter Naomi walked in and asked, "What are you looking for?" She must have thought I lost my tweezers in the crack of the chair or something. But it was a good question anyway. It made me think, "What was I looking for in prayer?" The answer?  Peace, health, and help for my precious daughter.

I am trying to become more faithful in praying regularly for each of my children. I pray for each of them often as I think of them, but I would like to be more intentional, so I decided to pray for two of them (and older one and a younger one) more in-depth each day -- Mary and Andrew on Monday, Julia and Micah on Tuesday, etc. I'm not always faithful with this, but that's my goal.

My teenage son is reading the biography of the great missionary to China, Hudson Taylor, for this English assignment. Raised in a devout Christian home with much Bible reading and prayer, Hudson somehow managed to stray from the faith during his teen years while working at the bank. An eye ailment forced him to return home for months for recovery. During this time, he happened to pick up an evangelistic booklet, promising himself that he would only read the interesting story at the beginning and then set it down when it got to the inevitable religious part. However, he was so fascinated that he forgot and read the whole thing. The Holy Spirit worked in his heart to trust in Christ's finished work on the cross for his salvation.  Unbeknownst to Hudson, his mother, who had been away for weeks visiting her sister, had been gripped with a desire to pray fervently for her son that very day. After several hours of praying, a sense of peace came over her and she was certain her son had become a Christian. Some time later, he mistakenly picked up his younger sister Amelia's notebook, thinking it was his own, and read a notation that she had been praying every day for his salvation for a month prior to his conversion.

Hudson Taylor became quite a prayer warrior himself. A few of his quotes on prayer...

"I have found that there are three stages in every great work of God: first, it is impossible, then it is difficult, then it is done."

"Do not have your concert first, and then tune your instrument afterwards. Begin the day with the Word of God and prayer, and get first of all into harmony with Him."

"You must GO forward on your knees."

Want to read more quotes about prayer from the saints of yesteryear?  Click here: Got Prayer?

Dear fellow mothers, let us pray for our children!

Read: Amy Carmichael's poem "A Parent's Prayer" along with some Scriptures and ideas for what to pray about here "Praying for Your Children."

Read: "A Mother's Seeds" poem.

Blessings,

Virginia Knowles

http://www.comewearymoms.blogspot.com/