Monday Morning with the Lord

My sweet friend, Kimberly over at A Planting of the Lord is setting aside a time for prayer and fasting this week, for herself and other mothers. She is asking the Lord to restore her confidence, her joy and contentment in her mothering. She loves her girls very much, but has been under attack in this area. I know several mothers who are also struggling on the spiritual battle field in this area.

Anger, Irritation, Discontentment and Selfishness, Laziness, Anxiety and even Depression are some of the battles of the mind that we all fight, at some time or another, as mothers. The devil rages against us, because he knows what an important job we have in training up our little ones and instilling in them a love for the Lord. We can feel like we are fighting all of hell, sometimes. And indeed we are. Ephesians 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places]. That is why we are told to put on the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:13-18)
Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand
Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints--
And to guard our hearts and minds and to think on things which are True, Nobel, Right, Pure, Lovely, Admirable, and Praise worthy. (Philippians 4:8)
We are called to ....Cast down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5)

The Lord knew what we would be up against in our day to day lives. Remember -He lived it. He walked here among us and fought the same temptations, but NEVER gave into them. And although we will never be perfect, as He was, until the day returns, we strive everyday to be more "Christ-like." So, I prayerfully joined Kimberley this morning to petition for every mother the Lord brought to my mind, myself included. I prayed that our love would be evident and overflow onto our children. I prayed for the Lord to restore a loving and tender heart within each of us. I asked Him to pour His grace over our actions and that His love and grace might be evident in our gentleness. -Lord, help us to live in this world, but not be of this world. Amen

I felt led to join Kimberly prayerfully in this, because it seems to be a reoccurring theme for many of my friends, lately. And I believe where the Lord tells us in His word...Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. (James 5:16) And in (1 Peter 4:8) Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. And (Matthew 18:20) For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

As, I prayed and fasted this morning, I asked the Lord to reveal to me what word He had for me in this area. I prayed the scripture from Hosea 10:12 Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers righteousness on you. Break up the ground of my heart, and remove anything that would hinder my growth in you oh Lord. And here is what He said....

If I am to be effective as a mother, friend and prayer warrior in this area, I am to be obedient to Him first and foremost. I must attend to my own house, first. I can not expect Him to help me in this area, if I am not doing what I know I should to help myself. Which all begins with preparation. I prepare to set out and have a successful day as a wife, mother and homemaker, by beginning in His word. If that means I have to rise a little earlier than I normally would to ensure that my attitude is in check and I am bathed in prayer, then that's what I need to do. I don't know about you, but I don't always wake up all bright and sunny. But, if I am to set the tone of my household and greet my children warmly each morning, then I need to shake the sleepiness off and prepare my heart, mind and attitude with prayer and scripture.

And then, I must attend to making sure my family gets off to a good start. I can not jump into my own selfish pursuits and fun things I want to get to in the day with out making sure their bellies are fed, and I have spent time reading a Bible story or scripture to them over breakfast, or even sung one of our little praise songs with them. (They need me to model and instill in them the importance of time with the Lord.) I need to make sure that my honey has clean clothes and towels laid out for him the night before. (This is something I have been slacking on and need to work on in order to help him have a good morning.) Instead of starting right away on house work, or my reading or computer time, I need to make sure I have spent adequate quality time with each of my children. There should be plenty of hugs and kisses, a book or two, and time for play time with them in the floor, before I brush them off to attend to things that need to be done, or that I want to get done. If I do these things first, I can cut down on some of the chaos and irritation. I have the power to set the tone, early on, for our day.

If this is an area close to your heart, I encourage you to join us, and set aside a time of prayer and fasting this week. I truly believe that together, we can be victorious. We can take back our homes and not only be the wives and mothers we want to be, but through preparing our hearts and minds, we can step closer each day in becoming the Biblical portrait of the women God calls each of us to be. I love you and I am praying for you all this week. ~Blessings my friends!