Be Specific!
The author of this brief but timely article on prayer wishes to remain anonymous. She is a personal friend, the Editor having had the pleasure of staying in her and her husband’s home. As you can see, I have called her “Sister Phoebe,” a pen name which, hopefully, will meet with her approval. This is her first article in Focus, and the Editor is grateful for her prayerful and practical interest in the magazine.
Ladies, take note! We do welcome articles from our sisters in the Lord.
If ever we need to pray for our loved ones it is today, and each day. When we send our children off to school, do we faithfully commend them to our Lord? As they leave our homes they go out into a society without morals, having no time for God, no rules or regulations, and an “anything goes” attitude. Do we just quickly pray, “Lord, bless John and Susie today,” and hastily rush them out the door? God has given us our children to love and enjoy, and to care for them, but most important of all, to teach them the way of salvation. Possibly the Lord would have us be more specific in our prayers. Just what do we mean when we say, “Bless…”? Daniel Webster says bless or blessing means to “invoke divine care” or “confer happiness upon.” Divine care and happiness are automatically ours the moment we receive Christ into our hearts, so we are already blessed of God. Let’s be more specific. Ask God for protection, love, guidance and strength for your child. Perhaps your son or daughter has a fear of some kind or is possibly concerned about a test. Mention the particular things individually for each child. Talk to the Lord about them just as you would discuss a problem with another loved one or friend.
Even in the field of homemaking, our Lord wants to share in every detail of our lives. Don’t leave Him out. If we start our day with our Lord, taking time to quietly read His Word and pray, committing ourselves and our loved ones to Him for that day, we’ll find our day will be brighter. As the saying goes, “Things go better with Christ.” We can ask Him to keep our hearts and minds stayed upon Him. If God brings one of our children to our minds as we are working, we should offer up a prayer right at that moment for that particular child. Ask the Lord to bring to your mind thoughts of Himself and of His love; offer up thanksgiving and praise to Him. I think this is part of what God means when He says, “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). This can all be done during our daily routine of washing, scrubbing, ironing, and sewing. Your work will get done. In fact, you won’t even mind doing it. Try it, it really works.
Then, too, wives, don’t forget your husbands. They need our prayers. If you have a husband who is converted, thank God for him. If he is not saved, his salvation should be your first prayer for him. We need to pray daily for them that God will give them strength, wisdom, and knowledge for whatever job they are doing. We’ll have a little taste of Heaven right here in our homes if we share our days with our Lord, and best of all, we will have no time to think of ourselves, yet at the same time experience God’s peace within.
Philippians 4:6-8 tells us, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs and don’t forget to thank Him for His answers. If you do this you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will keep your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus” (The Living Bible). What a wonderful Saviour and Lord we have. Let’s take advantage of what we have in Him. He wants us to; He wants to become a part of every phase of our lives; yes, down to the little, nitty gritty things of daily moment by moment living. Let’s be specific in our prayer life, remembering that this is a day by day experience and that specific requests receive specific answers. This full and abundant life is ours just for the asking. Praise the Lord.