I am tired. I am a weary. I am exhausted. Give me strength to wake in the night when my children need me and please give me energy for the day. My eyes are heavy. I call out for your provisions. Be the King of my heart and protect it so that it is guarded from anything that might cause me to act out in response to the weariness I experience.
Give me perspective and a thankful heart. Cleanse my heart before you so that I am ready to serve you, remove any bitterness that could cause a barrier between us God. Remove any offensive ways within me. Let my heart and everything that flows from it be like a pure running river, and let your word run through me like a plant taking up fresh water through its roots, restoring, replenishing and flourishing as it withers no more.
I call out to you for guidance today, Jesus. I give thanks to you for my precious children and my husband. As each one reaches out to me today, I pray that I can meet their needs, in the same way that you meet my needs. Please give me patience and compassion to serve them with love and grace, just like you shower us with your love and grace each day. I praise you that your mercies are new every morning. Grant me a willing spirit and give me the ability to worship you through all the details of the day, whatever it is that comes my way. Let all I do be carried out as worship to you Lord.
As my two-year-old son held my hand, he ran with a display of excitement. His little legs picking up speed with every movement, causing him to become wobbly on his feet, resulting in a stumble and a trip. He had been running towards the lake with an expectancy to see the ducks. The previous times we’ve been to visit them, they hadn’t been there, so I had told him that they were all very tired and were asleep. The problem was, I had said that three times already! Even though he hadn’t seen them the last few times, it didn’t take away the eagerness of the possibility of seeing them again. He didn’t have any concept of time as he ran, nothing mattered but seeing those ducks. His enthusiasm and urgency were enough for anyone around him to want to follow and find out what the buzz was all about! My son certainly wasn’t moving forward with any caution. He was however, trusting that I was right by his side, holding his hand and safely guiding him towards his destination, ready to pick him up if, and in this case, when he stumbled.
It took my thoughts to the times when Jesus has spoken into my heart through the Holy Spirit about something he has wanted me to do, somewhere he’s wanted me to go. However, my desire was to rush ahead, out of obedience and delight, but not always with caution. I might forget my surroundings, things that are important to me perhaps become neglected. Not out of intention, but the vision becomes a bubble of ambition that floats me towards the given mission! However, it can cause the foundations around me to subtly fade away. Until……POP! The bubble hits something sharp and there is a realisation that I’ve gone ahead without taking the right steps. The result being like my son, rushing towards the ducks. There is a stumble and a trip, and maybe even a step on the wrong path.
Thankfully, Jesus is always there smiling at me with compassion. Loving me and my enthusiasm to do His will, whilst gently speaking into my heart to take His hand and slow down. When we slow down, Jesus reminds us of our surroundings and our foundations, revealing to us the vision He has for our lives, but, unravelling it in His time. During these seasons, I am reminded to hold onto the priorities in my life and other important ministries that have a place in my heart. When Jesus slows us down, we can sit at his feet, rest in Him and in His word until we are renewed, reminded, replenished and ready to start taking steps towards the right path once again. However, this time, with all the foundations in the right place, and our feet sitting firmly on the solid rock of Jesus.
Proverbs 16:1 NLT We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps.
Heavenly Father, thank you for your love. I amso thankful that I have you to guide me in my life. I praise you for the people that cross my path each day, and pray that I would see them with your eyes. Forgive me for times when I take people for granted. Help me to love others in the same way that you love me, just as you command. If there is any bitterness in my heart towards someone in my life, in your grace, please reveal it to me Lord and show me what I can do to take the right steps to mend the broken pieces in my relationships. I acknowledge my need for you in my life. Sometimes life can feel lonely Lord, but I know that it doesn’t have to be that way. Show me what I can do to be more intentional. I pray that you would give me discernment and guidance in the friendships and relationships that I have so that I can know which onesare life giving and which are tempting me towards a path that doesn’t glorify you. I pray for wisdom in the words I speak towards others, so that I wouldn’t let any unwholesome talk leave my mouth, and that my words would bring healing to those around me. I pray that as a friend I would build others up according to their needs. Show me who needs a friend in this season Lord, and how I can encourage them and bring light into their life, in the same way I ask that you also bring strong, loving friendships into my life. Lord, let our hearts be kind and compassionate towards one another, forgiving each other, just as we have also been forgiven. Let our love for one another be radical and unconditional. It is easier to love those who love us Lord, but I pray for anyone who might be against me, and ask that you would show me how to love them and how I can take action so that the love will shine brightly over darkness, and stand tall like a lamp, not hidden away.In Jesus name, Amen.
7 SCRIPTURES FOR FRIENDSHIPS AND RELATIONSHIPS
Ephesians 4 29-31
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Matthew 5:43-48
You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Romans 12:9
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another above yourselves. Never be lacking zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
Ephesians 5:19-21
Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Proverbs 15:1
A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
Proverbs 15:4
The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.
Proverbs 27:9
Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of one’s friend springs from his earnest counsel.
Heavenly Father, I will give thanks to you because of your righteousness. I will sing to you Lord. Thank you that you know what I need, you know all of my precious families needs. You created us and I praise you because we are fearfully and wonderfully made. Thank you for always listening to and answering my prayers, you have become my salvation. Sometimes the answer is no, but during times when you say no I pray that I would keep trusting in the knowledge that you are my King, my strength and my redeemer. Sometimes a yes can be scary Lord, because what is ahead can look like a Goliath that is about to come down and crush me, but your promises say that you are my protector, my refuge and my strength, my help in trouble. I will seek your face Lord and I know you will answer my call, my cry to you Father. You are my Heavenly Father and you will not abandon me. I will tell of your wonderful deeds, all you have saved me from. Please help me, and my family to walk in the ways of the good, to keep to the paths of the righteous. Protect us from temptations and deliver us from evil. I pray we would accept your words, store up your commands and turn our ears to wisdom, applying our hearts to understanding. Let us call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding. I pray that we would be a tree that flourishes and bears good fruit, that we would put what you say in your word to practice, being children of God that take action. I pray that our foundations would be built on your rock Lord Jesus. Thank you that you took our infirmities, and bore our diseases. In Jesus name, Amen.
Scripture references: Psalm 7:17, Proverbs 2:1-3, Psalm 13:6, Psalm 139:14, Psalm 118:21, Psalm 19:14, Psalm 91:2, Psalm 46:1, Psalm 27:8, 1 Samuel:17, Jeremiah 33:3, Hebrews 13:5, Proverbs 2:20, Psalm 9:1, Matthew 6:13, Matthew 7:17-18, Matthew 7:24, Matthew 8:17.
The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. Psalm 18:2 NIV
As I sat to put into words what has been on my heart today, the hymn ‘I Surrender All’ came to my mind, and I believe it is a wonderful way to begin. The words written by Judson W. Van DeVenter in 1896, are beautiful yet challenging at the same time.
All to Jesus I surrender, All to Him I freely give; I will ever love and trust Him, In His presence daily live.
I surrender all, I surrender all; All to Thee, my blessed Saviour, I surrender all.
All to Jesus I surrender, Humbly at His feet I bow; Worldly pleasures all forsaken, Take me, Jesus, take me now.
All to Jesus I surrender, Make me, Savior, wholly Thine; Let me feel the Holy Spirit, Truly know that Thou art mine.
All to Jesus I surrender, Lord, I give myself to Thee; Fill me with Thy love and power, Let Thy blessing fall on me.
All to Jesus I surrender, Now I feel the sacred flame; Oh, the joy of full salvation! Glory, glory, to His Name!
So often, I have wanted to surrender all, I have thought I have surrendered all, and put my full trust in my creator, yet once again, without even realising, slipped back into the desire to want to take control of everything myself. As humans we DO have a desire to take control, to want to be self-sufficient, and perhaps for a time we feel that we are succeeding in this way, we are ‘on to a winner’, we’ve found our ‘perfect rhythm’. However, the reality is that eventually something changes that rhythm, knocks us off guard, and we realise that we’re not in control after all. As a mother, this can produce feeling of frustration, stress and anxiety, which is not what God desires for me as a mother or as a His child.
The words of the hymn, ‘I Surrender All’, were put to music by Winfield S. Weeden, and bring about a sense of our frailty and vulnerability in life. Through both the musical texture and words the hymn reveals our need for the one who is in control if we’d just allow Him to be, and that is our Saviour, Jesus Christ, who is the glorious bridge between us and God, allowing us, in all our frailty and vulnerability to be in relationship with Him and surrender all to Him.
Entering His presence in our weaknesses, during times of trials and difficulties in our lives allows us to be humble before God, accepting our weaknesses and letting His peace wash over us, stripping us of our pride, confessing that we are not in control and that we truly need the salvation that Jesus Christ has given to all who believe and all who surrender to Him. The blessing given to us through the blood that has been shed on the cross through the death of Jesus. Jesus is now risen and His spirit lives in us to continue the blessing of His love and power that reveals His glory through those willing to trust and commit their lives to Him.
This afternoon I have been reminded of a little book given to my son by his uncle for his baptism gift. It’s called KEPT FOR THE MASTER’S USE, written by the English poet and hymnwriter Frances Ridley Havergal. The book was printed in 1897. The chapters reflect on the verses taken from her consecration hymn. The author is a testimony of a life of wholehearted surrender to Jesus, with all her imperfections. It is a book that will challenge you with its ‘no beating around the bush’ reflections, but contrasted with rich, spirit filled encouragement.
Reading chapter 6 in John’s gospel over the last couple of days shone a light over the passages that God wanted to reveal to my heart. The power in His word opened my eyes once again to the word surrender. It was through the word believe and other passages that followed, that the Holy Spirit peeled back the layers of his word and graciously gave me knowledge that the word surrender was my teaching for this time.
It was through John 6:28-29. When Jesus is teaching the disciples, they ask Him, ‘what must we do to do the works God requires?’ Jesus responds by saying, ‘The work of God is this, to believe in the one He has sent.’ It makes sense that we must believe to allow our faith to flow from who and what we believe in. This must also be cushioned in trust in who and what we believe in, and it is this trust that will lead us to being able to fully surrender to who and what we believe in. According to the Blue Letter Bible, the word believe occurs in 149 verses, in the NIV addition. Through chapter 6 in John’s gospel, the bible reads,
‘No one can come to me unless the Father who send me draws them, and I will raise them up in the last day.’ John 6:44, Jesus mentions this again in verse 65.
It’s when Jesus says, ‘unless the Father’, that was when it really struck me, the reality of His control in every situation in our lives. We can convince ourselves that we can go about resolving all our problems by ourselves, but, this is where those three words come in, ‘unless the Father’, we can try and direct our children in the right way towards the right friends, the right school or the right job that we think is best for them, but, ‘unless the Father’, we can invite others to church and tell friends and family about Jesus, but ‘unless the Father’, I think you can see where I am going with this.
The story of Hannah in 1 Samuel, is one that I’ve been reflecting and meditating on this evening. Her name, meaning ‘Grace’ speaks loudly in her faithful walk with God, and what follows through her perseverance and earnest prayer for a child. She prayed with so much anguish and grief, pouring out her soul to the Lord, that Eli the priest thought she was drunk. She couldn’t have children, but after making a promise to God that if she became pregnant, she would give him back to God, Samual arrives, and as Hannah promised, she dedicates Samuel to the Lord, saying, in 1 Samuel v 28:
‘So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.” And he worshiped the Lord there.’
Little did she know how significant her faith, persistence in prayer, and testimony of godly motherhood would become!
Hannah’s radical faith is such an encouragement and reminds me that I too should surrender and keep surrendering my children to God and hold onto the knowledge that he is in control. When I am worried about a situation in their lives or their future, it reminds me to keep trusting in Him, and His love for them. By completely surrendering every part of my life to God, I can fully rejoice in His salvation, hold onto his promises and replace my fears with His peace. My faithful steps then become Christ-centred as opposed to being centred around my own thoughts and feelings about what might become of my children and family.
My children and my husband don’t always want to go along with my ideals, but they are my ideals, and when things don’t fall into place in the way I hope, I must remember that it is God who is in control, He knows the plans for my future and my families, and He knows the right path for us all, and unless I surrender to Him, unless I seek him and pray and leave my requests with Him and wait expectantly (Psalm 5:3), unless the Father is at the centre, the root, the foundation of my life, I will continue to be frustrated, stressed and anxious, I will lose all peace from my Father, I will no longer appreciate the full salvation I have through Jesus Christ.
As Frances Ridley Havergal writes in her hymn:
Take my life, and let it be Consecrated, Lord to Thee.
There was a huge sense of peace in the home tonight. It was quite a change from this morning, when I felt fuzzy headed, trying to get down on paper something that resembled a list of what I could do. At least then I could keep on top of the house necessities to a level that satisfied my need to not feel overwhelmed by ‘stuff that needs to be done’. I’d been reading a little last night about procrastination. It’s become an increasing annoyance to me over the last few months or so, it seems to have creeped in, and now I’m trying to find ways to overcome it. I want to do too much. I think I can do way more in a day than is realistically possible. I’ve started my anti-procrastination journey by something so simple, writing smaller and more focused lists, that way I can psychologically make myself think that I have achieved loads because I am much more likely to tick everything off it! When I type this, I am beginning to think that this method is just another way to procrastinate, because the faster I get the list completed, the more time I will have to procrastinate on the other item that I didn’t get down on my list, wow, this is so messy! As you can see, things are not always that straightforward, but if we can just do a little every day, eventually we’ll get there.
Back to the peace in our home this evening, it was loud and sometimes quite intense, three children running around playing together, a little 2-year-old shouting to be heard, I finally found a gap to have a shower, but was playing a sermon over the Bluetooth speaker way too loud to try and override some the surrounding noise. That was my attempt at seeking the Lord in that moment. My husband was rounding up the children in a mission to get them to settle before bed. This might not sound like peace to you, but in the middle of all this noise was a gentle, warm, comforting sense of peace. It was tangible, it was love. Amazingly there wasn’t any quarrelling between the children, there wasn’t a ‘he pushed me’, or a ‘she didn’t knock my door before coming in’, there wasn’t even a toddler crying.
Taking a step back, in this precious moment, I could see my family filled with contentment and joined together. I knew that Jesus was right there with us. He was delighting in us, because he loves us. As the noise settled down, and the children began to disappear off into their room for bedtime, I heard a whisper in my heart. It started when I looked at my eldest son, and I could see a look in his eyes. I began to wonder how he felt about having a little brother, not that he ever felt his little brother was competition, he loves him dearly and takes being the eldest sibling very seriously. It was just something that came alight in my heart. How does he feel about his little brother getting all this attention? Each one of us were giving it to him, including my eldest son. Does he ever feel like he must work for our attention? Then the quiet whisper came to me, ‘you don’t have to DO anything for me.’ It reminded me of a time when Jesus spoke very similar words into my heart, ‘you don’t have to DO anything to make me love you anymore.’ This is exactly what I felt my son needed to hear, or maybe he didn’t, but I was going to tell him anyway, because I delight in my children in the same way that Jesus delights in us, but of course he delights more than we can ever imagine. We don’t need to DO to gain his love and attention. We can be resting in his presence, and he will always be with us and always be delighting in us and gently leading us along the path towards His glory and towards his love.
Your Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. Thank you that I can trust in all you promise, you are faithful in all you do. I pray that you would keep our children in step with you, that they would not become distracted or tempted by those who choose to live as they please, those who do not consider their ways, those who’s actions are filled with their own desires that seek to please and satisfy their own needs, removing you from their very thoughts.
Please watch over our children and gently guide them to safety under your wings. I pray that our children would learn to fear you with a reverent heart. Direct them in your ways so that they would desire to serve you.
I pray that our children would delight in your words and carry them in their heart and mind each day, meditating on them.
I pray that your words would flourish within our children, like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding fruit in season, and whose leaf does not wither – but, whatever they do prospers. I pray that our children would have forgiving hearts, in the same way you forgive us when we acknowledge our sin to you and confess our wrong doings. Thank you for your everlasting love, your grace and your mercy.
In Jesus name, Amen.
I pray that you will be blessed and that God’s word would grow deep within your hearts and minds as you listen and are encouraged. This prayer is a prayer for you to pray for your children, it is a prayer that I have written and taken scripture from psalms, including psalm 145 and psalm 2.
You Lord are the everlasting God, I praise you, the creator of all the earth.
You never grow weak or weary. Even though I will not fully understand everything, I will keep putting my trust in you, I will find new strength. In my weakness you O Lord will bring me power.
When I am powerless, exhausted and tired, when I feel like giving up, when I’m holding on by a thread, I will call out on your name Lord and you will renew my strength.
Then, I will soar high on wings like eagles.
Then, I will run and not grow weary.
Then I will walk and not faint.
I will trust in you Lord. You will be my strength forever. I will hold on tight to the everlasting God, the creator of all the earth.
In Jesus name,
Amen.
Scripture references – Isaiah 40 v 28-31
This is a personalised prayer from Isaiah 40 v 28-31 and reveals the powerful promises that God gives us in His word. As I read through the scriptures, the affirmations are strong and have helped me to remember that when we put our trust in God, when we call on His name, when we don’t let go, he will renew our strength. He is the everlasting God and the Creator of all the earth. Keep praising Jesus and seeking Him with thanksgiving, and keep holding on.
I hope that this prayer will help you to seek God’s strength and power just as He has promised to give it to us. Receive it and allow God’s words to renew you today.
Thank you Lord for your greatness! I will shout out to all and tell everyone about the amazing things you have done. You have redeemed me, and I will tell my story of the one who is light, it all shines from you. I will be a witness, sharing my testimony, like the woman at the well, I will run singing praises to you Lord and tell everyone about your wonderful deeds. Exalt his name and rejoice! All who worship. If I seek you continuously and search for you, you will give me strength. Your wonders and miracles will be held in my heart and be my meditation. You are the Lord our God, who never breaks His promises. In Jesus name, Amen.
Heartfelt Family Prayers and Devotionals 