How You Can Pray

Praying Hands, Albrecht Dürer

Last week, I was studying Acts 12 with some friends.  One of the questions in the study asked us to recount for the group a time when God specifically answered our specific prayers, just like he did for the early church when Peter knocked on Mary’s door while everyone was gathered there, praying for his release.  The week before, I had asked a couple of these friends to pray for something very specific for me.  God had answered their prayers, and as I shared that reality, my friends got so excited!  One of them said, “It’s so wonderful to get to pray for something so specific and then to see God answer – look at how it causes us to praise Him!”

With that in mind, we would like to share with you some specific ways in which you can pray for us.  It is our hope that your heart will be encouraged along with ours as God provides everything that we need and that as you see His work in our lives, you will praise Him for being a caring, loving Father who listens to and answers His children’s prayers.  Please don’t feel like you have to print off the whole list!  I’ll attempt to do a follow-up every so often and let you know how God is answering your prayers.

1. Our marriage 

We have been gently warned by professionals and friends alike that grieving puts immense stress on a relationship.  Thankfully, God has used the practical, emotional, and spiritual demands of the last few months to draw us closer together.  Please pray that this continues to be the case.  We want to be sensitive to each others’ needs at a time when it will be very easy for each of us to retreat within ourselves. 

2. Our daughter 
It’s hard for toddlers to grasp that the world doesn’t revolve around them.  It’s hard for tired, emotional parents to put in the moment-by-moment effort it takes to love and train a toddler.  Please thank God for giving us this sweet, happy, growing little girl to love and to teach.  Thank Him for how she reminds us to be joyful and causes us to live in the moment.  Pray for her heart, now and in the future, when she can better understand everything about her little brother.  Pray that we would be faithful to instruct her in life skills and in the truth about the Lord even on days when we just don’t have much to give.

3. Our extended family 
We have been so blessed by our amazing parents and siblings – if you know them, you can begin to imagine how they have served and loved us during this time.  But their hearts are hurting too.  Our parents grieve, not just for their grandson but also for their children – those protective instincts don’t go away when your child is a “grownup”!  Please pray that God would comfort their hearts and continue to bless and strengthen them as they serve us in so many ways.  Pray that He would continue to provide friends to come alongside and serve them when they need to be especially loved.

4. Decision-making 
My husband and I are not decisive people.  Let me rephrase: we are AWFUL at making decisions.  We have a whole system worked out for choosing the most mundane of things (what movie to watch on Friday night, what to eat tomorrow, etc).   Sometimes the sheer number of small, detailed decisions we will have to make in the next couple of months seems overwhelming.  Pray that we will have wisdom, clarity, and unity as we make those decisions.  Pray for time when we can be together and have the emotional energy to face the decisions.  And pray that we can figure out what to have for dinner after that ;)

5. Delivery 
I think most women have some anxiety about labor and delivery.  I’m no exception!  It’s one of those times when no one can predict exactly what will happen, and yet right now I want assurances.  Please pray that my pregnancy would continue to progress smoothly.  Pray that God will allow me to be physically, mentally, and emotionally able to make the most of the time we will have with Arthur, even though it will come right after giving birth.  Pray that there would be no complications that would make recovery more difficult. 

6. Life 
The earth has not stopped spinning, nor will it.  (Maybe it’s not just toddlers who think the world should revolve around them…) My husband and I have jobs to do, bills to pay, a house to care for, classes to take, friendships to maintain, errands to run, projects to complete, a church body to serve.  Praise God for the blessing of mundanity and for how it can keep us grounded.  Pray for us to have wisdom to know when to ignore one or more of these duties for a time.  Pray for diligence and endurance when we need to look outside of ourselves and get something done.

7. God’s glory 
We know that God’s plan for Arthur’s life and for ours is much bigger than we can imagine.  Thank Him for helping us have faith that this is true even when we can’t see.  Pray that God will use all of this to display His power to save, to strengthen, and to sanctify.  Pray that we might be allowed to glimpse some of what God chooses to accomplish in our lives and in the lives of others. 

8. A miracle
I would be amiss to leave this off.  While we do not want to approach God like a tantrum-throwing, wheedling toddler and demand of Him something that He is apparently withholding, Scripture is clear that we can and should pour out our hearts, desires, and cares before Him.  I think I better stop there and write an entire blog post on this concept tomorrow. But please join us in praying that God would miraculously heal Arthur.