"You were looking for some big thing to give up, while God is telling you of some tiny thing that must go. But behind that tiny thing lies the stronghold of obstinacy, and you say, 'I will not give up my right to myself' - the very thing that God intends you to give up if you are to be a disciple of Jesus Christ."
~Oswald Chambers
Father God I KNOW you are blessed by those who believe even though they don't see the way, or the how, or the why - "Just follow me" is what Jesus said. He didn't explain how, just go. May this next journey be filled with YOUR provision. YOUR love and strength. YOUR healing. May we see again the wonders of your NAME. How you are Jehovah, Jehovah Jireh, Jehovah Rapha, El Shaddai, Elohim. Is following your will even though it may be crazy and radical thinking- glorifying you? If glorifying you is the benchmark to the things that you would desire us to accomplish in your name, then is it ever wrong to pursue a desire that seems as though it is your will even though all the outside circumstances scream out to us "No Way!" is it okay to "Go in Your Name" knowing in the end it will bring YOU glory and wait for your confirmation to come after our steps of obedience? I don't know. All I know is that I want to love and please you Father. I want my life-song to sing to you and for you to cleanse my heart and make me new again. Father I am with so many faults and weaknesses. One day I speak of your ways and the next I do not follow them. Lord forgive me for my selfishness and the impatience I wield over my family. Lord change me. Heal my heart to seek you more.
We are standing at the door to a new journey and you have said Jesus that anyone who knocks on the door - you will open it. Jesus if this means casting aside all the patterns of this world and completely changing our family from the inside out - then I want to follow you and I want you to change my family to reflect your heart. If it means are family and friends will think we've completely and totally lost our minds - then I want to lose my mind if that means I gain eternity knowing I have brought you glory with my life. If it means we must sacrifice and that our children will not know the pleasures of this world as those around us do, then I would rather them have an eternal perspective to embrace YOU as their source of joy than any of the pleasures this world affords.
I want to be a blessing to my wonderful, Godly husband, I do not want to force him to do things that he thinks are not from you. I do not want to break his heart, but I want to support him. Lord I want him to support me too. I want him to know that my dreams though too big for us are the perfect size for you to bring into reality. Show him Lord how to cherish your work in my life. Show him this calling and burden you have placed on my heart, and unite us under your banner of love and truth. We don't know the how? the why? or the when? but you do. If there is a path that you want our family to travel on, then light it with your holiness and righteousness and illuminate our dim eyes to SEE the way you want us to go. We love you Jesus! We praise you for the miracles you have performed in our lives and for the way that you make yourself real to each of us.
Thank you for a son that wants to pray before his football game. For a son that seeks you first! Thank you for a son who loves us so much! Thank you for the wonderful daughters you have given to us. They are the joy and delight of our home! Thank you for their special relationship, and I pray you would preserve it all the years of their life that they may always know they have each other not only as sisters but as the closest of friends. Pursue them with your loving kindness. Overtake my children with your love and fulfill your purposes for which you created each one of them. We pray that each of our children will grow to know you more and more and that they will come to accept the saving grace of Jesus into their hearts at an early age. Oh how we give you thanks for your hand on our family! I pray that you would reveal your heart for David and I. That we could see how you are working even now to bring us closer together and not apart. May we be united in love, in purpose, and in YOU. Teach us how to parent these precious treasures that you have blessed us with. Equip us with all that we need to love and nurture their spirits in Your truth. More than anything I want my husband to REJOICE because you have spoken over me replacing the instant fear and anxiety and feeling so desperately confused with a heart full of faith and obedience. I long for him to jump up and embrace me with a huge smile knowing that YOU provide finances and provisions for those that follow and obey you. You are the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You choose those that seem the most unlikely to accomplish your will, and then You reward them for their faith. You give visions to your people and they can see your purposes and know you are working. Lord give us a vision for our family. Show us your heart for us.
We love you Father God!
In the name of Jesus who saves us from our sins
and transforms us into something NEW for his kingdom,
we pray AMEN!
