She May Be Quiet

Do you have any prayer warriors in your life?

I do, and I am so very thankful for them.

Maybe you're a prayer warrior for your family, friends, and church.

If you are, I want you to know how important your ministry is 

and how blessed your people are.

I wouldn't make it through the day without the folks who pray.

Friends, family, anyone who prays for someone else, you are a huge blessing.

Thank you!

 

Fruit, Suit, and a Royal Crown

Ephesians 6:13-17
Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Moms and daughters circled the fire.

Photo courtesy of Woodland Lakes

I was honored to be asked to speak at mother/daughter camp at Woodland Lakes Christian Camp. I joined my daughter, Sara, who led the music and granddaughter Ella Cate. With the theme “Daughters of the King,” I wanted to concrete the idea God created us to be part of his kingdom. 

In the evening, we gathered around a campfire in a circle created by porch swings. I loved the cozy family feeling the swings added to the gathering. As I introduced the idea of being a princess in God’s kingdom, I considered the girls impression of a princess. Most, if not all, knew many of the Disney princesses. You know—the ones with the big, bright eyes, gorgeous gowns, and long flowing hair. While those stories are fun, I wanted the girls to understand the verse in 1 Samuel 16:7—"The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

God created “royal fruit” to fill the hearts of his princes and princesses. Galatians 5:22-23—"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” God’s guidance for the heart was only one element of royalty. He also gave us a suit of armor—the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, feet fitted with the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God

With the fruit, suit, and a royal crown, I deemed each mom and daughter a warrior princess who stands and fights in honor of her kingdom.

God doesn’t want his princes and princesses to sit on thrones and look handsome and pretty, he wants us to raise our swords and fight the battles against the enemy.

We can be warriors who raise prayers, sing to fight battles, protect the innocent, show love and kindness, encourage the weary, discipline ourselves to be the best we can be for God, and fuel ourselves on God’s word.

Fill your heart with the Spirit’s fruit, cover yourself with God’s armor, and wear the crown of Jesus’ righteousness.

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No Matter What, Pray

Ephesians 3:14-19
For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Some years ago, I reconnected with my college girlfriends. Since then we've renewed our strong bond of love for one another. Thanks to social media, we "talk" every week. Our Messenger thread is long and filled with our hearts' needs and joys. One of the beautiful things about our 40+ year friendship is our collective desire to follow and worship Jesus. Which makes it easy to share prayer requests. And we do. We pray for each other on a constant basis. There are days, I know my prayer warriors are raising me up to God, and I feel the love. I've sought prayer for other friends and my family, and they prayed. We do this because we love each other and we love our great Father, God.

In Ephesians 3, I love how Paul prays for his friends. He kneels before his Father and pours out his heart. He asks for strength and power through the Holy Spirit. And seeks to have Jesus fill their hearts with faith. Paul understood the magnitude and necessity of prayer. He knew that God wanted to hear from his people. That hasn't changed. God asks us to talk to him. He wants to hear from us. Simply because he loves us.

Pray when you're happy. Pray when you're sad. Pray with joy. Pray in fear. No matter what, pray. Talk to God. He's listening, always.