On top of this month's Challenges we are going to work on prayer. We all need a little more work on that right? I mean I'm really good at it when God brings me to my knees and forces me to but I am horrible at it when I'm having a perfectly good day and there is nothing wrong a.k.a. I don't need God that much today.
Why is that? Why are we so much like Israel? We fall short and forget all of the time. Do we not have their testimony to look on and learn from?
Prayer, I believe, is going to play a huge part these challenges! For some of you, maybe you're already really good at keeping God in the front of your mind everyday and talking to him every minute. For others, it might get worse before it gets better. The important thing is that we learn to listen to what God is telling us. We need to keep Him first in our minds through this challenge and our husbands second.
So today, pray for you. Pray for the wife of your husband. If we want our marriage to thrive and be a light in this world where marriage is laughed upon, not needed or discarded easily, we need to be pray effectively for our husbands. "Effectively"...not a legalistic effective "formula" but I believe in order for God to really speak to us...in order for us to have a close knit relationship with God we first need to get rid of sin in our lives. We need to get rid of anger, resentment or anything resembling an ungodly attitude. If you release those feelings to God in total honesty and then move into prayer, there is nothing that can change a marriage more dramatically. We need a right heart before God.
What is blocking that closeness with God in your life? Resentment? Sometimes I find it my life...okay often. It grows really easily and it's usually jealousy of my husband. He can drive to and from work without kids screaming in the background, fighting for attention or asking 100 questions within 5 miles. I get jealous that he can go and fish on the river during lunch. He gets quiet time. That...turns into resentment and it comes out in my attitude towards him.
Get rid of whatever it is standing between you and God today. Pray for a clean heart...pray for your marriage and for this challenge. That God will prepare your heart for what he has to say. Pray that He will Glorified through this challenge and ultimately through your marriage.
On a side note. In today's challenge I mentioned "choose Joy". This is a choice. It's your choice to be joyful today. To give thanks for what you have been given. Every November we do this and I couldn't be happier about starting it again. It's the Thankful Tree. We keep it up year round but through the holidays is when we really use it. We use in during Christmas with little ornaments and we have Easter Devotionals that we hang on it. During November we give thanks.
Start by going through the woods with your family this weekend and grab empty branches to fill a vase with.
Grab colored paper or scrap paper or any kind of paper and start cutting. Cut leaves, squares, circles or no shape at all. Put a hole in the top and put some string through it. Everyday talk with your kids about being thankful and choosing joy. And ask them what they are thankful today and write it on a leaf and stick it on a tree. This has caused great conversations and great time to give thanks through prayer to God. I encourage you to do this with your family this weekend. If you have a printer and ink ;) I encourage to print the devotionals off from this link ... you won't regret it!
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