STANDING FIRM
 “In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice;
 in the morning I lay my requests before you
 and wait in expectation.”  Psalm 5:3

Long before I really understood the power of prayer I knew the importance of it. Growing up my brothers and I were encouraged to pray at the supper table every evening so when our children came along my husband and I continued that practice. We also prayed at bedtime the traditional pre-worded prayers. At first I felt this was ok, but then the Lord got a hold of my heart and I realized that we needed to teach our children to not speak the words, but rather talk to their heavenly Father about what was on their hearts. You see God doesn’t want to hear that we can memorize and recite a prayer; He wants to have a conversation with us. Conversations require two things, talking and listening. Soon after this epiphany I started praying first thing in the morning for my husband and his day and then for each of our children and their day. Before I realized it I was talking to the Lord all day long (talking), while I was vacuuming the house, dusting, bathing babies, doing the dishes and so on. God spoke to me in the most unusual places and times. I started to realize, to no credit of my own, that the Lord was telling me (listening) that He wants to be a part of every moment in every day.  We started teaching our children to talk to God just like He was in the room with them. This led to some pretty interesting prayers from our youngest children like “thank you God for the trees, the leaves, the bugs we caught today, my new bed, my pink shoes…” well you get the picture. They may have not understood entirely but they were setting the ground work for their future relationship with their heavenly Father. If we tried to interrupt them we were told “I’m not finished yet talking to God.” This was the foundation for praying in the morning for each other and for others as we headed out the door or while driving to and from school. Not only did we begin to teach them how and when to pray but also to pray with expectation of God’s answers. As our children have grown we have seen them stand firm in their belief that their heavenly Father hears their prayers and answers them.
 
God hears us when we pray from a repented heart. When we seek Him out, acknowledge our sin, ask for forgiveness, our prayers will be heard. It says in 2 Chronicles 7:14; “…if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” As a parent we are expected to discipline our children. When they break the rules or fight with another we hopefully will discipline them with love and understanding, guiding them to a better alternative. God does this with us as well if we allow Him to be our Savior and Lord. His grace and mercy are far more than we deserve.
 
“Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”
 
Praying His will, not ours, is a crucial step in letting Him have complete control of our lives. When we release control He leads us to areas of service we could never imagine. If you had told me fifteen or  twenty years ago that I would be up in front of people talking about building better marriages and godly parenting I would have thought you had lost your mind. Even though I felt God’s call on my life at an early age I would never have thought it would be what I am doing now. Praise God, He knows what He has gifted and prepared me to do. I love what I do and can’t imagine doing anything else. Start praying today and ask God to show you what He has in store for you to do.
 
Expecting His best for us is sometimes hard because we don’t think we deserve it. In the opening verse it talks about praying with expectation. Praying this way isn’t arrogant, it’s a command from God. He asks us to pray for His will in our life, when we do this we can pray expectantly that He will answer in a positive way. Did you notice that I didn’t say “name it and claim it”? I said pray for His will for our life. Mark 11:24, “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours”, is often used out of context and the rest of the surrounding scripture is ignored. But when you go back and read the rest of that chapter (I suggest you do) you will find that Jesus is talking about having faith. He tells us that we must have faith without doubt; that if we believe what Christ tells us is true and stand firm in that truth it will happen. Each time that I have been diagnosed with cancer I have prayed that I would be healed. Because I felt that God “told” me that He was not done with me and that I hadn’t completed what He had called me to do, I believe the Lord healed me. This may not be the case for other people; He may have a purpose for them to come home to Him. We will never know or understand why someone is healed here on earth or why some receive the ultimate healing of going home to be with the Lord. I only know what He has assured me of, and that He is in control of my life. One of the things that my pastor says from time to time is that “he knows that he knows, that he knows” whom his Savior is and he believes he is saved for eternity. I know this to be true in my life as well, do you?
 
When you pray this week remember Psalm 5:3; pray with expectation of what God will do in your life this day, week, month, and year! The future is in His hands. Check your pulse and rate your prayer life. Where are your prayers weak? How can you begin to pray with expectation? Grasp His will for your life and stand firm in the knowledge that He will be faithful to complete the good work in you that He has already begun.
 
Kathi Brixey
“Firmly Planted”
 
CHALLENGED TO THE CORE
P.O. BOX 414
LAKE ARROWHEAD, CA. 92352-0414