Warrior Prayers - Day 15

Today's prayers for goodness lead to a much bigger issue.  As we seek to mold and correct our young boys, we absolutely must keep in mind that it is not the outward behavior that we are to focus on.  While it is important that they do not hit their brother (a big one in our home), or talk back to their parents (another challenge), and listen to instructions rather than ignore us, we will be doing them a huge disservice if we do not seek to change their hearts.  But what I have learned through praying these prayers this summer is that it is not up to us as parents to change our children's hearts.  That's God's job.  He wants their hearts more than we as their parents want them to have hearts for Him.  The last week of our praying for our sons' challenge has a day of "heart change" prayers.  So in disciplining them we must remember that we are after a change in their wanting to do good, not just the momentary behavior change.  They have to want to do the right thing every time, for the right reasons.  Brooke says, "Ask yourself these questions: 

What parenting tools have I been using that only focus on changing behavior and not the heart? Am I

willing to lay them down even if they produce what looks like a good child?

•

Reaching a child's heart takes time. Behavior modification is much faster! Am I willing to change things

about my life so that I have the time to invest in the hearts of my children?

•

Most importantly: Am I willing to submit my own heart to God and allow Him to mold me from the

inside out?

Shepherding our boys is not for the faint of heart friends! Once a week or more I'm tempted to just throw it all

out the window (including the boys … ) and take the easier path. So what keeps me going?"

Warrior Prayers Day 12

Today Brooke shares some insights given by author Laura Lee Groves, "I'm Outnumbered! One Mom's Lessons in the Lively Art of Raising Boys".  Sounds like she and I could be great friends.  I am also outnumbered in my home.  I always thought I would have both boys and girls.  Funny how my sister has three girls and I have the boys.  I had no idea what to do with my first son.  In fact I remember a conversation with my cousin when I was pregnant that I did not have any idea of how to raise a boy.  Well, now I have two and am so thankful for both of them.  They are funny, energetic, and full of craziness!  I have been constantly seeking a peaceful home for some time now.  


Laura mentioned something that struck home with me.  Spend time with our sons doing the things that they enjoy, even if we don't prefer to do those things.  For years I have stayed away from my husband's football and basketball games.  I don't like them and have no interest in them.  My grandmother used to tell me to learn to enjoy them.  Now that I have two sons who will no doubt follow in their father's steps I am seeing a huge benefit in learning to enjoy those things that I have disliked.  Bonding takes place in sharing those moments and I don't want to miss out on that.  As they get older, I will definitely want a relationship that is built on trust to be developed.  I want my sons to come to me as someone that they can talk to, not see me as someone who just did the necessary house work and disciplined them.  


She also mentioned how important it is as boy moms to find other boy moms to connect with.  Having a life-line really helps when the craziness seems too much.


Pray for our sons to have peace in their lives, peace in our homes, and peace in our raising them.  God says that we will find peace if we seek it wholeheartedly.

Warrior Prayers Day 10

Today's prayers really sum up all that we are praying for our sons.  Love.  Without love, God's love, we miss the mark on everything else.  Without God's love our sons will not experience all that God has planned for them.  I personally have struggled with loving others for years.  The pain from past relationships has placed a barrier between me and the world.  It is hard for me to let others in, especially new friends.  I definitely do not want my sons to struggle with this.  Learning how to love God's way at an early age will hopefully help them cope with difficult situations that are sure to come up over the years.  I want them to be prepared to handle disappointments God's way.  And I most especially want them to grow up loving each other.  Right now this is hard to see with the daily fights over this and that.  Prayer.  It is our only hope.  Pray that they will love when it seems impossible.  Pray that they will experience love in their marriages.  Pray most especially that they will really know how much God loves them. 

Brooke brought up another very important point.  The word love is used carelessly too often.  "I love this food", "I love that song", etc...  Real love only comes from God.  Brooke says "God and love are one and the same. There is no real love apart from God, and God is behind all real and genuine acts of love".

For me today's prayers are at the top of my list.

Warrior Prayers Day 9

I've been thinking of ways to teach our sons to honor others.  They will be presented with many opportunities in their lives, such as holding a door open, giving up their seat, or letting someone else go before them.  Simple acts of kindness.  Then there is the command to "honor his father and mother".  For some reason this is a huge problem in our house.  Currently a favorite toy has been in time-out and will remain there until a certain someone learns to show respect to his mother.  For three days in a row there must not be any trouble.  So far that is not happening.  Even just now, as I am writing this, I have had to stop to "remind" him that he is to get dressed for school.  His interpretation of that is to stand in the hall and bark at the dog.  "Honoring his mother"?  Not yet.  So we have lots of work to do.  Boy, as I pray through these I am being shown area after area of character traits that are severely lacking. 

Warrior Prayers Day 8

Today we will pray for our sons to have servant's hearts.  I have always loved giving.  Often I round up clothes and house things that we are no longer using and give to Good Will.  This week I was asked if I could help out the fire victims around Austin.  I told my 7 year old about this and asked if he would like to help by donating some of his toys.  This was his cue to place importance on everything he owed.  I would never ask him to give away his most favorite toys, but rather some that he no longer uses.  For some reason he could not part with anything and was most upset that I had asked.  As I rounded up my kitchen things to donate I was saddened that he had this attitude.  Had I created this in him somehow?  Or have I just not trained him enough in the joy of giving?  I ended up showing him the boxes I collected, but that still made no difference to him. 

On another note, his servant's heart is not developed at home.  Whenever I ask him to help me clean, most importantly his toys and clothes, his response is always something like "I didn't make that mess", "I don't know where anything goes", "I don't know how", or my favorite "I'm too tired,  you have to help me".  So today's prayers are another uphill battle for me.  Another exhausting challenge to overcome.  Another area where my sons really need God's hand guiding them to become more like Him.

Warrior Prayers Day 7

Today's topic, purity, may seem a little premature for my little ones, however with access to the internet and cable, it is even more important that we start as early as possible not only shielding their eyes and ears, but training them to steer away from such temptations.  "Be careful little eyes what you see".  It is things like this that make me want to remove the TV and computer from our home, along with any movies and music that are working against what I want to teach my sons.  Everyone has their own opinion of the Duggars, but I really like the way their children behave and are focused on pleasing God and their parents.  Everyone gets along (and I don't think it is just for the camera).  They have no outside influences that can steal their hearts and turn them away from what their parents have tried so hard to teach them.  With that said, I realize not all of us can live in isolation with a house full of kids to play with and both parents at home all day.  Not everyone has the opportunity to home school and even home church.  My sons are being put out into the world at such young ages.  So my job as mom is to train them now to recognize evil and run from it. 

I pray that as we pray through today's prayers for purity, we will see a definite change in our sons' hearts toward serving God and recognizing things right away that are not pleasing to Him.

Warrior Prayers Day Five

Today's prayers are for avoiding foolishness.  This seems an uphill battle to me.  My kids are constantly expressing themselves foolishly.  The choices they make and the words they choose are mostly self-centered.  Brooke says "There is no consideration in life more profound than, 'What will please me?'Children don't say those words, but such foolish thoughts are the underlying justifications for hundred of impulses every day. It is expressed in all the acts of disobedience, selfishness, willful temper, and compulsive self-love."  She explains how important it is to train our children to recognize the difference between the wise man and the foolish man.  So many examples of each are given in God's word.  By training our little boys now we have hope that they will stand on their own one day and make the right choice to be wise.  

Let's pray today with their future in mind, not just for today.  Let's pray that they will not only make wise decisions with their daily life now, but be so solid in this that they will not move from God's wisdom.

Warrior Prayers Day Four

Today's prayers are for integrity.  Brooke stresses that we can best train our sons in this area by the lives they see us lead.  This is one of those character traits that can best be taught by behaving in a Christ-like way in situations that most people would choose to act selfishly.  Some simple examples may include letting someone go ahead of you in a grocery line, a school car line, or just though a door.  Some more involved examples may be to give to someone in need such as our recent fire victims, or helping out our elderly neighbors. 

"Integrity can be defined as firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values or the quality or state of being complete or undivided."

This week I think we have all been looking at our own lives and desiring to change our examples we are giving to our children.  Short tempers, lack of patience, unkind words spoken to our husbands perhaps.  Our integrity or lack of is shown most clearly in the hardest times.  When we are tired, overworked, or just stressed by all that we have to be concerned with as moms, we must remain close to God and His Word.  Only then will our own lives be changed to reveal Jesus living in us.  And that is the example we need for our children.

Warrior Prayers Day Three

As I read Brooke's instructions for today I was convicted of something that is lacking in my parenting.  How often, way too often, I am quick to point out what my boys are doing wrong.  "You hit your brother AGAIN!"  "I thought you were supposed to be picking up your toys."  And the list goes on.  How much more effective I may be if I spend even half the time praising.  Little boys are not much different from grown men in that they thrive on praise.  Why do you think they want to be superheros so badly?  They love to come to the rescue, but are highly motivated by encouragement from us.  My husband is constantly reminding me of this.  And I am constantly forgetting it. 

Our sons obedience will be reinforced by our praise and encouragement much more than constantly nagging them or shaming them.  Sounds simple and obvious.  And I know how easy it is to get into the mode of being frustrated by the negative things they do over and over and over again.  As parents, Godly parents especially, we have the role of setting the example of holding our tongue, stepping back, and looking for the good that our children are doing.  Focus on that and I bet the rewards will come. 

As I am writing this I am most definitely reminding myself to do this.  Hopefully through praying for our sons' obedience we will see not only a change in their hearts, but a change in ours.

Let's remember to pray for their submission to their teachers as well as future bosses.  The groundwork we lay down now will pay off in later years.

Warrior Prayers: Day 2

Today we will pray for our sons to be obedient.  Not just to our leading, but to God and His ways.  Brooke explains that it is not enough for us to have our sons obey our every command.  We don't need little robots.  What we are after is a child who willingly obeys, out of a heart's desire to please God first and us second.

Brooke says "Obeying God is intimately linked to loving Him. If we focus too much on forcing our boys to change their outward behavior, and forget to hold out the great depth of love that sent a Savior to the cross, we’re running the risk of raising little Pharisees."

We need to instill a desire to obey coming from a deep love for our Savior. 

"Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be

loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him." ~John 14:21

Join me in praying for our sons throughout the day.  I will be posting on our Facebook group the Warrior Prayers.  

Warrior Prayers Day One

Day one's prayers for our sons will be combined with day two.  The first element we are encouraged to pray for for our sons is their Heart Change.  What I have learned from praying through these prayers this summer is that it is not up to us as moms (or dads) to change our children's hearts for God.  We can try as hard as we can, but our efforts will not produce the desired result without an intervention from Our Father.  Only He can turn our sons' hearts toward Him.  And that is our most fervent prayer, isn't it?  That our sons will be faithful followers of Christ all their days on this earth, and to meet us in Heaven some day.

Brooke gives a wonderful explanation of a glass of water and it spilling out everywhere if it is bumped.  She explains that the same glass would not spill over if it was empty.  The same way our actions and words reflect what is in our hearts.  If only evil, bad thoughts, bad words, and ungodly actions are buried in our hearts, then we can't expect anything else to come out, especially at the most trying of times.  How necessary it is to plant God's Word in our hearts so that our responses will be in line with His ways. 

"The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure

produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." ~Luke 6:45