I learned something that blew my mind a little bit, can I share it with you? I’ll have to show my nerdy side a little bit but I think is worth it!
It’s all started with a homeschool podcast on joy. It turns out that word the New Testament used for joy is chara and the word they used for grace is charis. They have the same root. I love languages, but this was news to me! Why does this excite me so? Because friends, the only place to find joy is at rest inside of God’s grace. In places of grief or happiness, seasons of rest or busy, no matter what we think or feel - joy is possible through it all. It’s not something we determine to have or work at, it’s a natural result of God’s grace in our lives. The trick is, although God pours out his grace in abundance, we don’t always open our hands to receive it. We know he covers us, but then we go and try to answer 10,000 “moms,” homeschool through a pandemic, conquer mount st(inky) clothes and teach a toddler not to throw his sippy cup all in our own strength.
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You're up to your ears in laundry and you didn't sleep last night because your toddler had an ear ache. The dishes are piling up and you ran out of dishwasher soap. The dog won't stay away from the chickens and you really don't have time to doctor the sick kitten.
But you long for something more. You feel called to ministry, yet you know you can't fit another thing on your plate. The desire won't go away and you long to feel like you're making a difference in the Kingdom. You sigh as you cook another meal and think "someday. This season of motherhood isn't made for ministry anyway. God's going to pass me over until the kids are grown and flown." And, in some ways, you're right. Raising your kids is your most important ministry at the moment. But that doesn't mean you need to lay your other gifts and passions aside. Neither does it mean you need to get a nanny so you can go into full-time ministry.
Worship is a key component of prayer. We talked about creating a vibrant prayer life last week, and we've got to discuss the power of worship in tandem with our prayer life.
The Lord’s prayer begins with worship. “Our Father in Heaven, may Your name be kept holy” (Matthew 6:9 NLT). We know that God’s throne is always surrounded with worshipers saying “holy, holy, holy.” (Isaiah 6:3 & Revelations 4:8) Worship is a central theme in the Bible and is often included in any communication with God. Just read any three Psalms, and you’ll probably find worship in at least one, if not all of them. Worship is, simply put, “the expression of reverence and adoration for a deity.” (source) It’s like the love language of words of affirmation. We know God is wonderful, kind, merciful, omniscient, holy, and powerful, the Creator, our Savior, and perfect in all His ways. So we just speak it. That is worship. Worship is not a special mood at church, or a type of music or only appropriate for a group setting. We can worship in the shower, when we're fearful in the night, at the grocery store, and when we’re tucking our children in for the night. Worship is probably the biggest part of a vibrant prayer life that there is. When we worship so much happens. Our hearts change. God is glorified. Peace and joy fill us. The devil becomes powerless before worship. Worship is a weapon. Brian Johnson says “When we worship, we pull armies from other realms into battle.” Worship is so powerful. But how? How does a Mom cultivate a heart of worship when life is overwhelmed with dirty laundry, full sinks, and tired days? Wiping up my spilled coffee does not inspire my heart to worship. Disciplining my 2 year old does not make a song well up within me. Throwing 13 mismatched socks into the sock bin does not make think of praising God.
Worship can be hard in the everyday schedule of life. So often, my weary Mom heart only manages to cry out a prayer for wisdom, without stopping to worship God for being the Giver of wisdom. I tend to wait for a peaceful moment to worship, but the fact is, worship brings peace.
A worshipful Mom is a peaceful Mom. If we wait to worship until we feel like worshiping, worship will become a Sunday morning activity, rather than an attitude of our souls. We must learn to worship in spite of ourselves and circumstances, not only because of them. So, how? Last week, as we talked about creating a vibrant prayer life, our task was to simply pray and pray for a heart that loves to pray. We talked about action steps to take and triggers that help us build habits. Now, let’s take that a step farther. Plan a time for worship. Start your day with worship, and then continue it throughout the day. You could even write out your worship schedule each night and follow it the next day. Does that sound weird? Hear me out. Write down the times you want to worship in sharpie or a bright color and everything else you need to do in pencil. Then, no matter what, make sure the worship happens. At the end of the day, even if your house is a mess and you didn’t meet all your goals, your heart will be more peaceful, because you centered your day on the greatness of Jesus, rather than the imperfections of life. Do this every single day for a week, and you will find yourself longing for worship.
I know this makes it feel like a religious act, but there are times when we need to lead our heart and actions in our Christianity. When we take the first steps in obedience, we will see God work on our behalf. He didn't part the Jordan River until the priests stepped into the water.
Here’s a sample schedule:
Add your daily tasks in between these acts of worship. Center your day on the goodness of God, and you will begin to feel the goodness of God. You will find this to be a giant step towards a vibrant prayer life and your walk with Jesus will be SO enriched!
Roots by Warrior Hearted Mom is a series written to help us turn our focus back to the basics of our Christianity, so we can grow a strong foundation for our children.
"Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness." (Colossians 2:7 NLT)
I have always fought against the idea of making prayer into a habit. I've reasoned that, if prayer is such a tedious task, than there must be something wrong in my relationship with Christ. And yet, by my very reasoning, I have made prayer a task, rather than a relationship.
I know I'm not alone in this reasoning. I took several polls on social media and the overwhelming amount of voters admitted to not being happy with their prayer life. In fact, in one Facebook group, 40 Christian moms said they wished they had a better prayer life and 0 said they were happy with their prayer life. Prayer is our main form of communication with God. If we aren't praying, we aren't communicating with Christ. How can we grow in a relationship if we aren't talking? How quickly would your relationship with your husband go downhill, if you only talked with him while you were on the go? Or if you only talked with him when you needed something? |
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