Praying For Your Man

Happy Friday, peep!

I'm feelin' a short post coming on.  Like straight to the point and done.  Three minutes of reading.  

Are you a wife?  If you're not a wife, are you a friend of someone? Is there someone that you really care about - a parent, a child, a sibling, a friend?  Have you ever uttered the words...."I'm praying for you!"  "I'll pray for you....." etc only to realize that it never actually happened?  

I think Facebook must be the absolute top place where it is way way way too easy to type those words out and never follow through.  

This week, I delved into a prayer exercise that really made an impact on me.  As a wife, I feel compelled to pray for my husband.  I want to.  I believe that my prayers somehow carry a weight in the heavenlies on his behalf like no one else's, because we are one.  I go through seasons of being more consistent with it and less consistent with it.  But recently, my heart has been stirring to refresh my efforts and I wanted to create a new prayer list for him.

This time, I didn't ask him if there was anything he wanted me to be praying about for him.  Instead, I got out my new journal......oh my.  It's my very favorite journal EVER.  It feels so so so good in my hands and it calls my pen out of the drawer and into my hand to get writing.  

Instead of thinking through what I should be praying over him, I prayed through what I should be praying over him.  It doesn't have to be weird.  It can be a very simple question of the Lord, "Father, show me what to pray for Him.  What is on your heart for Him?  Holy Spirit show me."  Then give it a little time and start writing.

Whoa.  What started coming through my pen as I started scribbling the list of things to pray over him was crazy.  They were things that I wouldn't have come up with on my own - I can tell you that.  They were things that were not coming from my heart, or frankly, my agenda for him.  They were from his Father's heart....and sister, I can tell you - it's more powerful to pray what the Lord is saying over him than what I want said over him.  

So, if your instant thought is doubt over whether or not God will say anything or that you will hear anything or that you will hear the right thing....put it aside.  The risk in this exercise is unbelievably low!  No one has to know!  And more than likely, what will come to you is positive stuff so if it's more you than God then no worries - at least you're praying good over your husband!   

My next step is to find Scriptures to go with each thing that came to me to pray for him and then I like to post my list on the inside of one of my cabinet doors so I see it and am frequently reminded of it.  Please.  I'm no prayer superstar.  But this is something that really helps me grab onto my commitment to pray!  

Oh man, this can be applied to any prayer focus, can't it?  It's not a method for wives only, ha!  It's just a great practice to ask the Lord to help us pray and it's one I want to get better and better at.  The other day I shared with Z one of the things God put on my heart to pray for him.  You should have seen his eyes....he felt so loved.  Give this a try!  Would love to know if it turns out to be as cool for you as it was for me!

HAPPY WEEKENDING Y'ALL!

Love,

Abi

Connecting At The End Of The Week

FRIDAY you blessed thing, you.  Seriously.  I could do a jig.  I could just hug it.

Honest confessions of a first time mom of a Spring Breaker: I think I blew it a little.  I mean, bless him, Liam really had no grid for Spring Break and I don't think he even realized that he wasn't going to school when he normally would have.  But we got into it and I realized I wanted to have more 'fun' planned than I did.  This is how I roll though....rarely prepared for things the first time I experience them - it takes me a time or two to get into the groove.  Some moms seem to be born ready for these kinds of things...I get there in time :). So NEXT year I'll be all over it.

Here's a question for you: Where have you been lately?  Not where have you literally been.  But where have you been?  Where has your heart been?  Where have your thoughts been?  Because even in the crazy weeks, our hearts continue living.  Our spirits continue sensing.  Our minds continue pondering.  You may be meeting this Friday in a frazzled state, just thankful to cross the finish line.  Those weeks inevitably leave me aware of only the blatant within me.  Know what I mean?  My most conscious thoughts are: Let's have fun.  I'm tired.  We made it.  These boys are so cute.  Lord help me not get angry today.  Is it time for a latte?  What can I eat?............

But even at the end of those weeks, the truest part of me and the truest part of you is still beating and experiencing life.  And oh so often, there is a dialogue going on in and it's there whether we connect with it or not.  But it's there my friend.

And, for me, that is mostly the place that my spirit is engaged and I am connecting with Him.

Do you feel dry at the end of this week?  Wondering how another week passed and you ended up here at the end of blur of activity?  Feeling like He's not speaking much at the moment?  Or maybe you feel overwhelmed by a particular situation that is unrelenting and consumes your thoughts.  Perhaps you arrive at this Friday, aware of just how much Grace has been extended to you this week though.

If I may, I'd love to speak right to the deepest part of you and simply say a few things that are indeed true....whether they feel true or not.

Truth:

You are not separated from Him.  Romans 8:35-39

He is with you. Isaiah 41:10

He delights in you.  Zephaniah 3:17

He is speaking to you and you will hear him.  John 10:27-28

There's no substitute for truth and sometimes I have to get a little firm and confront myself with it. Truth really does bring freedom, doesn't it?!

So if you've arrived at the end of the week feeling disconnected, I'll just put out there a few questions I ask myself and a few things I ask the Lord to do to help me connect more deeply:

Questions:
What situations have been filling my thoughts most loudly?
What thoughts have been running throughout my mind or heart on a quieter level?
What am I feeling beneath the thoughts that I've been having?

What I ask of the Lord:
Lord, give me eyes to see what you see and ears to hear what you hear.
Lord, show me my heart.
Father, help me to be quiet so that I can hear.
Jesus, what do you want me to pay attention to?

If those kinds of questions are new or feel uncomfortable, no worries.  Warm up to them and take them out for a test drive.  There's not really much on the line if nothing happens!  But, I think they help stir up your spirit and open you up to connect.

Be encouraged my friend.  No matter how you've arrived at this Friday, this moment is yours.  This moment can lead right into the deeper connection that every one of us longs for.  Don't be discouraged by thinking you need to carve out thirty minutes of silence.  Take two minutes right now and then pay attention when it comes to your mind throughout the day.  See what happens...because maybe something will!

You are loved.  You are desired.  And you are most definitely not separated.

Many blessings on your weekend and happy weekending to you!

Love y'all,
Abi