Hebrews Chapter 11

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1 NASB

Prayer Over Our Children

Grant my daughter a sure Hope and a certainty in the unseen. Through her faith oh God, bless her understanding, commend her as righteous, and find her pleasing unto You. I pray that You would give her a faith which seeks You in earnest and obeys in trust. Bless her and her future husband with children, oh Lord, multiplying her descendants in Your holy inheritance. Help her put away what is past and strain forward with faith while she looks towards Your heavenly reward. Prepare a place for her, oh God, and may she be proved faithful when tested. ... 

Shower her with Your blessings and grant her a heart of worship. Help her believe for the impossible, trust in the Hope that is to come, and instruct others in faith. May my daughter choose to stand firm as a child of God and cherish You above all earthly treasures rather than partake in the pleasures of sin.
   
Where You go, stay, and move, may she follow. Give her a bold, persevering faith that does not fear evil nor anger. Part the waters for her, oh God, and make all barriers fall. May she take courage in You, the God who conquers kingdoms, administers justice, shuts the mouths of lions, quenches the flames of fury, and fulfills His promises. For You make us strong in weakness, powerful in battle, and help us to escape the edge of the sword. Oh Lord, help her keep the faith even when tested and make perfect Your plans for her.
 
It is 3:30 in the morning and I am awake. The whir of the refrigerator and the hum of the furnace couple with the quiet breathes of my daughter as she sleeps in the room next door. My husband’s snores resonate deep and loud through the night air. Despite the cacophony of sounds, all is peaceful, and all is at rest. Yet, here I find myself, body alert in the darkness.
    
It is the morning of my daughter’s birthday and I am awake. The car whose music blaring and bass pounding slammed me to wakefulness and assaulted my senses kept me from sleep as did the dripping tank of the commode and its constantly refilling reservoir. I am awake, but for what?
   
Unable to sleep, I grab pillow, blanket, and cell phone in hand to sneak out to the living room. I am awake.  But for what? What purpose exists when all who surround me engage in the very sleep which eludes me with every ticking second and passing minute? I sit on the couch which groans in protest at my early morning presence, wrapped in a blue covering with a pillow as my thoughts wander over the span of my daughter’s life. She came into the world with unexpected circumstances surrounding her conception and premature birth. The dichotomies of complete hopelessness merging with faith burns bright in my mind for I haven’t always lived in the Hope and joy of Jesus.
    
The time surrounding my daughter’s birth represented a time of desperation where the seams of my life strained to be held together by the unbreakable thread of Jesus. I remember days of hollow existence, devoid of feeling because the pain burned too deep, and months where all I could do was carry out the motions outwardly, but where emptiness settled dull within. I remember desperation so profound I thought I would not be around to hold my sweet girl, and my husband would be left to parent my new born baby by himself. In these days, weeks, and months, I had not the strength or energy to have joy and hope. But friends, as my daughter’s first few months of life conjures up my darkest, most desperate times in my life, it also represents God’s finest hour in it. For in the hollowness of my desperation, the arms and feet of Jesus became real to me like it had never before.
    
An outpouring of women from my church along with grandmothers galore came to my house to hold my new born, clean my kitchen, wash and even iron the clothes, and hold me when I cried. Prayer group members and family faithfully prayed for me. People whom I hadn’t heard from in years suddenly would call me out of the blue just to offer encouragement and pray. Friends changed diapers, got me out of the house, and strangers just materialized in my path whom God used to speak life-giving scriptures over me.
    
And Hope. God whispered hope into my brokenness. God gave Hope when hope was most needed. When I had not the strength to hope, God surrounded me, filled me, and spoke Hope into the void. Hope blazed bright in my heart when He provided solutions to insurmountable problems. The beauty of a sunrise or the dance of gently falling snow whispered Hope into my weariness through the fingerprints of His majestic display. God spoke Hope into my desperate soul through the pages of Scripture and gave Hope through the watering of His Spirit. God was Hope to me when I had no hope and God IS Hope in the midst of our darkest hours.
    
Interestingly, during this time in my life, I found that Hope is not self-conjured from within, it is not something we stir from the depths of our own hearts but is rather an outpouring of God from above. True Hope comes not of our own making but from the unyielding promises and love of Jesus through the working out of His faithfulness, love, and promised assurances. It surrounds us in the Ebenezer’s of the past, His unshakeable hand on the present, and His beckoning call of the future.
    
I also learned that it is in our times of desperation, brokenness, and pain where Hope shines the brightest. It is in those moments of calamity, hardships, and utter despondency where the Hope of Christ is showcased and lived out most effectively in our lives through the hands, feet, and arms of Christ. It might be our darkest hour, but for those of you struggling to keep head above water, I tell you, this is God’s finest hour for He is able to make full use of His Kingdom and glory through the backdrop of pain and suffering. Remember, that what appeared to be man’s darkest hour when a veil of blackness covered the land with the gasping of Jesus’s last breath, was God’s finest hour for all of mankind. For in the death of Jesus Christ came victory over sin and the grave through His resurrection to life.
    
So, here we all are on the doorstep of a brand-New Year. Just as I sit and marvel at the faithfulness of God in my own life and my daughter’s, so should we also be looking back in gratitude and thanksgiving for God’s faithfulness in our lives. But it is not enough for us to remain in the memories of the past. We need to allow the knowledge of God’s past faithfulness to spurn us forward and merge with our look forward to the future in eager expectation of what God will do. Like a little child whose zeal and unbridled excitement infuses her joy on her birthday, whose lens is not tainted by cynicism, hopelessness, or disbelief, so we should also be pressing forward as we enter this next year grounded in the faithfulness of the past, present, and future of what is to come.
    
​So, my question to you            dear friends and fellow parents is…are you awake? Are you awake enough to look back and see God’s time of faithfulness? Are you awake to be fully present in this moment and relish the faithfulness of God in our lives? Are you awake to welcome in the ushering in of what God will do, is going to do, in and through your life as we step out each day into the future? Are we awake that we can be used as the arms and feet of Jesus in both the lives of the unsaved and saved? For if we are not fully wake or present in each moment, we will miss out on God’s plans and purposes for our lives and even perhaps God’s greatest hours for us. Are you awake?

Parent’s Prayer

Oh Lord, wake me up and breathe fresh new life into my lungs so that I might be of useful service to You. Let me step out in faith to do the work of Your calling and walk faithfully where You want me to go. Give me ears to listen and eyes to see You so that I might discern Your Will and step in obedience. Oh, Father God, fill me with Your wisdom and let Your grace be upon me.