“He who offers a sacrifice of
thanksgiving honors Me,"
Psalm 50:23a NASB.
What a joy it is to offer the sacrifice
of thanksgiving and to see God's light in another mom's eyes as she rejoices
before Him! Every Moms in Prayer
meeting is an opportunity to give honor to our Lord as we express our
appreciation and joy for His answers to our prayers. Even in the waiting we
express gratitude knowing that our God actively hears the prayers of His
daughters.
This is a sampling of the sacrifice of
thanksgiving offered by our Washington Moms
in Prayer members who desire to "speak" the wondrous works of
their God and give Him honor. So, scroll and read … and scroll and read. You
won't want to miss the last one!
A Group Leader: A mom came with a very heavy heart for her
18-year old prodigal daughter. We prayed for protection, loving Christian
friends to surround her, and that Christian friends would invite her to a Bible
study. The following week, a group member ran into a friend just prior to our
Moms in Prayer meeting and casually invited her to join us and she did! During
thanksgiving time the mom of the prodigal child was thankful her daughter had
visited her. Then the drop-in friend prayed thanking the Lord that her
Christian son and girlfriend were able to invite this very girl to their Bible
study and she willingly came! There was not a dry eye in the room as we gave
credit to our miracle working God!
Caroline Lajoie, Area Coordinator for
Federal Way & Fife: While I was praying with a private Christian school group of two
faithful moms, the principal of the school popped in. An educator for many
years, she said she could tangibly feel the prayers of these moms and knows
that God's blessing has been on this school in a special way the past 2 years
since this group has been praying. I praise God for this encouragement—the
prayers of 2 or 3 faithful moms meeting regularly make a big difference for the
whole school!
An Elementary School Group Leader: I am amazed and
blessed by what God has been doing in my children--awards at school, attitude
changes, confessing sin, object lessons presenting themselves, devotional time, and
my youngest, who just turned 5, gave her heart to Jesus on Easter. She has gone
from sitting in the back of Sunday school, just wanting to play, to being in
the front, bringing her Bible and eager to do her Sunday School homework during
the week. I love that God works in our kids' hearts in big ways. There are still
answers I am seeking in prayer on their behalf and I know HE will finish the
work he has started in them. Praise him always!
A Career Group Leader: My career-aged group has prayed for my daughter and son-in-law who have had their home listed for sale for 2 years and tried for a year to get pregnant. Their house sold in May and their first baby is due in October. Never give up! God's timing is perfect.
A Career Group Leader: My career-aged group has prayed for my daughter and son-in-law who have had their home listed for sale for 2 years and tried for a year to get pregnant. Their house sold in May and their first baby is due in October. Never give up! God's timing is perfect.
Sarah Rogers, Area Coordinator for
Kent/Tahoma: Our
college group celebrated 3 graduates this year! The prom queen and king from
our local high school have praying moms!
Skyline High School Group: We prayed for a
mom's daughter to get enough sleep. She is taking a full load of IB classes and
works slowly and diligently to do her best with no free time and ends up
staying up late most nights. We prayed earnestly and the next week it snowed
all week! She got plenty of rest.
An Area Coordinator: I have been praying
steadily for my 20-yr old son's relationship with a non-Christian girl for 1 ½
years in Moms in Prayer groups and rejoice at God's answer to my prayers. My
son was engaged to this girl; but recently, he announced that they have decided
to call it off. God broke them apart in such a way that there was no
heartbreak. They are still friends.
Beaver Lake Middle School Group: In our intercession
small groups, one mom prayed for the Lord to give good friends to her daughter
whose closest friends had moved away recently. In another small group, a mom's
request was for her daughter to have a good, stable group of Christian girls to
hang out with. That following week, this second mom said that she was driving
the first mom's daughter to Young Life along with her daughter. Because they
were in different intercession groups, neither mom was aware of the other's
prayer for her daughter, but God answered both at the same time!
An Issaquah Group: We prayed for a mom's daughter, not a natural
athlete, to make it into a select volleyball team. She made the team, and her
coach is a Christian! Then we prayed for the daughter to bond with the team.
That prayer has been answered, too, as she loves her team.
Edgewood Group Leader: Both my boys are on
their own now and both drop in to visit from time to time. I'm so very thankful
for all the years of prayer poured into their lives. It gives my heart joy and
peace!
An Issaquah Group: A mom new to Moms in Prayer has a daughter who
runs track. The girl was concerned about multiple foot issues (heel pain,
blisters, etc.) as she prepared for a national competition. We prayed for God
to heal her feet and He did heal them very quickly. She placed 2nd in the
national competition.
A Thurston County Group Leader: My Moms in Prayer
ladies prayed with me about my 10-year old daughter's relationship with a
friend who was being unkind to her, and my daughter and I prayed together. The
two girls have grown closer and are thoroughly enjoying each other! They notice
now when other friends act as they had and are problem-solving to figure out
how to stay away from that influence. I'm so thankful to see this turn-around
in their relationship.
Beaver Lake Middle School Group: Our group had been
praying for 4 weeks or so that sexual predators in the community would be exposed
and removed. Three predators were identified by police and removed from our
area.
Christine Dunn, Area Coordinator for
South Thurston County: After an absence from my group, I was able to attend and
prayed for my son's employment. He was out of college and his old job was no
longer available. The very next day he told me that he had a job and he's been
working all day, every day since then! He knows the owners and a few of the
workers are his classmates from high school—a great group of guys. We are
praising the Lord and thanking Him for the fast answer.
Linda Yee, North Issaquah Area Coordinator: Our current groups
each pray for one school that needs a prayer group. Towards the end of the
year, a new group started at an elementary school. Hurray! Two women who have
been praying alone for their schools since the beginning of the year will each
have another mom to join them in prayer next year. At an end of year brunch for
my middle school group and the elementary school groups that feed into that
middle school, God put it on the heart of one woman to organize an outreach get
together this summer where we will plan and invite women to an informational
this fall.
Linda Lung, Area Coordinator for
Central Issaquah: Praise God for his goodness. A new principal, Tod Wood, was hired for
Clark Elementary. He is a strong Christian.
Kendahl Adjorlolo, Area Coordinator for Shoreline: The
Highland Terrace has two praying moms again. They are actively seeking other
moms to join!
From a Group Leader employed at an elementary school: Routinely, our Moms in Prayer groups use Exodus 18:21 to pray that openings for new staff will be filled by "God-fearing men/women of Truth who hate unjust gain"—to which we add "and who are skilled and caring in their work." The day before the first day of school last year, I was called in to help in our new Vice Principal's office, who was so pleasant and personable. I hoped he might be a believer. Since he worked at two schools, however, I did not see him often. In March, we received news that this wonderful Vice Principal accepted a Principal position on the other side of the state. Such exciting news for him and his family! I immediately emailed him, explaining that there were moms praying in that city in Moms in Prayer groups. I briefly explained the ministry, writing that I hoped that he would be prayed for. The very next day, he found me at my cafeteria duty. As I congratulated him on his new position, he replied, "Thank you, and that sounded awesome about the prayer group. In fact, my wife has already looked into it, and there is a group for my school, and she is going to join!" I was so encouraged, and we are still thanking the Lord for these answers to prayers!
An Issaquah Group: We prayed for a mom's daughter who was
discouraged by gossip that she was not good enough to pass the tryouts for
select soccer. The daughter made it onto the team (with some great coaches and
teammates) and the gossiping stopped.
An Edmonds School District High School
Group Leader: We had some HUGE answers to
prayer!!!! Only God could do all of this! A mom of a senior brought a prayer
request for someone to plan baccalaureate, which didn't happen last year and
wasn't in the works this year. Only 40 attended when it was last held. We took
on the task, praying this year's would be really big. We asked God for a
"big name speaker to bring the people in" and that something would
happen to bring a revival or at least that kids would hear about Jesus. We
chose the theme of "Stepping Out."
Then, we got sad news. Our beloved Christian principal was
"stepping out" to another district to mentor & train other
principals. This was devastating news for us, but other principals will now be
influenced by this godly man. Although he hadn't planned to attend
baccalaureate due to a family outing, when we asked if he would share his faith
at the school where he had not been able to do so before, he changed his plans,
thrilled at the opportunity. We prayed his family would be blessed through this
sacrifice. And we prayed that God would provide another Christian principal,
boldly asking for someone even "better."
Over 250 attended baccalaureate this year! The custodian,
who had to pull out 150 more chairs before it was over, hugged me, excited to
be part of something so amazing. Students and organizers alike were crying at
the assembly of a flower-filled cross. Even unchurched families who attended
said it was wonderful.
Moreover, someone gifted our principal and his family a
weekend with 2 condo rooms at Suncadia, an expense of over $1200! It had been a
"dream" of theirs to go as a family! They were given so much more for
staying to take this opportunity.
Additionally, we had been praying all year that my son
would in faith return to the Lord. He reluctantly attended baccalaureate.
Later, I asked him what he thought of the event. My jaw hit the floor when he
said, "It was really great! I liked everything about it! Especially what
(the Principal) had to say."
In the meantime, one of our Moms in Prayer moms told us a
Christian that she loved and respected had applied for our school principal. We
prayed. The teacher who helped organize baccalaureate was familiar with this
man and was so excited to hear he was applying. A group of moms from this man's
church said they loved him and his children! And YES, he got the job. We don't
know if he's "better," but he is definitely an answer to our prayer
to keep God in the top spot of our school!
I felt God had given me the privilege of being in this Moms
in Prayer group for such a time as this to see His Miracles, to witness His
hand of love and care, and to show us just what He will do when a small group
of women makes believing Him a priority!
Our God is good—ALL the time!
