Trees that Flourish

When we first purchased our home 26 years ago, on the property were multiple trees: a pie cherry, a bing cherry, an apple tree with 5 types of apples, an apricot, an Italian plum, and an English walnut. We added two pear trees, a peach tree, another English walnut, an oak, and a maple. Some are no longer standing having succumbed to disease or age. But others have survived.

One of the survivors, the red leaf oak, was purchased through a catalog. It came as a stick about four feet or so long. We were promised that if we followed the directions, it would become the tree pictured in the catalog. So, we planted it in the front yard, watered it and cared for it as directed.

 

It remained a "stick" that first year. But, we didn't give up. After much waiting, a leaf appeared and then another, although it hardly grew a perceptible inch.

 

After a few years, it started growing leaps and bounds. It's still not a huge tree, unlike the maple next to it. But, it is a beautiful tree with blossoms in the springtime and acorns—and red leaves—in the fall.

 

During those months and years of waiting, lots was happening we couldn't see. The roots beneath the ground were establishing themselves. They became a solid foundation from which the tree could grow and flourish. When it had just the right support, that's exactly what happened.

 

Our children are like that oak tree—promises of future growth and maturity.

 

We follow the directions to care for them as provided by the One Who gave them to us. We love and nurture our children.

 

And we pray for them. As limited human beings, we give our children through our prayers what only God can give. Only He can take a stick and turn it into a tree that flourishes with life.

 

So we pray—

 

"Lord Jesus Christ, please make Your home in _____’s heart as s/he trusts in You. May her/his roots grow down into Your love and keep her/him strong." From Ephesians 3:17 (NLT)

 

"Lord, may You make _____ be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever s/he does shall prosper." From Psalm 1:3 (NKJV)

 

"Lord, may _____ shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit." From Jeremiah 17:7-8 (NKJV)

 

"Lord, may _____ not trust in her/his riches and fall, but may s/he choose righteousness and flourish like a green leaf." From Proverbs 11:28 (ESV)

 

The prophet Isaiah wrote that the Lord's promise to those who receive the Good News is that He would "… give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified." 61:3 ESV

 

That's powerfully turning a stick into a robust and beautiful flourishing tree!

 

 

 

 

Cultivating Heart Soil

Recently, two friends of mine went to Bali to help with a missionary conference—a working vacation of sorts. Their "duty" was to care for the 8 young children of those attending, two of which were their grandsons. So, they held Vacation Bible School, a delight filled task! To make it even more fun for these children who were very familiar with Bible stories, they had them act out the stories, improvising with things in the hotel room to dress them up, i.e. using bedding for turbans, etc.

 

One of the stories was the Parable of the Soils (Matthew 13:1-23). The children pretended to be the different parts, one of the favorites of which was the soil. Imagine that—children liking dirt.

 

It made me think—every child is soil. Every day, seeds are being planted into their lives—good seed, as in this parable, and bad seed. Their hearts make the difference in how/which seed is received.

 

Our prayers have the power to affect their hearts. This is because—

 

Prayer is what moves the hand of God. And it is His hand that directs a heart.

 

"A king’s heart is like streams of water in the Lord’s hand:

He directs it wherever He chooses."

Proverbs 21:1 (HCSB)

 

That is why we pray.

 

We ask God to cultivate the soil of their hearts to desire good seed, receive it, and then yield a crop.

 

We pray that the wicked one will be prevented from snatching the good seed sown in their hearts. We pray that the seed settles in and grows roots that tribulation will not disturb. We pray that thorns, cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches will not choke the seed.

 

We ask the Lord that our children will receive the Word of God with understanding and bear fruit.

 

We arise and cry out day and night pouring out our hearts before the presence of the Lord. We lift up our hands to Him for the lives of our children. (From Lamentations 2:9)

 

And as we do, we go over the head of the prince of this world to the King of kings and Lord of lords whose Word tells us—

 

"The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth.
He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;
He also will hear their cry and save them."

Psalm 145:18-19 (NKJV)

"For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,

and His ears are open to their prayer…"

1 Peter 3:12 (ESV)

 

Remember praying moms, your prayers are powerful because power and mercy belong to the Lord, the Hearer of your prayers.

 

"There is none like You …
Your mercy flows like a river wide and healing comes in Your Name.
Suffering children are safe in Your arms …
There is none like You."

Lenny LeBlanc

 

 

The Effort of Preparation

Harvest means that summer days are passing quickly. School doors will open before we know it. Of course, that is even more apparent when you walk into any store—you are greeted with aisles of school supplies. Even yesterday's paper was a reminder with all the colorful ads.

 

Are you preparing for the year ahead? Are you planning how you will not only send your kids off well prepared with supplies but how you will support them in prayer?

 

Prayer is something the enemy works hard to keep out of our plans. So, preparation is what is needed. But, preparation takes effort.

 

Oswald Chambers wrote, "We have to make time, and that means effort, and effort makes us conscious of the need to reorganize our general ways." He reminds us that "we take time to eat our breakfasts and our dinner, etc.," in essence, pointing out that we put effort into what we really want to do.

 

Praying moms, our prayers for our children are categorized both important and urgent. They meet the standard for a priority assignment on our calendar, something other things don't "bump" off our list of things to do.

 

We may be solo prayer warriors, but what better thing can we do than add other voices to ours for our kids? More prayer, more power, more love!

 

Praying corporately with other moms often means sacrificing something good, but doing the best for our children should always come before what is good. Otherwise, we are giving what can only be mediocre—adequate, acceptable, average. Is that what we want for our kids?

 

When I recently went through stacks of Prayer Sheets for my kids, I was reminded of all the other moms who made time to pray weekly with me. Many of them were employed, some fulltime. Yet, they knew we always can make time for what is important to us. It just takes effort.

 

Don't let the enemy envelop you in busyness. Defeat him with preparedness.

 

"Pray in the Spirit in every situation.

Use every kind of prayer and request there is.

For the same reason be alert.

Use every kind of effort and make every kind of request for all of God’s people."

Ephesians 6:18 (GW)

 

 

"And may the Lord our God show us his approval and make our efforts successful.

Yes, make our efforts successful!"

Psalm 90:17 (NLT)

 

 

 

Seedtime & Harvest

When my son was in college, summer meant his driving combines. First came pea harvest and then came wheat harvest. Peas are harvested during the day and during the night and his was usually a night shift. He'd come home near daybreak almost unrecognizable and smelling a bit odd. If you've ever smelled the pea sewage they feed livestock, you know what I mean. Wheat harvest was only a bit better. The wheat combine had an enclosed cab but the field dust still made its way in. No wonder. In rural areas this time of the year, you can just about tell where the wheat combines are by the dust clouds rising in the air.

 

This one's cloud is a bit mild. But a panoramic view would have revealed three combines working on the same field. Thankfully, on this trip, the only one we saw on the highway was traveling on a flatbed semi.

 

If you haven't already concluded, harvest is in full swing in SE Washington State. The fields are turning into spiky, short stubble. The grain is being loaded into trucks, driven to the elevators, and stored until it is reloaded on larger trucks or barges and shipped to processing plants.

 

The Lord has promised, "While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease." (Genesis 8:22) His promises are sure. But where personal harvest is concerned, we have to be actively involved in the seedtime.

 

Our prayers are like seeds planted in our children's lives. Just like plants, sometimes the harvest comes quickly and sometimes it is long in waiting. But as long as we are actively involved in the seedtime, the harvest comes.

 

 

"Those who cry while they plant will joyfully sing while they harvest."

Psalm 126:5

Tiptoe Anticipation

“Don’t be afraid, Daniel. God has heard everything that you said ever since the first day you decided to humble yourself in front of your God so that you could learn to understand things.

I have come in response to your prayer."

Daniel 10:12 GW

 

 

In the 10^th chapter of the Old Testament book of Daniel, we read of a time when Daniel spent three weeks—21 days—fasting and praying for an answer. At the end of that time, it seemed none was to be had. Daniel was left waiting.

 

Then, on the 24^th day, a messenger of God came to him. Daniel was told that from the first day he laid out his heart before God that his words were heard. From the very first day. But, the response had been delayed.

 

During those 24 days, there was a battle waging behind the scenes that Daniel was unaware of.

 

Daniel persisted in prayer. Finally, the answer came.

 

Fern Nichols, Founder & President of Moms in Prayer International, wrote, "Prevailing prayer is persistent prayer. It's devoting ourselves to stay the course until the answer comes (Colossians 4:2). It's believing that our prayers will transform other's lives. It's tiptoe anticipation, just waiting for the God of heaven and earth to burst forth with the answer."

 

What answer are you on tiptoe anticipating? Are you staying the course?

 

Fern reminds us that "our prevailing prayers are like the wind of the Holy Spirit, causing the object of our prayers to bend before its persistent force. On any given day we may not see the effects of our prayer; nonetheless, God is at work."

 

We can be sure, just as the angel assured Daniel, that the Lord hears our prayers for our children. Sometimes the answers are immediate, while the words are still in our mouths. But, more often, those answers are unseen for weeks, months, or even years.

 

Colossians 4:2 in the Amplified Bible tells us, "Be earnest and unwearied and steadfast in your prayer [life], being [both] alert and intent in [your praying] with thanksgiving."  We must with faithful devotion make our voices heard before the throne.

 

But there's more to it. We have to go beyond the persistent asking into thanksgiving. This is an attitude of heart that will keep our prayers full of faith and hope. And that attitude will keep us then in tiptoe anticipation actively waiting to see what the Lord has planned in answer…from the first day we laid out our hearts before Him.

 

"Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving,

continue to make your wants known to God."

Philippians 4:6 AMP

 

 

The Grass Withers, the Flower Fades

I've been learning a lot about the past generations in my family. In fact, last month, my husband and I were able to visit Armel Cemetery in NE Colorado where my great-grandparents are buried. Still used and cared for, this small rural cemetery is surrounded by farmland, appropriate as my great-grandparents were homesteaders.

 

There's nothing like visiting a cemetery to take you outside your own "today" world. It gives you pause to think.

 

Life for us in this land of the living is brief. Isaiah wrote "All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, because the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are grass." (40:6b-7 NKJ)

 

That is why Psalm 90:12 tells us to number our days. The Contemporary English Version puts it, "Teach us to use wisely all the time we have." Moses, the writer of this Psalm, explains this is because our lives are "soon cut off, and we fly away." (90:10 NKJ)

 

The reality is we only have one day—today. And praying moms, that means that every morning we wake up with only "today" to impact our children's lives. There is no guarantee of tomorrow. So, what we do today effects eternity.

 

Michael Youssef wrote, "Parents, you have incredible power through prayer to impact future generations. If you look down through history, every great man or woman of God—like Saint Augustine or the Wesley brothers—had someone praying for them."

 

As I stood beside that grave stone, I wondered about the lives of those who are buried there. Had they been praying for the future generations of our family? Are their voices echoing still today in the ear of the Living God? Does He see us through their prayers?

 

 

"The end of the world is coming soon. Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your prayers."

1 Peter 4:7

Like the Grass of the Field

Early summer winds bring the fields alive with movement. The green grasses bend and shimmer as they catch the light appearing like white caps traveling across a lake.

 

It is mesmerizing to watch.

 

But it is also a reminder that harvest is on the horizon. Already, it is beginning.

 

Everything a farmer does is done with the harvest in mind. The same goal is on the Lord's mind.

 

King Solomon wrote of the future time of harvest when there will be abundance of grain in the land waving on the tops of the mountains—when people in the cities will blossom like the grass of the field. (Psalm 72:16 ESV)

 

When I looked at Psalm 72 in my own Bible, I saw that I had underlined a portion of verse 4, "He will save the children of the needy." Though the word "needy" refers chiefly to the poor, it also means those needing help or deliverance from trouble by God.

 

This prophetic Psalm looks forward to the coming of the Great King, the Messiah, and of His just and righteous rule. Immediately prior to the verse that speaks of abundance, the psalmist writes, "Prayer also will be made for Him continually, and daily He shall be praised."

 

Just as Jesus told the disciples to pray for the harvest (Luke 10:2), so must we pray. Our children are needy, and deliverance only comes from the Great King. But our appeals to Him send "workers" into their lives.

 

Praying moms, we must be diligent to ask the Lord to send out workers. We must look to the Lord for that abundant harvest so that our children will blossom like the grass of the field.

"Blessed be the Lord God, the god of Israel, who only does wondrous things!"

Psalm 72:18 NKJ

Holding Up Each Other's Arms

One thing, among many others, that I love about the ministry of Moms in Prayer International is that other moms are essentially holding up my arms, like Aaron and Hur did for Moses in Exodus 17:8-16. Joshua and the Israelites were down on the battlefield. Up above lifting the standard, the rod of God, was Moses. But Moses became tired.

You'd think it would be a simple thing to hold up the standard of God in prayer. But, the enemy is tricky and this is his world, for now. He can affect our thinking and our physical being and bring us to a place of exhaustion in prayer faster than a runner in a 25 mile marathon.

 

So, we need to hold up each other's arms. I think that is one of the reasons that we are told in the New Testament to not forsake assembling together. It is similar to what Proverbs 27:17 tells us, "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." (HCSB)

 

This past week, I took a brand new Bible and marked out every verse I'd prayed for my daughter in the 21 years I have prayed with other moms in Moms in Prayer groups. The Lord has heard my voice AND the voice of other moms praying each of those verses, His own words, back to Him. I believe that He looks at my daughter with those Scriptures on His mind, with all our voices ringing in His ears.

 

As I flipped through those Prayer Sheets (I'd saved them from week one), I was also reminded of all the wondrous deeds—answers to prayer—that I have seen over the years and am still seeing. Not one of them was "lost" or went unheard…and not just for my daughter. My God is working in the lives of all those children whose names are on those pages.

 

In fact, Revelation 8:3-5 seems to indicate that our prayers are incense before the Throne and are used to do powerful things on earth.

 

So, when we are tempted to "forsake assembling together," we must deliberately recall to mind the power of holding up each other's arms. Me holding up your arms. You holding up my arms.