Educating the Wholehearted Child

Sally Clarkson at itakejoy.com is giving away 3 copies of their newly updated book, Educating the Wholehearted Child. This sounds like an excellent resource! I can't wait to read it!

Warrior Prayers -- Day 21

21 Days of Prayer for our Sons…

Congratulations!! What an accomplishment!! This has not been an easy task, if you’re like me, the devil has put roadblocks along your way. Just think of all the work that has been done on behalf of your children! I’m proud of you, MOM!

Today’s Prayer in on HUMILITY…

Brooke McGlothlin states in the Warrior Prayers Leader Guide:

“I chose humility as our last day’s topic because it is such an amazing posture of the heart. Scripture just seems to scream God’s favor over those who are humble in heart.

James 4:10 says that if we’re humble before the Lord, He will lift us up.

1 Peter 5:6 says that if we humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, He will exalt us.

Most importantly, in Psalm 149:4 we find that it is the humble who are adorned with salvation.

A humble heart is required for salvation! Just as Jesus humbled Himself unto the cross, we must admit that we’re sinners, admit that our OWN way is NOT the right way, and HUMBLY ask for forgiveness before salvation comes.

Do you show humility before your sons? Do you always have to be right? Always have to win? Pray an ask the Lord for specific ways you can show humility today so that when the time comes, your sons will know how to show it too.

“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” - Ephesians 4:2

Today’s verses are:

James 4:10

1 Peter 5:6

James 4:6

2 Chronicles 7:14

Psalm 25:9

1 Peter 3:8

Matthew 11:29

Psalm 149:4

Ephesians 4:2

1 Peter 5:5

As we finish this 21 Day Challenge, will you please share in the comments a specific way this challenge has been meaningful to you?

Also, will you consider praying and asking God to give you 3 specific things that you can pray for your children each day? It could be 3 of the topics or 3 certain verses or something else God has revealed to you through this challenge.

Congratulations again on completing this 21-day challenge to pray! Let’s keep praying for our children!

Praying for humility,

Kim

Warrior Prayers - Day 20

21 Days of Prayer for our Sons…

We’re almost there!

Today’s Prayer in on HEART CHANGE…

“The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.”

-Luke 6:45

The most foundational thing we can ask God for in the lives of our children is HEART CHANGE. The Bible says that what is in the heart eventually comes out. If we have bad stuff in our heart, then bad stuff comes out! And if we have good stuff in our heart, then good will come out.

I’ve heard this illustration twice within the last week, so I think God might be trying to tell me something. I hope it’s meaningful to you as well.

I’m going through Priscilla Shirer’s JONAH Bible study this summer with a group of ladies from our Sunday School class. On the video last week, she had a girl hold a glass of water. Then, Priscilla started shaking the girl’s arm, and the water started spilling out everywhere.

Then she asked, “why do you think the water came out of the glass?”

We could say that the water came out of the glass because Priscilla shook her arm. But then she said, could it be that the water came out of the glass because there was water IN the glass? If the glass were empty, then nothing would come out of it when shaken!

So it is with our hearts! Life has a funny way of ramming up against us & shaking us up! People pull out in front of you & go slow when you are in a hurry. Your child spills milk all over the table right before you need to leave for work. Your little one wakes you up in the middle of the night because he had an accident all over his bed. (This has happened too many times lately!) Your children decide to annoy each other in front of everyone at church. (Need I go on???)

We get “shaken” up every day…probably many times every day! But our response to the “shakes” comes from what is in our glass…or our hearts! If we have bad stuff in our heart, then bad stuff comes out! And if we have good stuff in our heart, then good will come out.

So…what comes out of your heart when you are “shaken?” Our response matters to God and it matters to the people watching and learning from us along the way.

Today’s verses are:

Matthew 23:26

Ezekiel 36:26

Isaiah 29:13

Luke 6:45

Luke 22:42

James 4:8

Psalm 51:10

Ecclesiastes 10:2

Ezekiel 14:3

Acts 2:37

Praying for heart change,

Kim

(Adapted from Brooke McGlothlin’s Warrior Prayers Leader Guide:)

Warrior Prayers - Days 17-19

21 Days of Prayer for our Sons…

Playing Catch-Up!

I must admit that do not like it when I over-commit myself & don’t follow through with things. I’ve had a difficult time getting the last three days of Warrior Prayers posted, so I’m going to catch up with this one post.

Then, we’ll be on our way to finishing!

The topics for these prayers are SELF-CONTROL, ANGER, and SALVATION…what a combination!

So we finish up the “fruit of the spirit” with self-control…something I struggle with myself…especially when it comes to food! The key to overcoming our tendencies to put other things ahead of Christ is to choose to love Him more than we love our sin! A constant laying down of our desires and picking up Christ is the only way to fix our problem of self-control. It’s a daily decision & sometimes it’s a minute by minute one!

The verses to pray for SELF-CONTROL are:

1 Corinthians 3:16

Romans 6:12-13

Romans 12:1-2

1 Corinthians 9:27

Ephesians 5:15

Proverbs 23:17

Proverbs 30:8

Psalm 19:14

Proverbs 14:30

Romans 16:19

The next topic of prayer is ANGER…

Brooke states in the Leader’s Guide:

"so much of the Christian life is a choice. Every day (multiple times a day) we’re presented with a choice to choose God or choose ourselves.

Anger is a perfect example.”

“You can just feel it coming, can’t you? Anger is an almost total body experience. Muscles get tight. Temples throb. Jaw clenches. Explosion feels imminent…wooing us into believing we have no choice but to react. But it’s not true.”

“We almost always have a choice when it comes to anger. We can choose to embrace it and sin. Or we can choose to put it away, and instead choose kindness, self-control, compassion, and love.”

“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.” –Ephesians 4:31

The verses to pray for ANGER are:

Ephesians 4:31

Colossians 3:8

Proverbs 15:1

Ecclesiastes 7:9

Romans 12:19

Ephesians 2:14

James 3:18

Colossians 3:15

Philippians 4:7

1 Peter 3:11

Today’s topic of prayer is SALVATION…

I don’t believe there is a more important prayer that we can pray than for our children’s SALVATION! We can pray for protection, good friends, and good influences, but until their hearts submit to Jesus, they will continue to choose themselves and their own way.

Let’s pray that our parenting will always be Gospel-centered.

If your son is already a Christian, pray that the Holy Spirit will keep him close each and every day. If he is not yet a Christian, pray that God will work on his heart until he is ready to pray and receive Christ!

The verses to pray for SALVATION are:

Romans 10:9

Ephesians 2:8

2 Timothy 1:9

Exodus 14:13

Psalm 27:1

Ephesians 6:17

Philippians 2:12

1 Peter 1:5

Psalm 31:16

Hebrews 7:25

**It seems like all of these prayer topics deal with what is in our hearts as well! When we’re tempted to lose patience with our children, let’s stop and ask the Lord to show us the way out and choose grace and love instead. I know it seems easier said than done, but God promises He will always provide a way out in 1 Corinthians 10:13!

Praying for our boys,

Kim

Warrior Prayers - Day 16

21 Days of Prayer for our Sons…

Today’s Prayer in on GENTLENESS…

We are still praying for the “fruit of the Spirit” to be evident in our sons!

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, GENTLENESS, self-control, against such there is no law.” – Galatians 5:22

The following is from Brooke McGlothlin’s Warrior Prayers Leader Guide:

Aggression in men is commonplace. It may not manifest itself the same way for all of them, but it’s there nonetheless. For the physical boys, it shows up in their need to be on the top of the wrestling pile. For the intellectuals, it shows up in their need to score the highest on the exam or be at the top of the class. Personally, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with aggression. I don’t want to break my sons of their aggressive streak and I’m learning not to be afraid of it. But I do want to teach them how and when to use it. I’m beginning to think that gentleness is more of an approach to life than a specific characteristic to develop.

Since they were born, we’ve whispered these words into our sons’ ears:

“God made men to protect women and care for them. God made you a big brother! Your job is to protect your little brother, not hurt him. There’s a time to play and a time to listen. If you can’t listen, you have to feel (true in so many aspects of life). God wants you to use your strength to protect, not to hurt. Superhero’s don’t look for fights, but they will fight to protect others. It’s OK to want to be the best, but the best people in life are the ones who serve others. A gentle word turns away wrath…”

“But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gently open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.” - James 3:17

Today’s verses are:

Proverbs 15:4

Matthew 11:29

Ephesians 4:2

1 Thessalonians 2:7

1 Timothy 3:3

1 Timothy 6:11

2 Timothy 2:25

Titus 3:2

James 3:17

1 Peter 3:15

Praying for GENTLE hearts,

Kim

Warrior Prayers - Day 15

21 Days of Prayer for our Sons…

Today’s Prayer in on FAITHFULNESS…

We are still praying for the “fruit of the Spirit” to be evident in our sons! (Only 2 left!)

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, FAITHFULNESS, gentleness, self-control, against such there is no law.” – Galatians 5:22

We need to pray that our sons will be faithful to God. A man whose first love is Jesus will be faithful in all areas of life. He won’t be perfect, but he will possess the ability to be empowered by the Holy Spirit to be faithful. It is something worth praying for.

“Now therefore fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and in faithfulness…” – Joshua 24:14

Today’s verses are:

Joshua 24:14

1 Samuel 12:24

Psalm 25:10

Psalm 26:3

Psalm 37:3

Psalm 89:33

Psalm 91:4

Proverbs 3:3

Lamentations 3:21-24

1 Corinthians 10:13

Praying for faithful hearts,

Kim

Warrior Prayers - Day 14

21 Days of Prayer for our Sons…

Today’s Prayer is on GOODNESS…

We are still praying for the “fruit of the Spirit” to be evident in our sons! (There are a lot of them!)

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, GOODNESS, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, against such there is no law.” – Galatians 5:22

What makes someone “good?” Is it an action or is it an “overflow of the heart?” We can do GOOD things but have a bad attitude while doing them. As we raise our children, are we teaching them that if they DO good things then they are GOOD? If we teach them that being good is all it takes, if our discipline and training only focuses on our behavior, how will they know they need a Savior?

Brooke states in the Leader’s Guide:

“I believed that if I did good things, it made me god. Actually, it’s probably closer to the truth to say I believed that if I didn’t do bad things, then I wasn’t bad. I didn’t know that no one is good. I didn’t really understand that everyone sins. And I didn’t understand the depth of my own sin until the Lord showed it to me.

So…are we raising little Pharisees? Or are we raising Godly men with a heart for God? If a Godly son is your goal, you must aim for the HEART. Because unless the heart is changed—touched—the behavior will stay the same. It might look a little different, morph some as they grow. But behavior is always a symptom of the state of the HEART. What’s in the heart eventually comes out!

“Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” – Matthew 12:34

Ask yourself these questions:

What parenting tools have I been using that only focus on changing behavior and not the heart? Am I willing to lay them down even if they produce what looks like a good child?

Reaching a child’s heart takes time. Behavior modification is much faster! Am I willing to change things about my life so that I have the time to invest in the hearts of my children?

Most importantly, am I willing to submit my own heart to God and allow Him to mold me from the inside out?

Shepherding our boys is not for the faint of hearts, my friend!

So what keeps me going?

I want their hearts!

Just like my Heavenly Father wants mine!

Today’s verses are:

1 Kings 8:66

Psalm 23:6

Psalm 25:7

Psalm 27:13

Psalm 31:19

Psalm 65:4

Hebrews 6:5

Genesis 2:18

Deuteronomy 6:18

Deuteronomy 26:11

Praying for heart change,

Kim

Warrior Prayers -- Day 13

21 Days of Prayer for our Sons…

Today’s Prayer in on KINDNESS…

Today, we continue praying for the “fruit of the Spirit” of KINDNESS mentioned in Galatians 5:22.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, KINDNESS, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, against such there is no law.” – Galatians 5:22

It seems that KINDNESS is lacking in our busy “hustle & bustle” world that we live in nowadays. People are so concerned about their “agenda” that they forget to stop & consider others. It is our job as parents to be extremely intentional about going the extra mile and teaching kindness to our children. And the best example that they see is our own.

Brooke states in the Leader’s Guide:

“Remember, kindness is not something that comes naturally. We are selfish, sinful beings who mostly want our own way. Kindness is a learned art, usually caught by experiencing it first-hand from the hands of the people closest to us.”

Can you share how you are teaching your children to be kind in your home and in the world around you?

Today’s verses are:

2 Samuel 2:6

Ephesians 4:32

2 Timothy 2:24

1 Thessalonians 5:15

Colossians 4:6

Romans 12:10

Numbers 6:23-26

Hebrews 13:2

Ephesians 4:32

1 Peter 3:8

Sally Clarkson posted a very encouraging post about kindness on the MOB (Mother of Boys) Society page. It's here and here if you'd like to read it!

Praying for a more KIND heart,

Kim

**I just want to encourage you to PERSEVERE through this prayer challenge! I know it's difficult! Some nights I fall into bed & remember that I have forgotten to keep praying for the specific characteristic that day. I just say a prayer then & start over the next day. Satan would like to do anything to keep us from praying to God to better our families! Brooke is even having a giveaway on her blog for anyone that would link up & share how they are doing on this journey. So let us know how you are doing! We can make it one more week!

Warrior Prayers -- Day 12

21 Days of Prayer for our Sons…

Today’s Prayer in on PATIENCE…

Today, we continue praying for each specific “fruit of the Spirit” mentioned in Galatians 5:22.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, PATIENCE, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, against such there is no law.” – Galatians 5:22

Patience is one of those things that I’ve often heard (teasingly) that we should not pray for—because you never know what God might put in your path to teach you patience! It truly is one of those things that I struggle with because I always want things done on my timetable & that usually means “now!” J

However, when I stop and think that this is a “fruit” that God not only wants me to have but for me to also teach my children, it is very convicting! I really need to make a more intentional effort to be more patient with my children (and my husband). And I really need to work on teaching them to be patient as well.

Here’s Brooke’s question for today:

Do you think we’re teaching our sons that the “little things” are what matter most?

I’d love to hear your reply in the comments!

Today’s verses are:

James 5:10

Colossians 1:11

2 Corinthians 6:6

2 Timothy 4:2

Romans 2:4

Colossians 3:12

Ecclesiastes 7:8

Proverbs 19:11

2 Peter 1:5-7

Titus 2:2

Praying for a more PATIENT attitude,

Kim

Warrior Prayers -- Day 11

21 Days of Prayer for our Sons…

Today’s Prayer in on PEACE…

Today, we continue praying for each specific “fruit of the Spirit” mentioned in Galatians 5:22.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, PEACE, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, against such there is no law.” – Galatians 5:22

Do you have trouble resting in God’s PEACE sometimes? It doesn’t matter what stage of life our children are in, it seems there are always times when we could use some peace in our lives.

As you’re praying today, ask God to show you ways that you are not trusting Him completely, perhaps for your sons, and release them to Him, choosing to trust in His plan for their lives.

“Thou will keep in perfect PEACE, whose mind is stayed on Thee; because he trusts in Thee.” –Isaiah 26:3 (ASV)

Today’s verses are:

1 Peter 3:11

2 Thessalonians 3:16

John 14:27

2 Corinthians 13:11

James 3:18

Colossians 3:15

Jude 1:2

Philippians 4:7

Romans 5:1

1 Thessalonians 5:23

May the PEACE that passes ALL understanding wash over you today!

Kim

Why Can't I...

ever get a decent family picture anymore?

Could it be because of this silly boy?

Or the other silly boy in the green shirt?

Or the ringleader of them all (wearing the blue shirt)?

I'm not sure which one of them is the true reason...

I think it's a combination of all 3 boys!

For now (and maybe for the next several years),

I guess this is as good as it's gonna get!

I do love them all to pieces!

And they always manage to make me laugh!

(Except maybe when I'm trying to get a good family picture.)

Warrior Prayers -- Day 10

21 Days of Prayer for our Sons…

Today’s Prayer in on JOY…

Today, we continue praying for each specific “fruit of the Spirit” mentioned in Galatians 5:22.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, JOY, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, against such there is no law.” – Galatians 5:22

When I hear the word JOY, I always think of that song that I learned when I was little:

I’ve got the JOY, JOY, JOY, JOY down in my heart!

Where?

Down in my heart!

Where?

Down in my heart!

I’ve got the JOY, JOY, JOY, JOY down in my heart!

Where?

Down in my heart to stay!

Honestly, I don’t ALWAYS feel like having JOY in my heart every minute of every day. However, that should be our goal.

“Christ’s work on the cross was never intended to be something we took joy in one time and then never again. Thinking on His work and embracing it with a heart of gratefulness is enough to make even the grumpiest among us ‘burst out in songs of thanksgiving.’ No matter where we are, or what we’re experiencing, we CAN find joy in focusing on all that Christ has done and made possible through His death and resurrection.” (from Warrior Prayers Leaders Guide)

Today’s verses are:

Nehemiah 8:10

Galatians 5:22

Isaiah 55:12

Romans 15:13

Psalm 43:4

James 1:1-4

Psalm 30:5

1 Thessalonians 1:6

Romans 15:13

Romans 14:17

Pray for God to help you and your family to spread JOY to everyone around you today!

I’m praying & believing!

Kim

Warrior Prayers - Day 9

21 Days of Prayer for our Sons…

Today’s Prayer in on LOVE…

Today, we begin praying for each specific “fruit of the Spirit” mentioned in Galatians 5:22.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, against such there is no law.” – Galatians 5:22

To have all of these “fruits” evident in all of our lives is a very worthy goal! It’s how God wants us to live.

Brooke states in the Leaders Guide that two of her favorite verses to pray for her sons are today’s verse (Galatians 5:22) and Ezekiel 36:26.

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” –Ezekiel 36:36

She also talked about how love can’t really be all that it should be apart from God. The Bible says that God IS love. For us mathematicians, using the word “IS” is the same as using the word “EQUALS.” In other words, GOD = LOVE. They are the same! There is no real love apart from God, and God is behind all real and genuine acts of love.

Because we use the word “love” so loosely in today’s world, how can we begin to make changes in our life and our vocabulary to help our sons understand the true meaning of the word?

Today’s verses are:

1 John 2:15

1 John 4:7

1 Peter 1:22

Ephesians 5:28

1 Thessalonians 3:12

2 John 1:6

1 John 3:18

Jude 1:2

Deuteronomy 6:5

1 John 4:10

Pray for God to help you show LOVE to everyone around you today!

I’m praying & believing!

Kim

Warrior Prayers - Day 8

21 Days of Prayer for our Sons…

Today’s Prayer in on HONOR…

Good morning! I’m praying that you are “staying the course” & remembering to pray for your boys each day!

Today’s topic reminds me of some of the fairy tales and stories and movies that I’ve never grown tired of watching…like The Chronicles of Narnia, Robin Hood, King Arthur, Rapunzel, and even Shrek! I love how the story is about facing good and evil, and I love how GOOD always wins!

It’s important to teach our children about honor and I think it is a great idea to use stories of a knight in shining armor to do so.

Brooke states in the Leaders Guide that she “came across a book recently that perfectly illustrates the type of men she hopes her sons will become. It might surprise you to know that it’s written for girls. It’s The Princess and the Three Knights by Karen Kingsbury. It’s presentation makes it a perfect fit for a girl, but it’s message is for girls AND boys. The only knight good enough to win the heart of the princess was the one who would do anything to protect her. That’s the kind of honor I’m praying for in my sons.”
So who else is ready to go out and buy this book for your children???

Why don’t you consider reading a book or watching a movie with your children this week that will teach them about honor?

Today’s verses are:
1 Chronicles 29:12
Psalm 15:4
Psalm 84:11
Psalm 91:15
Proverbs 3:9
Proverbs 3:35
1 Peter 2:17
Ephesians 6:2
Leviticus 19:32
Romans 2:10

Which one of these verses speak most to you?
Let’s keep praying!
Kim

Memory Verse #12

We have made it HALFWAY through the year!

Beth Moore stated today on the Siesta Scripture Memory Team Blog “Hear bells and whistles and lots of music, maybe even a few beginning bars of the Hallelujah chorus: YOU MADE IT EXACTLY HALFWAY!!!! You are officially over the hump after you get this entry behind you.”

“Way to go, Sisters. Way to go! It’s a pretty good feeling, isn’t it? Don’t think for a second that the enemy didn’t try to steal away your focus and commitment. If you made it this far, you fought with him and won. This is a big victory. Celebrate it with your very faithful God.”

Here’s my verse for this time. I’m using the same one that Beth Moore chose. I was just thinking of this verse today when I was thinking about a conversation I recently had with my 12-year-old son! I’ve been telling him that verse, but then I was thinking I should have him memorize it with me. Then, I read her blog this morning & she chose 2 Timothy 2:15 too! So I decided that was a sign that I needed to memorize it with him. I memorized the King James Version as a child, but I like this one too!

2 Timothy 2:15 (NET)
Make every effort to present yourself before God as a proven worker who does not need to be ashamed, teaching the message of truth accurately.

She also asked that we summarize in one sentence what it has meant to

memorize God’s word this year. Here’s mine…

Memorizing God’s Word this year has been a JOY as I’ve worked with my sons to memorize scripture with them.

I’d love to hear your verse & what it’s meant to you to memorize scripture this year!

Please leave me a comment!

Warrior Prayers - Day Seven

21 Days of Prayer for our Sons…

Good morning, fellow prayer warriors! We’ve made it one week on our prayer journey! I’m praying that we will all have the strength to persevere in this challenge and for God to move in the hearts of our sons.

Today’s Prayer in on

HAVING A SERVANT’S HEART…

My husband and my older son both have a servant’s heart. I do believe they are both gifted in that area. Many times, my husband feels that he is behind in his work, but it’s because he is such a servant that he will stop and help anyone that needs it. I love that about him. He also helps out around the house so much! I always say that he does all the “gross jobs” like cleaning toilets, taking out trash, mopping, yard work, etc. And when he gets mad or upset, he CLEANS! I really like that too!

Evan really likes to serve as well. He doesn’t always want to keep his room clean or pick up after himself, but he loves to help when there is a need. Until we moved in December, he was helping at our local food pantry every week. He LOVED spending time with the people there. He also enjoys helping when we have any church event or church need. I was encouraged to see him help just last Thursday when our church had a huge flood. He worked with his daddy ALL day, cleaning the mess. And then, I was proud to see him work so hard last Saturday at our church car wash…it wasn’t a fundraiser—we were just showing the love of Christ to the community. And Evan worked so hard!

I’m praying that our 4 year-old will follow in his daddy’s and big brother’s footsteps as well. I’m sure he will. He’s just young. This has made me think that we need to be more intentional in giving him opportunities to serve as well.

I encourage you to think of ways your family can serve in your home, in your church, and in your community. Let’s find ways we can teach our children the value of serving others. Will you share some of your ideas in the comments? I’d love to hear them!

Today’s prayer verses are:

James 1:1
John 12:26
Hebrews 3:5
2 Timothy 2:24-25
Galatians 5:13
1 Peter 4:10
Ephesians 6:7
Hebrews 12:28
Matthew 23:11
Deuteronomy 6:13

Which one of these verses speaks most to you?
Let’s keep praying!
Kim

Warrior Prayers -- Day 6

21 Days of Prayer for our Sons…

Today’s Prayer in on PURITY...

How are you doing on your daily prayers? I must say the weekend was a little busier than I expected and I missed getting to spend as much time in prayer as I did during the week. Maybe I can plan better for this week…

Today’s prayer focus is on Purity. Brooke states in the Leaders Guide that the average age of porn exposure is now 11 years old!

SCARY!

What a world we live in!

That makes me think that we need to focus on prayer & teaching our children even more!

Today’s verses are:
1 Timothy 1:5
1 John 3:3
James 1:27
Philippians 4:8
Matthew 5:8
Job 16:17
Proverbs 20:11
Philippians 1:9-10
Psalm 119:9
Philippians 2:15

Which one of these verses speak most to you?

Let’s keep praying!
Kim

Warrior Prayers -- Day Five

21 Days of Prayer for our Sons…

Today’s Prayer in on AVOIDING PRIDE...

“We take such pride in our sons, don’t we? When we see one with a natural bent toward academics we call him gifted. When we see one who excels in sports we call him an exceptional athlete—bound for the pros. Sometimes we even place pressure on our sons to be who we wish we could have been. And this can be a form of pride.”

We should “allow God to grow our boys into the men HE wants them to be. Sometimes, we have to let go of our dreams for our sons, and deliberately choose to pick up God’s dreams from them instead.”

(From Warrior Prayers Leaders Guide)

Today’s verses are:

Proverbs 16:18

Proverbs 29:23

Job 33:17

Leviticus 26:19

Proverbs 13:10

Proverbs 21:24

2 Corinthians 7:4

Galatians 6:4

Psalm 36:11

1 Samuel 2:3

Warrior Prayers -- Day Four

21 Days of Prayer for our Sons…

Today’s Prayer in on AVOIDING FOOLISHNESS...

Brooke states that there are 2 kinds of men in the world: the FOOLISH man and the WISE man. The FOOLISH man says in his heart there is no God and acts like a law unto himself. The WISE man fears God and obeys Him.

Let’s pray for our sons to seek to be WISE men. Let’s teach them to understand the difference between the foolish man and the wise man using the Bible’s definitions in Psalm 14:1 and Proverbs 9:10.

The scripture references for today are:

Titus 3:9

2 Timothy 2:23

Ephesians 5:4

Matthew 7:26

Ecclesiastes 4:13

Titus 3:3

Proverbs 14:7

Ephesians 5:17

Proverbs 19:1

Ecclesiastes 10:2

I’m sorry I’m so late getting this posted. We spent several hours today ministering to the community through our free car wash at the church. And I think I overheated…this fair-skinned red-head is just not meant to be in the heat & sun. J

Warrior Prayers -- Day Three

21 Days of Prayer for our Sons…

Today’s Prayer in on INTEGRITY…

I just asked my 12 year-old if he had integrity and he said he didn’t know what it meant. I tried to explain to him that it’s being honest & doing the right thing even when no one is around. He flippantly said, “Oh, that’s just like me.” J

I do think that he is pretty honest and that his weak areas are some of the other ones that we’ll be praying for. (Is there a day for smart-aleck remarks & having an attitude when asked to do something?) However, because he is young, he probably hasn’t had to face many situations that require him to make those difficult choices.

Brooke states that “life is full of opportunities to choose the easy way instead of the way of integrity, but a man of integrity ‘ponders the way that is blameless’ (Psalm 101:2). Pausing to help our sons understand why we chose the way of integrity over what might have seemed to be a better or easier way trains their minds to ponder the blameless way.”

And I whole-heartedly agree with Brooke that INTEGRITY is a heart issue for all of us!

I love the verse she used for this chapter…Ezekiel 36:26-27:

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”

In fact, this verse struck such a cord in me that I used it for this month’s memory verse.

We must continually ask God to change our son’s (and our own) hearts of stone to hearts of flesh. This is the only way they will grow up to be men of integrity!

Here are the scripture references for today’s prayers:

1 Kings 9:4

Job 27:5

Psalm 101:2

Titus 2:7

Luke 1:27

Daniel 1:8

Philippians 4:11

1 Timothy4:12

1 Samuel 17

Genesis 12

Dear Lord, thank you for these ladies that are choosing to live intentionally and praying daily for their sons (and daughters). Please give them the strength they will need to persevere in this challenge for the next few weeks. Please move in the hearts of our sons to change their hearts of stone into hearts of flesh. Help us to be the examples we need to be to our children today. We’re believing you, Jesus! Amen

In our comments today, would you consider answering study question #4 on p 18?

Consider your own parenting style. Is the way you interact with your son(s) targeting the heart and motivating them toward real heart-change? Or do you mainly focus on changing behavior?

**I know that some of you have had difficulty commenting. I don’t understand blogger enough to figure out this problem. I’ll keep looking into it & let you know. If you’d like, you could email me with your comments & I could post them for you. Just a thought…"

One more thing...Brooke has created this Flickr group for us to upload a picture of our "whys" for doing this prayer challenge. I'm not familiar with Flickr but I think it's a great idea for us to post pictures of our sons--our "whys" for our intentional prayers!

Have a great FRIDAY!!!

Warrior Prayers -- Day Two

21 Days of Prayer for our Sons…

Today’s Prayer in on SUBMISSION TO AUTHORITY!

This topic relates to obedience really well. All of their lives, our children will find themselves in situations where they have to submit to someone—whether it’s parents, teachers, bosses, government officials, or God Himself!

Sometimes it’s really hard to submit to authority because we want our way! However, training them now to respect authority and submit to it will set them for success in the future.

As you pray specifically about your sons submitting to authority, here are the 10 scripture references to use (from page 16 in the ebook):

Hebrews 13:17

James 4:7

1 Corinthians 16:16

Ephesians 5:21

Hebrews 12:9

Job 22:21

Romans 13:1

2 Chronicles 30:8

1 Peter 5:5

Galatians 5:1

I encourage you to pray “without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) today. I try to tell myself things to help me remember to pray…like every time I walk by a certain place in the house (or in your work place), I will pray. For instance, every time I walk by the boys’ rooms I will pray. Or every time I go to the refrigerator, I’ll pray. Ask God to help you to be in a spirit of prayer throughout the day.

Brooke says in her book “this battle is best fought on our knees.”

As I was reading my devotional this morning from Voices of the Faithful,
I read a really good quote about how awesome our God is! “Big things happen when small people ask big things of a Big God!” So, let’s get asking! J

For our comment today, will you please answer the study question from p 14?

“Have you ever considered how teaching obedience leads naturally to a deeper understanding of the Gospel?”

Also, it was really good to “meet” you guys on yesterday’s post! It’s really neat that we share the exact same anniversary with Jana. How cool is that! If you haven’t had a chance to introduce yourself, will you please leave a comment there too? Thanks!

Have an awesome day in prayer!

Warrior Prayers -- Day One

21 Days of Prayer for our Sons…

I’m so excited to be a part of a group of nearly 1000 moms that have committed to praying specific prayers for our boys for the next 3 weeks!

It would be to your benefit to purchase the ebook Warrior Prayers: Praying the Word for Boys in the Areas They Need it Most. It’s a very good value (only $5.97). It’s full of scripture prayers to pray for your children. We will take one area to pray for each day.

First, let’s introduce ourselves…

Please leave a comment below telling us a little about who you are and a little about your children.

I’ll go first:

I am a wife to a music minister and the mom of two handsome boys—Evan (12) and Ethan (4 ½). We have enjoyed spending the last year together getting used to our new world of homeschooling. Until this year, I taught high school math for the past 17 years. I love learning, doing Bible studies, crafty things like scrapbooking & taking pictures, and I LOVE to cook—especially anything sweet!

Now to the prayer challenge for the day…

Today’s Prayer is on OBEDIENCE!

In her book, Brooke makes the comment that if “a man can’t submit to Jesus, he cannot lead you. A man must be willing to be led before he can truly lead.”

Because of this, we must train our sons to obey us as parents. It is not an option. “Scripture is full of warnings for parents and children alike who neglect this important detail. And in the teaching of obedience lies ones of the most glorious opportunities to prove the Gospel message to our sons.”

“Depending on what methods we use, we CAN make our sons obey. We can MAKE them obey us. But at the risk of sounding a little lazier than I really am as a parent I would submit this:

“Obeying God is intimately linked to loving Him. If we focus too much on forcing our boys to change their outward behavior, and forget to hold out the great depth of love that sent a Savior to the cross, we’re running the risk of raising little Pharisees.”

Please commit to praying the scripture prayers on OBEDIENCE (page 15 in the ebook). I am planning to write these prayers out & personalizing them with Evan’s & Ethan’s names in a notecard spiral. That way I’ll be able to carry them with me wherever I go (kind of like my Memory Verse Spiral).

If you don’t have your ebook yet, here are the scripture references:
Jeremiah 42:6
Ephesians 6:1
Hebrews 13:17
Acts 5:29
Deuteronomy 30:2
Deuteronomy 13:4
Jeremiah 26:13
John 15:10
John 14:15
Romans 16:19

Here are 4 suggestions to help you pray throughout the day:


1. Get up early to bathe your sons in prayer first thing in the morning.
2. Pray the prayers one at a time throughout the day.
3. Make the prayers a part of your family devotion time, praying the prayers out loud over your sons.
4. Spend some time in concentrated prayer late at night, around bed time.

I can’t wait to read all about each of you & your children! Enjoy praying today!

“The fervent prayers of a righteous man avails much.” James 5:17