To Pray Without Ceasing

This morning I read a devotional over at Crosswalk. (This is the first time I have read one from there. I actually just googled free daily devotion, and that's the first one I picked.) It focused on the following verses from 1 Thessalonians...

16 Rejoice evermore. 17 Pray without ceasing. 18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

As a mom it really had me thinking, am I being joyful with my children always? Am I keeping them in prayer at all times, in all situations when they arise? Am I giving thanks for every thing? My job is to show them how to live in this life, in this world. Am I showing them to be joyful, prayerful, and thankful in ALL things?

As these questions are buzzing around in my head, thoughts of my being UN-joyful, UN-prayerful, and UN-thankful come to mind. Oh how that aches my heart! Just yesterday, after a long day, I was NOT joyful in my approach to one of my boys. Oh how I could have handled that situation so differently! I should have stopped, prayed about it for a moment, and let the Holy Spirit guide me. My un-calm tendency to pounce on the misbehaving child, at the end of a long, tiring day, is NOT what the Lord would have me do. He would have prayed without ceasing. So, by the time the day was coming to an end, He would still be joyful.

For me, these 3 short verses, speak volumes. In order for me to give thanks continually, in all things, I need to be prayerful in all things, so that I can be joyful in all things. I need to let the Lord handle all of these trying parenting times. They only last for a short time, but make such a lasting impression on my children. I desire to be like Daniel, who stopped and prayed 3 times a day, no matter what he was doing. He probably scheduled it in! (That is something to me because I have been working on a schedule in my home. Something that works for me, and everyone, so that we can keep our little selves out of trouble. But that's another post, that hopefully I will someday get to!)

It truly is amazing how effective prayer is. Even the simplest prayer. If you're opening your heart to the Lord, He is listening. And, He does care. He loves us SO much. It can be hard for our human eyes to see just how much He loves us, hard for our human brains to understand just how much He loves us. But, you know what? He does! More than we can fathom, He loves each of us!

It is a special prayer of mine today for ALL moms, that we are joyful with our children in ALL things, prayerful in ALL things, and thankful in ALL things. Why? 18b for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.