Walking Alone - Lisa Clark

I remember finding one of our daughters crying in her room one day.  She wasn’t a crier so this was hard.  After some time, we got to the bottom of why the tears.  “I feel lonely.  I feel alone in my walk with Christ.” 

The road can be lonely some days, especially as a preteen or teen who wants to be accepted and in a posse.  Preteens and teens travel in groups…have you noticed? Just go to the mall on a Friday night. 

The road to righteousness is less traveled.  In fact, there may be days when you look to your left and to your right and find no one.  But it is worth it.  Let me state that again, it is worth it. 

Actually, 1 John says it best… 

“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God!  Therefore, the world does not know us because it did not know Him.  Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.  And everyone who has this hope in Him, purifies himself, just as He is pure.”  1 John 3:1-3 

1. Fellowship with believers is KEY when we are lonely in our walk.  We must be encouraged and growing with the body of Christ.   

2. Daily time with God is instrumental in our relationship with Him.   

3. Time away to focus and energize our faith is important, like SUMMER CAMP! 

4. Encouraging friendships with other believers helps, too.  Who is your child spending time with? Godly influences? Like minded individuals? 

Remember, God tells us that the battle is not flesh and bone, it’s spiritual.  And it’s happening everyday.  The enemy wants our kids.  He is relentless.  We must pray for our children to put on the armor everyday and help prepare them for the battle.

Go to the Throne, not the Phone - Lisa Clark

Is prayer your first line of defense or your afterthought? I would encourage you today, moms, to start making prayer a priority as you raise your children.  If it’s not our first line of defense, we tend to put our faith and trust in people and things that will leave us defeated, broken-hearted, without clear vision and second guessing ourselves. 

God’s word is our handbook to living the life He has called us to.  Not every answer for life is written in black and white, though.  Many of life’s questions need to be prayed through for biblical wisdom and direction from God.   

If our prayer life is strong, we can navigate through life with confidence and clear direction.  I like to think of it as walking in the Spirit.  He’s holding our hand at every turn and fork in the road.  As we have an ongoing conversation with God, we get to know Him better and He becomes a part of our family, our life, our day.   

It’s not just a prayer for our food, although that’s a great place to start.  Prayer is talking to God and never saying “good-bye”, but Amen! Or So be it! And then continuing the conversation later.   

Our prayer life is an indication of our spiritual maturity.  I always know when I’m weakening in my walk with God by how consistent my prayer life is.  It’s just like going days without talking to one of my children or husband.  If days go by, the relationship seems strained or not as important.  We put a priority on relationships that are important to us.  Plain and simple.   

Here’s the best part about our relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  Every day is a new day to follow Him.  We are new creations! What does that mean? New is new.  We aren’t new one day and old the next.  Well, our physical bodies are, but our spiritual body is new everyday! That means our relationship with Him is constantly being renewed! Yea God!!! I get a fresh, new chance to grow in my relationship with Him everyday.   

Start TODAY by making your prayer life your first line of defense.  Go to Him FIRST with requests, praises, and thanksgiving! Or like my sister always says, “Go to the THRONE, not the PHONE!”