You guys! I’m learning to pray! Yep! I’m over 50, been a believer in Jesus all my life, and only in the last 5-6 years do I really feel like I’m learning to PRAY!

Ok, maybe a better way to say that is that I’m learning to PRAY POWERFULLY! Pray in Joy! Pray in the ‘Spirit’, as Paul instructed us to do! It’s so much more fun! And so much more POWERFUL!

Here’s what I’m learning! Yes, prayer is simply talking to God. And He LOVES ANY time we talk to Him! But prayer is to be a TWO-WAY CONVERSATION where I not only talk, but I listen so HE can talk back! This may be the most simple, yet difficult thing in the universe! Simple, because it just requires being still and listening long enough to hear Him! Difficult because it requires being still and listening long enough to hear Him!! LOL

He’s so GOOD – He will help us ‘sit still and listen!’ Here’s what He’s teaching me:

1. Pray and declare what He’s already said with Thanksgiving.

2. Awaken to His presence and ‘see’ Him sitting here across from me!

3. Respond by loving and thanking Him and praising Him for who He is and how much he loves me!

4. Tell Him what’s on my heart, who I’m concerned for

5. Listen now, what does He want to say? How does HE see it?

6. Write what you hear/what comes to your mind!

7. Pray and declare what He has now said!!! Pray HIS thoughts/His will/His TRUTH!

Today, I’m excited about #1 and #7! As Parents, sometimes it’s hard to pray what God is doing and what God is seeing because we are WITH our kids and SEEING what’s in front of us: how they are acting, choices they’re making, attitudes they are displaying! Sometimes, as parents we begin to worry, we try to discipline and correct, we can sometimes feel helpless.

There have been seasons in my parenting where I would lay awake at night and just worry! Anyone else? (Yes, I’ve come to find that moms especially, especially of teens, are often awake at that 3:00am hour, when all else has stilled, and our deepest fears come to the forefront. Maybe we should make a 3:00am Live Chat on Facebook….) (Better! I have learned WHO to have a 3:00am Live Face to Face Chat with…. )

Isn’t it true? We lie there and realize something is off with one of our kids. We’ve been watching and see the signs. And the more we recount them, the more signs come to mind. And the more we recount those, the more we think maybe this is worse than we thought, and we begin to imagine the worst possible scenarios. This is called Meditation.

“What delight comes to the one who follows God’s ways! . . . His pleasure and passion is remaining true to the Word of “I Am,” meditating day and night in the true revelation of light.” Psalm 1: 1-2

I realized I was not meditating on God’s words or truth; I was meditating on speculations and ‘what-if’s’, and frankly, the enemy loves to pour on more as we agree that our child is in trouble… The enemy comes to lie and deceive us; and if we agree with HIM, we empower Him. From the beginning he has wanted us to doubt God and His word.

But if I can choose to agree with God and meditate on the truth INSTEAD, I begin to see clearly, think clearly, and pray clearly what GOD has said & is saying.

Example: “Father, I am worried about my son. I see this and this… please protect Him, speak to Him, and remind Him who He is to you!” (Years ago, this is where my prayer would’ve stopped. Just bringing my requests. But I’ve learned there is more:

“Thank you that you have already said You love him, You are with him always, and You will never leave Him…” (Scripture becomes truth to us as we pray it…) (And now, I’m beginning to remember that He is ALSO with ME… and I look for His face (#2 above). Thank you that you are here… you already know my heart and my fears. You are so kind, so good, so powerful. Here are my fears, I offer them to you … how do YOU see this situation? What is TRUE here? (And I look up to see the eyes of Jesus, full of love and compassion, full of peace and safety. And I see that he is not worried, He is not threatened. He cares, deeply, and He sees what is true, but he also is bigger than all of it. And my heart feels the peace that comes from awakening to His powerful presence. I know I am safe with Him, and all whom I love are in His care as well….)

” Thank you, Jesus, that you are not shocked or alarmed, you are not afraid of my son’s choices! Thank you that you can work ALL things together for the good of my son… Thank you that my boy hears your voice, He knows you as His Father! (even though he may not be acting like it right now! I have learned to pray what is true, not what SEEMS to be true!) Thank you that you have GOOD plans and purposes for Him! Thank you that he is Your son, and that no one can pluck him out of your hand! Thank you that even when the enemy comes or bad influences come & mean to harm him, you can use those very things for good! Thank you that my son is a mighty warrior…. “

(Now, my heart is being filled with faith! Now, I believe this is when Holy Spirit helps me pray, as he begins to remind me what IS TRUE – about my Father- and my son; I just keep praying out loud what I hear Him reminding me of…..)

“Thank you, Father, that my son has hidden Your word in his heart so that he will not sin against you (Psalm 119: 9-11) Thank you that You live in him to will and to do according to your good purposes! Thank you that you have removed his heart of flesh and given him a new heart, that He is a new creation in you, that Your Spirit lives in him by which he can now cry out “Abba” because He’s been given Your spirit of adoption! Hear his cries! Hear and answer, as you promise you do! Thank you that you give your angels charge over him to keep him in all his ways! Thank you that you can help him think on things that are right and true and worthy of praise! Thank you that your Holy Spirit will remind him of everything you have taught him! Thank you that your perfect love is driving out my fear! Thank you that fears are only False Evidence Appearing Real, and the TRUTH is that You who are IN him is greater than the enemy who is in the world! Thank you that when I am afraid, I can trust in YOU, my God, who will never leave me nor forsake me….”

And all the years, the hours, even the moments of reading God’s word and memorizing it come back to help me when I need it the most. ( don’t despair if you haven’t memorized it yet, begin today! Ask for help! Look up what you need, write it down! Use the prayer above to start! Put these on your phone! Every parent can DO this!)

And I am reminded that in God’s good plan, He has chosen to give us a PART in the answering of prayers! Our part is to SPEAK it out! To DECLARE what is true and RELEASE His Kingdom and His power in the earth! At creation, God SPOKE the worlds into being. When Jesus taught us to pray, He told us to declare “THY Kingdom come! Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven!” Jesus also told his disciples to SPEAK to their mountains and they would have to move! He spoke to demons and told them to GO! And when he healed people? He said, “Be healed.” He SAID it. “You are healed.”

It’s the same today! God has give us authority as His sons and daughters to speak things into being! To partner with Him by releasing His Kingdom on earth = His rule over inferior problems! His goodness over evil! His truth over lies! What we pray matters! What we declare, he acts on! He has given us children to steward and raise and train! We have authority to declare over their lives the good truths that God is saying about them! Our job is to listen, “Father, what is true about my child? How have you created him?”

And then I begin to DECLARE, and I feel the power of Holy Spirit helping me: “Thank you that my son is full of Holy Spirit and power! Thank you that He is gifted in ________ and that You planned long ago many good works for him to do! Thank you that NOTHING can thwart YOUR good plans and purposes for his life! Thank you that my son cares deeply for others; thank you that he knows the truth that will set him & others free~! Thank you that he will speak boldly today and declare the mysteries of the gospel to those around him! Thank you that he will hear your voice and speak your words and perform your mighty acts today! Thank you that he is a young man of joy and kindness and compassion! Thank you that he is also full of power and truth and solutions for those around him! Thank you that even now you are reminding him of who he is! Thank you, God!”

And I realize that God is in ME, working through me, praying through me! I realize that I am changed, I am full of faith, I am no longer afraid!

And the next time I SEE my child? I actually SEE him differently! I can now speak authentically what is true! “Hey, my amazing son! Thank you for cleaning that up! You have always had a servant’s heart! You rock!” (even before he may have finished the job! Even maybe before he has acted! We speak and declare, and faith is released – even to your child!

When we BELIEVE in our kids, they begin to believe in themselves.

When we are having a hard time believing in our kids, we need to ask our kids’ Father in heaven what is true – for He always believes in them! He is their good Father, He created them, and He knows every detail about them! He loves them and honors them and believes in them,.. and we can listen and get God’s heart for them until we do the same!

“The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” James 5:16