Prayer

Prayer

Pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord. Lift up your hands to him for the lives of your children.

Lamentations 2:19, NIV

Pastor Dennis Eenigenburg tells the childhood story of a time he returned home from school with a note from his elementary school teacher, who was concerned that Dennis perpetually talked back to her. His mother was becoming increasingly frustrated by his negative behavior at school, and she wasn’t seeing much progress. This particular time, she stood looking at Dennis with tears in her eyes, and then she took his hand and led him to her bedroom. Although Dennis was expecting a well-deserved spanking, what he experienced was far more meaningful. His mother asked him to kneel down next to her as she prayed, and she asked God for wisdom to guide her son. As she prayed, she cried. Dennis was deeply moved. If his behavior was that important to his mom, he thought, he had to change. He reflects that no spanking he ever received had as much impact on him as kneeling next to his praying mother.

Haven’t all of us moms, at some point, become frustrated by the behavior or attitudes of our children, our husbands, or ourselves? Perhaps we can relate to the verse above, which expresses the anguish of the Jewish people over the utter ruin of their city. Although most of us have not lived through the painful experience of having another nation conquer us, we sometimes experience anguish over a rebellious child, a husband we’re concerned about, or an area in which we lack self-control in our own lives. Pouring our hearts out to God in these situations is the very best thing we can do.

Father,

Like the prophet Jeremiah, may we acknowledge our pain and call it to mind with hope: “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23, NIV). Amen.