At 6am the alarm on my left wrist begins to vibrate as I’m lying in bed in my dark bedroom. There’s only one reason my watch alarm goes off that early during the week: to get up to pray with my Moms in Prayer group via Zoom for my girls, their teachers, and area schools. After all, my kids are home for virtual school and they don’t have to log in until 8:30am.
Just as I would get up to meet the physical needs of my children, how much more important are their spiritual needs?
How many times did I get out of bed to feed and change my kids when they were infants? Now God is asking me to pray for them. This is important and eternal work.
I continue pondering the prompting from the Holy Spirit and how often I look at the physical needs of my children and neglect the unseen spiritual needs. As a parent, we spend a lot of time on the vital needs of our children: like good friends, academic support, encouragement, and good nutritious meals; just to name a few. But at the heart of the issue, I have the distinct privilege of drawing my kid’s hearts in prayer to the heart of Jesus.
Consider John 4 when Jesus was in Samaria with the woman at the well. How can one drink water and never thirst again? Eat bread and never hunger again? Jesus talked about how the miracle to heal the physical was easy compared to healing the spiritual needs of a person. Having faith for both the physical and spiritual are important of course, but the spiritual needs are harder to come by as they are unseen.
The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. John 4:14b
In our Moms in Prayer group, we offer up our praise to Jesus and intercede on behalf of our children’s needs and for the school. I never regret getting up and praying for my children. Sometimes it can be hard to show up, but once I do, I am always refreshed in time spent praying with my sisters in Christ.
We are praying for our children to hear God’s Word, accept it, and grow in Christ. This is the spiritual nutrition that is needed in the lives of our children and Generation Z. Time spent in prayer is never wasted; it is soul food in the lives of our children.
We also thank God for answered prayers:
- Getting help and resources from the schools for our children
- Obtaining doctor appointments sooner than expected
- Protection for all with the reopening of the schools
God also sustained, protected, and healed one of the daughters of a mom in our group when she had to have surgery during the pandemic. He heard our prayers and gave this mom peace knowing that other moms were lifting her and her daughter up in prayer.
This school year, our Moms in Prayer group is meeting to pray again, in person. We’re having a coffee social to explain how a Moms in Prayer Hour works for visitors and any newcomers, and new groups are forming as we go back in person in different parts of town, schools, and age groups. It’s all very exciting!
Again, as I lay in bed on prayer days, I’m tired, but then the Holy Spirit prompts me, “This is important, Carrie; get up and out of bed so you will be ready to pray.”
Be encouraged, fellow laborers of Christ. God hears our Mama hearts and cries to Him!
Dear Lord, I praise your name for being a God that equips and a God that supplies all our spiritual needs. You are worthy of all praise and glory. Right now, I come to intercede in prayer for moms around the world, that we will begin to understand the importance of providing for our children’s spiritual nourishment as much as providing for their physical nourishment. That we will take the time to unite together in prayer for our children regularly. I claim Hebrews 13:21, God of peace, may You equip all moms with everything good for doing Your will, and may You work in moms what is pleasing to You, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
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Carrie Keizer is the Moms in Prayer Area Coordinator for Kern County residing in Bakersfield, CA and serves with the Moms in Prayer Southern California division. She is also a member of a Moms in Prayer group. Carrie is married to Tim and they have two daughters. Among her favorite things is chai lattes, laughter, and pumpkins.