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My constant prayer is that the Lord would make me a woman of prayer. If there is nothing else I can do to serve others and further the Great Commission, I can certainly be a prayer warrior around my home! I can saturate my home in prayer while I clean the dishes, make a meal, or changing a diaper. I can send forth prayers on behalf of our nation and the souls of the lost while running an errand.

As John Piper says, “A woman on her knees sways more in this nation than a thousand three piece suited Wall Street folks.”

I can be a faithful prayer warrior on behalf of my husband and children as my first and primary mission field. I can bless and do good to my husband (Proverbs 31:12a) by diligently laboring in prayer on his behalf. Satan desires to destroy husband, his character and his leadership in our relationship. Satan desires to steal away the hearts of our children(1 Peter 5:8-9), thus even greater motivation to be on the front lines, alert, equipped with the Word of God, praying His truth over our households.

Do you care to join me in becoming women of prayer?

Here are a few powerful prayer resources:

The Power of a Praying® Wife by Stormie Omartian – read my book review here. One of the most valuable resources for loving supporting and blessing my husband that I own!
31 Days of Praying for Your Husband – a free document compiled by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. Use the verses included to pray for him every day of the month.

31 Biblical Virtues to Pray for Your Children – a free document using Scripture to pray for your children every day of the month.

The Power of a Praying® Parent by Stormie Omartian

Pray for the Nation in the Midst of Tumultuous Times – another free prayer resource with Scripture to guide you in praying on behalf of our nation.

Further prayer tools and ideas from my home to yours can be found here: The Treasure of Prayer.

Any further prayer resources that you would like to add to the list?

Today we begin discussing our book study on The Mission of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson. It is not too late to join in!

What rich encouragement this book has been providing me with in my pursuit of establishing a godly legacy!

I loved this quote from the first chapter:

“God designed motherhood to be a deeply meaningful role. We mothers have the opportunity to influence eternity by building a spiritual legacy in the lives of our children. Through our teaching and influence, morality can be learned and modeled, love and kindness are taught and received, purpose and vision are ignited and passed on. The real ability of a mother to secure such a spiritual legacy is based on the strength of her relationship with her child.“

That just excites my spirit! What an amazing task lies before me. Motherhood is a means of glorifying God as we seek to give ourselves to our primary mission field. It is a journey like no other!

Here are some thoughts from the application section at the end of the chapter. I love how she draws me again and again to the Word of God and the ultimate truth on this topic.

Psalms 127:1 “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it. Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.”

Sally shares that in the Old Testament, the word house often implied the same concept of the English words family or home. This struck me powerfully. Unless I fully rely upon the Lord to build, strengthen and establish our family, all my efforts will be in vain. I could have a perfectly managed family and yet still be a waste because Christ Jesus is not the center and source of all things. It’s not about me in the first place…it’s not about having the perfect training techniques, books or knowledge on hand. It’s about acknowledging my dependence upon the Lord and taking steps of faith with each investment into their lives…praying every step of the way that He would build my house and my family – for they are His first and foremost!

1 Thess. 2:7 But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children.

The heart attitude of this mother is that she is tenderly loving and caring for the needs of her child. She is not consumed with her own needs, plans, to-do’s, but she first focuses on graciously, compassionately nuturing her children. My prayer is that the Lord would change my hard heart. I don’t want my child to be a burden because my plans are on the throne. I want to have fresh vision to see each denial of self to be a means of nuturing her soul into the Kingdom of heaven. My focus has been more often on ministry to others. when my first primary ministry is to my husband and child.

What stood out to you in this first chapter? Please feel free to share a quote, a prayer, or anything that the Lord has been challenging you with thus far.

I have been diving into The Mission of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson lately with great enthusiasm and excitement as my heart is stirred with a greater passion and vision to be a godly and nurturing mother for my little ones. I have such a short coming by getting caught up in my daily schedule and to-do’s and loss sight of the short time given to me to invest in my child’s heart for eternity. I don’t want these precious moments to be wasted because the world around me minimizes the importance of a mother’s role. Little do they know what an important task God has called me to in leading a peaceful nurturing home, where Christ is the center of it all.

“God designed motherhood to be a deeply meaningful role. We mothers have the opportunity to influence eternity by building a spiritual legacy in the lives of our children. Through our teaching and influence, morality can be learned and modeled, love and kindness are taught and received, purpose and vision are ignited and passed on.

” I have come to picture the heart of each child as a treasure chest. Each chest is empty and needs to be filled with the riches of unconditional love, spiritual nurture, and the emotional heritage of family and traditions; with mental stimulation that comes from excellent sources of truth, morality, and inspiration; with a sense of physical and emotional security; and with the guidelines for all of life, including purpose, relationships, and proper behavior.”

Oh, I pray that God would ignite this vision in my heart and equip me with His truth that I might passionately live this out in my home. Do you desire to be equipped for this high and holy calling? Do you care to join me in this read? I felt prompted that this was a good title to use for our second online book study. I will be sharing brief quotes and/or how the Lord is speaking into my life as I read and post these thoughts on a weekly basic (highlighting one chapter a week), and you are welcome to join me in sharing your thoughts as well.

Order your copy today and please let me know if you would like to join me!

We will be starting chapter 1 on September 1st and with twelve chapters, this book should keep us busy till the middle of November.

Thank you to Marliss Bombardier once again for providing us with the recap of the final chapter of our book study of The True Woman by Susan Hunt.

Submission, as Susan Hunt says, is “the defining virtue of the defining virtues” of the true woman. I would say that it is the defining virtue of any woman, whether a true woman who seeks to develop the virtues of piety, purity, domesticity, and submission, or a new woman who is primarily interested in making sure her rights and desires are respected and fulfilled.

What is Submission?

“Submission, whether it is to God, to one another, to husbands, or to male leadership in the Church, is a grace-empowered virtue of humility and reverence for God. It has nothing to do with superior/inferior status or equality. It has to do with attitude and function. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are equal in being and in power, but each has a different function.” pg. 206

Biblical submission is not subjection, nor passive subservience, but neither is it an evangelical feminist ideal of muddled gender roles that ejects men from their unique leadership roles in marriage and the church. It cannot be put in a neat, legalistic little box of specific behaviors or lifestyles. It can and will be different depending on the situation and relationship involved. It boils down to a matter of attitude-joyful and willing submission to the God-ordained authorities in one’s life; and of character-piety and humility.

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