Category: Women’s Ministry

A Prayer for Protection over Your Children – 2025 Day 17 (John 17)

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Read through the Bible in 2 years: Proverbs 17, John 17

How amazing it is to hear Jesus pray to His Holy, Righteous Father. Surely if He needed to pray, so do I! To read Jesus praying for His disciples, praying for the Father to protect them, encourages me to pray for those that I disciple, especially my children.

“I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.”

John 17:15 ESV

Two years ago, when I did this two-year Bible reading plan for the first time, my younger daughter was beginning her second semester of college. I guess that’s why John 17:15 really jumped out at me. She had been homeschooled her whole life. Except for two years at a neighborhood church preschool and the occasional tutorial class, she had grown up under my constant watchcare.

Now I’m preparing to release my 6’2″ baby boy. My last little bird is going to be leaving the nest and heading off to college this fall.

I’m just as nervous this time around about what his transition will entail, but I realize that ultimately, the safest place any of us can be is in the Father’s will, whether that’s in their Mama’s house, or on the streets of Memphis, Tennessee, or in a college classroom miles from home.

No matter their age, your child needs your prayers.

Please join me in prayer.

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for the precious gift that it is to be a mother, and the precious gift that these specific children are to me. Thank You for all the ways that I see Jesus in them.

I pray that You will be glorified in them today. So many people never crack open a Bible or step foot in a church, so I pray that they will see You in them. Make them a city on a hill that points people to You. Make them imitators of God as Your beloved children, walking in love as Christ loved them and gave Himself up for them. (Ephesians 5:1-2)

Protect them from the schemes and temptations of the evil one, so that Your light can shine brightly out of them like a million-watt lightbulb. Remind them of all that scripture that I have poured into them over their years in my care. Help them to hear Your voice whispering – or shouting, “This is the way; walk in it.”

Send Your Holy Spirit to be their counselor and guide, showing them which way to go and which way not to go. Send Your Holy Spirit to be their comforter and advocate, so that they will not give way to fear, but will remember, “I am a child of the Lord of heaven’s armies. What can man do to me?”

When they are tempted to hide their light under a bushel, to deny their faith, to deny the Lord Jesus, convict them! Remind them that they belong to You and that You are their ever-present help in time of need. Help my children to call out to You and to trust You when they feel afraid or discouraged or lonesome. Help them to remember that You are always with them, and that You have promised to never leave or forsake them.

In the good and righteous name of Jesus, our Savior and Lord, we pray,

Amen

Click here for more information on reading through the Bible in Two Years.

Believing from a Testimony … Believing from the Word – 2025 Day 3 (John 3:1-4:45)

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Read through the Bible in 2 years: Proverbs 3; John 3:1-4:45

“Many Samaritans from that town believed in him (Jesus) because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me all that I ever did.’ So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, ‘It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.'”
John 4:39-42 ESV

Heavenly Father,

Please make me truly wise. I don’t want to merely read Your Word to grow in knowledge about You like someone researching the life and times of C.S. Lewis or Albert Einstein. I want to know You – personally, deeply, mightily. I want to sit at Your feet and drink deeply of Your lifegiving Word. I want to worship what I know, who I know.

I need insight and understanding and instruction. I need my mind renewed. Here I am. I want to see and taste that You are indeed good.

I want Your springs of living water to flow in me and through me. Help me to decrease, and You to increase, in my life. I want to be about my Father’s business. Make me a true worshiper, worshiping you in spirit and truth and helping other to know You, too.

Help me to be one who welcomes in the outcast, who notices the forgotten and neglected, who has to go through Samaria because there’s someone there that You want me to meet. I pray that my eyes will be open to the people in front of me, and that my ears will be open to Your voice prompting me, “This is the way, walk in it. This is the one, talk to her. These are the words, say them.”

Lord, I’m asking You to encourage my Chinese brothers and sisters. Help them to know that you see them and hear them and know them. Help them to dig into Your Word and find pearls of great worth, gold of great price, and diamonds of great value. We want You to be our greatest joy.

Father, help me to help others to sit at Your feet day after day and be transformed by the reading of Your Word. May my food be to do Your will. Send me to accomplish Your Work to the glory of Your Name.

In the Name of Jesus Christ who is my only Lord and Savior. Amen.

Click here for more on “Reading through the Bible in Two Years”.

A Resolution for Adulthood

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WHEREAS God is holy and righteous and true,
WHEREAS God is merciful and gracious and kind,
WHEREAS God is always with me, wherever I go, seeing my every step, knowing my every thought and every word even before I speak it,
WHEREAS I have been created for His glory and pleasure with good works prepared in advance for me to do,
WHEREAS my life is not my own, but fully His,

I purpose this day to live a holy life, pleasing to my Heavenly Father and Creator.

I purpose to draw near to my God and keep in unhindered relationship with Him, avoiding evil and pursuing righteousness, loving Him with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and loving my neighbor as myself.

I purpose to daily read His Word, consistently and persistently drawing near to Him, humbling myself before His perfect counsel, actively choosing to know and obey the Truth, submitting myself to Him rather than the wisdom of this world or my human emotions, so that I might be able to resist the schemes of the devil.

I purpose to treat my body as a temple of the Holy Spirit, being careful what I see, hear, and think about, where I go, and with whom I befriend, remembering the wisdom of Proverbs 13:20 that “whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.”

I purpose to abstain from alcohol and drugs so that my mind, will, conscience, and emotions will not be clouded or confused by their influence.

I purpose to be above-reproach in my relationships with the other sex, treating women as sisters and men as brothers, recognizing that they are my joint-heirs with Christ and fellow image-bearers, rather than objects or idols.

These I do endeavor, for the glory of God, as well as for my good and the good of my fellow man.

Signed: __________________________________

A Resolution for AdulthoodDownload

A Galatians 3 Prayer for your Children

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Galatians 3

Oh precious Heavenly Father,

Thank You for the gift of faith, the grace given to me through Jesus Christ, the righteous for the unrighteous. Thank You for the example of Abraham who was counted righteous by his FAITH, not by his works. I pray that my children would indeed be made sons and daughters of Abraham, being recipients of Your blessings because of their faith in Your Son.

Thank You for the gift of the law as a tutor and guardian to protect me and my children until our eyes might be opened by Your grace to the beauty of that Savior hanging on the cross. Please help me to be a good steward of the Law. Let me not breed little Pharisees who take pride in their own good deeds. I don’t want to raise better liars, better hiders, better sin-concealers. Rather may I point them to the perfect Lamb who kept the Law in every point, training them to be quick to repent, to run toward reconciliation with Jesus, with their parents, and with others.

Protect my children from believing the lie that they can be good enough to deserve Your mercy or merit Your grace. Help them to recognize that this is a lie sent from that liar, tempter, and accuser, Satan, who tempts us to sin and then accuses us when we fall.

I pray that my children would receive the gift of redemption found in the gospel of Jesus Christ. May they receive that inheritance found not in the blood running through my blood but in the blood of Christ poured out on the cross.

Help them to believe the truth of Galatians 3:26-28, that we are sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ, that when we are baptized into Christ, we are clothed in Christ, and that we are all one in Christ Jesus. Help my sons take joy in being boys, and help my daughters take joy in being girls. Protect them from the sin of pride, thinking they know better than You do. May they humbly recognize that their inheritance begins and ends in You.

For the glory of Jesus we pray, Amen.

A Mother’s Day Prayer for All of Us Moms

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May our faith be in Christ and His grace alone, trusting that He is able to do more than we can ask or imagine.

May we not grow weary of well-doing, knowing that at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not lose heart.

May we open our mouths with wisdom and may the teaching of kindness be on our tongues.

May we look well to the ways of our households and not eat the bread of idleness.

May we refuse to put our hope in wealth, beauty, or popularity because we believe that “charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.”

May our husband and children rise up and bless us, saying, “Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.”

From Ephesians 3:20, Galatians 6:9, Proverbs 31:26-30

Mark 9: Fame or Faithfulness?

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Mark 9

And [Jesus and His disciples] came to Capernaum. And when [Jesus] was in the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?”

But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. And he sat down and called the twelve.

And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”

And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”

Mark 9:33-37 ESV

For as much as I love teaching and writing for adults, I think my true calling is to teach children. They have my heart. There is something so special about the childlike faith of a child, their wonder and interest in learning new things, that really gets me excited.

I’m afraid that in the past I preferred focusing my energies on adults because it was a straighter path to becoming “known,” to garnering a larger audience. Like Jesus’s disciples who were arguing about which of them was the greatest, I fear that I was looking for fame, rather than simply being faithful to the Lord’s call.

Which reminds me of the lesson I taught this morning to the 5th-12th graders at my local Community Bible Study class. Here’s an excerpt from the lesson I shared after our study on Joshua 1-5. I hope it blesses you.

So, this week we began our study of the book of Joshua. This year we have already studied Ruth, 1st and 2nd Kings, and Job. These five books feature some of the most famous people in the Bible, people like Ruth, King Saul, King David, Job, and now Joshua.

But what about the two spies whom Rahab hid… Their names were not recorded for us in the scriptures, but they were still vitally important to God. Those two men’s faith was just as valuable as Rahab’s. Or what about the priests who carried the ark of the covenant, or the 12 men who carried the stones, across the Jordan – was their faith any less remarkable?

What about the parents who circumcised their children by faith? Or all those Israelites who kept the Passover by faith?

According to Statista.com, in a 2021 survey, 3,670 American teens between the ages of 13-17 were asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

What do you think these top 5 professions have in common?

Our culture is way too focused on being famous and way too lax about being faithful, simply doing the next thing that God has called us to. We are chasing after “fame and fortune,” instead of  “God and goodness.”

If you have been born again, then you have been given the gift of the indwelling of the Holy spirit. The Holy Spirit of God dwells in you. Think about that.

And now He is calling you to just do the next thing, do the next deed of faith.

That may be as simple as reading your Bible and completing your Bible study lesson and then coming here and sharing with your classmates what God taught you that week. That may be as simple as sitting next to or striking up a conversation with someone you don’t know very well. That may be as simple as telling the truth when you want to lie.

Whatever it is, I want you to listen to the Holy Spirit and follow Him. He will never lead you astray.

He might ask you to step out in faith someday, to follow the example of Rahab and hide a fellow believer who is being persecuted for their faith.

He might ask you to step out into your own Jordan River in sharing the gospel with someone, whether a stranger or a friend, trusting that He will keep His promises to be with You as you take that first step.

Your name may never appear on any timeline or any top 10 of anything. You may never be a world-famous athlete or gamer or musician. You may never be a social media influencer or have a YouTube channel with millions of followers and you may never invent anything world-changing.

But, oh think of it, think of this, your name, YOUR name, can be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life! And if your name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, you can KNOW beyond any doubt that He has a good plan and purpose for you!

Heavenly Father, I pray that You will raise up more parents and more teachers who will invest their lives in training up children in the way that they should go so that the next generation will place their trust in You. Please, Father, stop us from this crazy pursuit of becoming rich and famous, and help us instead to be faithful to do the next thing. By Your grace and for Your glory. Amen.

What Final Words Would I Share with My Children on My Final Day? Reflections from David’s Last Words in 1 Kings 2.

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: 1 Kings 2

David knows he is about to die, so he calls his son, Solomon, to him. What did David say to this son who will be the next king of Israel?

  1. Be strong.
  2. Show yourself a man.
  3. Keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in His ways and keeping his commands as it is written in the Law of Moses.
  4. Deal wisely and justly with Joab, Barzillai, and Shimei.

Now I’m not (and never will be) the king of a nation but I (like everyone else on the planet) will one day draw my last breath. If today were my last day, what final words would I want to share with my children?

What would I say to my children
if today was my last day?

  • I love you. I’m proud of you. You are a gift to me. I’m so thankful you’re mine. God made YOU on purpose, and He has a purpose for your life. Fear not. He’s not finished yet. God is on His throne. He doesn’t save people because they’re good. They’re not. None of us are. He saves them because He is merciful and has a purpose for them. You are saved by your faith in Jesus Christ, not by your works. (Psalm 139:1-16; Romans 3:10-12; Ephesians 2:8-10; Titus 3:3-8; 1 Timothy 1:12-17; Romans 6:23)
  • Trust the Lord with all your heart. He is good. He is wise. Turn away from evil and do good. Choose to do the hard things out of love and trust for the Lord. (Proverbs 3:5-7; Deuteronomy 6:5; Matthew 22:37)
  • Love is both an emotion and an action. Love others as God has loved you. Bear with others. Forgive them, remembering how much God has forgiven you. He loved you while you were yet a sinner, loving you even to the point of death, death on a cross. Remember that love is patient and kind. God is patient and kind with you, and He is calling you to be patient and kind with others. Love is not arrogant, rude, boastful, or envious. Love does not insist on its own way. The Lord of the Universe humbled Himself for you, and He is calling you to humble yourself for Him and His creation. Love never ends. Love endures. Love bears all things. He has loved you with a never-ending love. Love others like that. (Colossians 3:12-13; 1 Corinthians 13:4-8; Philippians 2:1-8; Romans 5:7-8)
  • Children are a blessing from the Lord. Fill your home with them. Pour into them. Enjoy them. Train them up in the way they should go. Teach them diligently that they, too, will know and love the Lord. (Psalm 127:1-5; Proverbs 22:6; Deuteronomy 6:6-9; Psalm 78:1-8)

So, how about you? If today were your last day, what final words would you want to say to your children and loved ones?

Heavenly Father, How thankful I am for the hope that I have in my Savior, Jesus, who poured out His blood for me. How thankful I am to have the assurance that my last breath here on Earth is just the beginning of eternity with You. I pray that my children and grandchildren will have that assurance. I pray that You will strengthen me to be the mother and grandmother that You want me to be. Give me Your wisdom and lead me in when to speak and when to be silent. Make my words, Your words. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Make me a beacon pointing my family and my community to Him. For His Honor and for His glory I pray. Amen.

On Exulting and Exalting. Thoughts from 1 Kings.

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Read Through the Bible in 2 Years: 1 Kings 1.

Yesterday I was meditating on Zephaniah 3:14-17.

Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel!

Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!

The LORD has taken away the judgments against you; he has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil.

On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: “Fear not, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak. The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.

– Zephaniah 3:14-17 ESV

Verse 14 tells Zion to rejoice and exult with all her heart, and then verse 17 says that the Lord rejoices and exults over Zion. Rejoice, rejoice. Exult, exult. I understand “rejoice,” but what does “exult” actually mean??? (Am I the only one who doesn’t use or understand this word?)

I looked it up in Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary, as well as Etymology Online and Strong’s Concordance I learned that the English word “exult” comes from the French word “exulter” which means to rejoice exceedingly, or literally to leap about. And I learned that the Hebrew word שָׂמַח śāmaḥ means to rejoice and be glad. Ok, so “exult” means to rejoice!

Exult means to rejoice exceedingly.

So today when I read 1 Kings 1, the word “exalt” jumped out at me, “Now Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, ‘I will be king.’ And he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him” (1 Kings 1:5 ESV) So I was off again to check the dictionary as well as Strong’s Concordance and Etymology Online. According to Merriam-Webster, exalt means to raise in rank, power, or character, to elevate or glorify. It can also mean to raise high or enhance or intensify the activity of something. That specific Hebrew word מִתְנַשֵּׂא miṯnaśśē’ is only used one other place in the Bible, “Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all.” (1 Chronicles 29:11 ESV) In studying the etymology of the word, I latched onto the Latin word root, altus which means high because it reminded me of the word altitude.

Exalt means to elevate, glorify, or lift high.

Jesus and his disciples had quite a lot to say about who exalts whom. I am certain that Jesus would have some harsh words for Adonijah exalting himself as king, getting for himself chariots and horsemen and fifty men to run before him (like his brother Absalom had done before him. (See 2 Samuel 15:1) It reminded me of Proverbs 27:2, “Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger and not your own lips.”

  • For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. (Luke 14:11 ESV)
  • So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you” (Hebrews 5:5 ESV)
  • Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. (James 4:10 ESV)
  • Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, (1 Peter 5:6 ESV)

So, I’m asking myself,
“What am I exulting in?”
and
“Who am I exalting, myself or my Lord?”

Heavenly Father, You are the source of my joy. I rejoice in You and the power of Your might. My hope and joy are in YOU. Help me, Father, to exalt YOU, to lift you HIGH, to elevate Your name, to honor You with my life. I pray that I will heed Paul’s words from Philippians 2, that I will do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count other more significant than myself, looking not only for my own interests, but also for the interests of others. For this is the example that Jesus Christ, the God-man, has given to us, that He humbled Himself even to the point of death on a cross. Therefore He was highly exactly and bestowed with the Name that is above every name, that someday ever knee will bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. We lift You high, Father. We exalt You and magnify You for You alone are worthy of our praise. In the Name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.

We Exalt Thee, Oh Lord

The Father Heart of God. Thoughts from Hosea.

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Read Through the Bible in 2 years: Hosea 11-12

Have you ever had those days when you want to say to your growing children, “But, honey, it was me who changed your diaper. It was me who got up with you in the middle of the night. It was me who bathed you and dressed you. It was me who sang to you and rocked you to sleep. It was me who washed your skinned knees when you fell down in the driveway. It was me who brushed the knots out of your hair. It was me who taught you to sing the ABCs and count to ten. You should listen to me.”

God has those days with us, too.

When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. The more they were called, the more they went away; they kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning offerings to idols.

Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk; I took them up by their arms, but they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of kindness, with the bands of love, and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down to them and fed them.

Hosea 11:1-4

God hasn’t given up hope for His children, and we shouldn’t either.

Heavenly Father, please, draw our hearts back to You. Discipline us with Your rod of kindness and woo us with Your love. Lead us with the cords of kindness and hold us fast with Your bands of love. And Father, please, draw our children back to You. Discipline them, too, with Your rod of kindness and woo them with Your love. Lead them with the cords of kindness and hold them fast with Your bands of love. Teach us how to parent them with love and grace and humility and gentleness and courage and firmness and truth. Make us parents after You. Teach us how to be godly mommies because You are the perfect daddy. In the Name of Jesus Christ, Our Perfect Example of all things we pray. Amen.