“O you who hear prayer, to you all men will come.” (Psalm 65:2)
I am grateful that I have friends who pray for my family and me. I realize that I sometimes have needs about which I do not know what to say to God. That’s why the Apostle James encourages us to “…pray for each other…” (James 5:16) The fact is there are situations where my needs can best be expressed by others who are not too close to the forest to see the trees.
It’s no secret that our family has been torn apart by divorce. My wife and I have children who live with other parents in another state and we each have a child who lives with us. We really have to work to make sure that all four parents maintain important roles in our children’s lives.
When divorcees marry, the new family inherits a lot of the anger and frustration from old marriages that have long since been dissolved. I’m embarrassed to admit how naïve I was about the anger, frustration and resentment that children of divorce often bring into the blended family. Statements like, “you’re not my daddy” or, “I’m going to tell my mommy on you”, are all to frequent. While we have been able to put some perspective on what went wrong with our previous marriages, we forgot to think about the other victims of divorce, our children.
Two weeks ago, my wife and I decided to begin daily devotions with our children. The next day, we received a family devotional bible from the church she attended when she lived in Kannapolis, NC. You may call it coincidence, but we saw it as a clear signal from God that we had made the right decision. After all, God’s Word tells us, “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6)
I never thought I would see the day that our children would argue over who would lead our nightly devotions. They actually look forward to this time together. I realize now that God has blessed that decision and am grateful at how He is using that time to help us bond as a family and close some old wounds.
I am also grateful that our family has been lifted up in prayer by so many of our friends. I may have been a little confused from time to time to time, but they understood our frustration. I thank the Lord that when I didn’t know what to say to God, I had good friends who knew exactly what to say.
The last few weeks I have had the strangest feeling. I can honestly feel God’s touch on my family and I see our problems melting right before my eyes. While I know our devotions are an answer to prayer, I also realize that I’m not just a witness to prayer. For the first time in my Christian walk, I can feel prayer.
I don’t think I will ever question the value of prayer again, especially when it looks as if all hope is lost. In fact, this experience has taught me that we should view prayer as a first resort rather than a last resort. Indeed, “A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all.” (Psalms 34:19)
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