You want to tell people about Jesus at work. You’re a mom wanting to teach your kids about Christ. But you hear that fearful question: Who am I to speak of the divine?? And how do I do it anyway if I’m not a pastor or one of these seemingly more qualified Christian social media influencers?
The answer is if you have accepted Christ as your savior, the Father called you into that position.(John 6:44) Every day you live your message with what you say and do. Sounds like a lot of pressure, but really God promises to equip you for every good work (2 Corinthians 9:8) and reminds you of His truth you’ve read in Scripture through the power of the Holy Spirit (John 14:26). And as you pray in God’s will, he has prepared important good works already for you, you are hand picked for these situations. (Ephesians 2:10)
So yeah, you’re qualified because God has worked in you to make it so. And you can take the Gospel, the good news that God is love and proved it with divine sacrifice, wherever you go.
What does this mean? It means it’s go-time! It’s time to fuel up with reading your Bible daily and praying continually asking God to lead you into situations you can glorify Him. It means you get to live BIG purposes in everyday life loving people that others have given up on so they can experience God’s grace like you have. It means you don’t have to get a college missionary degree to be a missionary in your house, your job, your pharmacy checkout line, your kid’s basketball game. It means there’s no more going through the motions because you have treasure in your jar of clay. (2 Corinth 4:7)
Wherever you are, show them the gospel with your words and actions today. For me, today it means cleaning my messy house with a loving heart instead of annoyance. Because it’s looking rather ridiculous, and I don’t want to do it. And that Kleenex on the floor isn’t mine. And it means going to work tomorrow ready to make others’ load lighter with my good attitude even though I really want to sleep in. God help me, seriously. And it means taking the time to write this to you, because God asked me to. Even though I don’t know if anyone will read it or care. What does it mean for you today to take the gospel where you go?
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If you read this far that means we’re two peas in a pod. Jot your email down to GET this month’s from ME to YOU freebie…and so I can connect with you more! We’re in this together!
Andrea Chatelain’s mission is to meet women in their struggles and love them forward with God’s truth. She’s a Midwest mom of three, faith and family writer, and English instructor to immigrants and refugees.
What if you were the first? Maybe you already are. I imagine the excitement and joy bubbling to the surface as you get to know Jesus for the first time. But maybe the fearful glance over your shoulder at what others would think. Will your family or friends get it? Do you care if they get it? Is the acceptance of Jesus worth the rejection you’ll quietly endure? You aren’t the first to go through this you know. I just found someone tucked into Scripture so obscure and so sweet. His name? Epaenetus.
Paul writing his final greetings to the Roman church included a line that thousands of years later struck my heart to reach out to you. “…Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia” (Romans 16:5).
He was the first, according to Paul, to convert and believe in Jesus in ASIA. The first in his town, his region, and his family. Can you imagine? I wonder what made up his mind to be all in for Jesus? What deep longing was met as he heard of the good news that Christ had paid his penalty for sin on the cross and accepted him into the kingdom of God. What restoration kept him going when others didn’t get his passion for Christ.
He was the first and now there are believers scattered across Asia because the first told the second and the second told the third…. and you and I get to be part of the holy line of tellers of good news. It’s just so sweet I had to share.
The truth is we all get to be the first if we want to. We get to be the first in our neighborhood to start inviting or caring or listening. We get to be the first in our workplace to be light and positivity. We get to be the first in our family to forgive. The first to change as we follow Jesus. It’s not always with our mouths that we share the good news. Be the first wherever you are to love and those around you will know you belong to someone different than the world.
Thanks for stopping by! Connect more below!
If you read this far that means we’re two peas in a pod. Jot your email down to GET this month’s from ME to YOU freebie…and so I can connect with you more! We’re in this together!
Andrea Chatelain’s mission is to meet women in their struggles and love them forward with God’s truth. She’s a Midwest mom of three, faith and family writer, and English instructor to immigrants and refugees.
Grow in faith with Andrea’s video Devotionals onOur Daily Bread! teachings at Proverbs31 first5app ………Or follow her on Facebook/Instagram.
You have a story, years of life that led you to wondering and hoping in God. Ten years ago, I was angry and confused. Trauma ruled in my mind and emotions. I can talk about it now, but it was hard then. I almost lost my first son, Luke, during childbirth and felt a mix of guilt, shame, anxiety, and fear afterward. Add on a dose of post-partum depression and future miscarriages and you’ve got a pretty broken spirit. I was angry at God for letting all that happen. But I also was desperate for Him to be real and really meet me in my pain.
That’s where I was. God opened my heart to His word. I read the New Testament cover to cover, and He rebuilt my ideas of who He is and who I am because of His love.
Hebrews 1:3 teaches us that Jesus “is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. “
When you read Scripture and examine Jesus in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, you will find the EXACT IMPRINT of your Heavenly Father. You will hear His voice reminding you that He heals, He provides, He saves, He cares, He restores, and He stays.
I don’t know what you’re going through, but I know God wants to talk you through it. Read your Bible. Seek Jesus. And when He restores your soul like He did mine, look around you and tell others your story.
I was so incredibly honored that my pastor asked me to speak at church this past Sunday. You can watch it HERE.
If you read this far that means we’re two peas in a pod. Jot your email down to GET this month’s from ME to YOU freebie…and so I can connect with you more! We’re in this together!
Andrea Chatelain’s mission is to meet women in their struggles and love them forward with God’s truth. She’s a Midwest mom of three, faith and family writer, and English instructor to immigrants and refugees.
It’s no secret that the people on social media we follow help create a healthy or unhealthy thought life. We check our phones, get a 30 second hit of someone else’s voice, and go back to our day. So it matters whose voice your choose to let into your day and into your mind. Here’s my recommendation of a few voices that lift me up and are worth listening to…
For food/health:
@kids.eat.in.color does a great job of normalizing feeding our kids and the struggles and victories we encounter as moms. We’re doing our best, people! She’s a dietician you can trust with positivity at the core of her message.
@biglittlefeelings makes me feel sane as a mother and helps give practical advice for everyday motherhood. Their expertise is for toddlers, but tweenagers are just big toddlers so I still find their advice helpful.
@minimalistbaker always makes me want to get to the kitchen. Good, clean, inspiring recipes. @iamtabithabrown vegan recipes with soul and comedy. This gal made me smile through the pandemic and I’ve followed ever since.
For faith:
@first5app for bible study and @shereadstruth, @ourdailybread for daily devotionals, of course @andreachatelain_author for encouragement!
For fun:
@bobgoff is a great one to help you dream and live out big purposes.
@countrylivingmag because I’m a midwest girl who loves a good article about hometown stuff.
@jennifer.garner for a positive celebrity…she’s smart, kind, funny, cooks, and cares about kids.
Listen, my goal is to not be on my phone, but if I am, these are some voices that make me smile about the world. So I thought I’d share them with you! Cut out the negative voices this new year, and replace with these!
Sincere faith is passed down in sincere ways. It doesn’t have to be flashy or wordy, in fact Jesus told us to pray simply. So at bedtime when you’re spent and the kids need to get to sleep, this is my solution to help you model powerful prayer without dragging the clock on. (printable below!)
Really it’s all about prompting and modeling as you count down 3-2-1-0. Here’s how…
*Start strong by praising God for THREE of His characteristics to remind your little of who God is so they know their prayers are in good hands.
*Then thank the Lord for TWO people the love or provisions God’s given.
* Ask God for help with ONE worry and pray for ONE person who needs help.
*And admit sin and thank God for wiping away every wrongdoing down to ZERO.
Don’t try to be perfect, just let your little one have space to talk to Jesus. That’s what prayer’s all about. Sometimes they may not have anything to say for one portion and that’s where you get to swoop in and share what’s on your heart.
I’ve been blown away by the worries I’ve heard from my kids that I didn’t know about. It’s allowed me to have a window into their little lives so I can pray for them and support them better. Enjoy your time praying with your kids, passing down sincere faith.
Here’s a pdf you can print out and tape up on the wall to help you get into the groove…
My talented writer friend from Belfast, Northern Ireland shares POWERFUL and PERSONAL words about moving with Jesus through life’s hardest curveballs. I’m so thankful for this wisdom wakeup call…
Moving Through Devastating Disappointments
By Paula Halliday
Curveballs don’t come with warning signs. Believe me. I know. Because five years ago, one flew in my direction and instantly knocked me off my feet. No-one ever warned me it was coming. No-one told me to brace for impact, or to run and take cover. No, it came hard. It came fast. And it came from absolutely nowhere.
I wonder if you, too, have ever experienced a moment in life like this? One moment that threw your world off balance and caught you completely off guard. The uninvited problem. The unplanned detour. The uneasy conversation. The unfulfilled dream. The unwanted news. Yes, one very unexpected moment tossed towards a very unsuspecting you.
Truth be told, the injuries I sustained were not obvious. I guess, broken hearts are much harder to see than broken bones. For hidden behind a freshly-painted smile and a rehearsed “I’m fine”, was a woman, crippled by a serious diagnosis.
Disappointment.
Why did God allow this to happen to me? Why did He not divert this curveball from coming my direction? My expectations of what God could-have-done, should-have-done, were in pieces, and so was my heart. My daily conversations with Him ended. You know, kind of like I was giving God the silent treatment. And my Bible gathered dust in my bottom drawer for days. I drew a large question mark over God’s good plans for my life, and I drew away from Him.
Disappointment can do that. It creates distance between us and God, if we allow. I know this was true for me. In fact, this was true for Mary too.
In Luke 10:39 we read how Mary loved to sit at Jesus’ feet. The Greek word used here for the verb ‘to sit’ is para kathezomai, which means ‘to sit closely beside’ [kathezomai means ‘to sit down’, para means ‘to be close beside’]. But notice where Mary sits when her brother, Lazarus, unexpectedly dies, and Jesus arrives four days after her brother’s burial.
‘So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house.’ (John 11:20 ESV, emphasis mine).
The Greek word used here for ‘to sit’ is kathezomai. Did you notice the prefix ‘para’ is missing? You see, Mary, too, had sustained injuries from a curveball crisis. Jesus didn’t do what she expected. He didn’t even come when she asked. And Mary’s response? No longer did she choose to sit close beside Jesus. Instead, disappointment drove Mary to distance herself from Jesus.
Oh, how I so deeply relate. Can you?
When disappointment disrupts our day, it’s easy to wonder why God ever allowed it to happen and wander away from Him. Yes, I’ve been there. Remember the banished Bible in my bottom drawer? But I refuse to stay there. Friend, we cannot choose our circumstances, but we can choose our response to them. So what if instead of allowing disappointment to drag us further away from God, we allowed disappointment to draw us closer to God?
Of course, it is not wrong to take time, to sit, to grieve, to process any disappointment you may experience as you journey through life. But remember this; you do not have to sit alone. We may never be able to make sense of our circumstances, but we can sense His presence in all circumstances. And with proximity comes His perspective. With closeness comes clarity. With intimacy comes insight. With nearness comes new revelation. Today, I choose in advance to para kathezomai; to sit closely beside the Lord in all circumstances. And I pray you will too.
Paula Halliday is a thirty-something year old speech therapist from Belfast, Northern Ireland. She is a self-confessed foodie and tea-drinking addict with a passion for both written and spoken words. Paula loves nothing more than a great adventure. Her favourite one being; to live each day with Jesus.
Although surrounded by incredible family and friends, Paula has found unexpected beauty in singleness in this season of life. In the near future, she hopes to publish her first book which aims to encourage other single Jesus girls to do the same. Connect with Paula on Instagram
Thanks for stopping by! Connect more below!
If you read this far that means we’re two peas in a pod. Jot your email down to GET this month’s from ME to YOU freebie…and so I can connect with you more! We’re in this together!
Andrea Chatelain’s mission is to meet women in their struggles and love them forward with God’s truth. She’s a Midwest mom of three, faith and family writer, and college English instructor to immigrants and refugees. She believes Jesus transforms lives when His people boldly seek Him. Her writing reflects her love for Jesus and heart for fellow believers.
All I ever heard about mothers-in-law was negative. Even saying the title MIL makes eyes roll and annoying stories flow. Newly married, I braced myself. I imagined at some point there’d be a line of me versus her like the movies portray. But instead of proving movies right, she proved Scripture right. My MIL is my Naomi. And I would follow her wherever she goes. So this is my ode to good MILs who’ve adopted their daughters-in-law as their own. Thank you for loving us well.
Meet the characters…
Naomi: A faithful woman of God who lost both sons and husband to a famine in ancient times. A good mother-in-law.
Ruth: Naomi’s daughter-in-law who came from a different people group yet followed her MIL and wanted to fully belong with Naomi. A good daughter-in-law.
If you read the book of Ruth through the lens of a MIL/DIL relationship, there’s so much to learn. It dashes the worldly view of this relationship and honors it with what the Lord meant it to be.
Here’s some lessons I’m storing up for when I’m a MIL someday…
Lesson #1 Good MILs are humble
I notice parallels from Ruth and Naomi’s relationship and mine with my MIL. Naomi was made humble out of her circumstances. I imagine she faced relational loneliness as her two sons married women of a foreign land. I wonder what it was like for her to humbly accept her sons choices and let those women become important to her sons while she faded a bit. And then as things didn’t work out, her sons and husband died and she was left alone. (Ruth 1)
My MIL may not have LOST her two sons like Naomi did to famine (Ruth 1:4-5), but she definitely lost her title as “Most important woman” in their lives when her two sons married. She moved aside so their wives could be their #1 and naturally lost some relationship with her children because of it. I think it’s important for us to empathize with our MILs and how humbling that would be. I wonder now how that must’ve felt for her after dedicating her life to her children. Lonely? Hard? Confusing? And yet she became smaller so I could become more. She befriended me and accepted change gracefully.
I want to be a MIL who’s humble when it’s hard like that someday.
#2 Good MILs seek the BEST for their DILs
As we read on in Ruth’s story we find Naomi ready to leave Moab and journey back to Bethlehem to find food (Ruth 1:6-14). Without a man in her life she had nothing to offer her DILs. So as the DILs start following their MIL to her homeland, “Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands?”” (Ruth 1:11).
What does this mean? It means Naomi wanted the BEST for her DILs even if it meant the worst for herself (being completely alone). She championed her DILs.
My MIL has championed me in too many ways to count. She gets excited for what I’m excited for. She reads all my writing and tells me I’m awesome. She watches my kids. She listens when I have a hard day. She seeks my best in small and big ways because she loves me.
I want to be a MIL who encourages like that someday.
#3 Good MILs ADOPT their DILs
As Naomi leaves, Ruth begs to stay with her and Naomi accepts her even though they’re no longer tied relationally by marriage. “But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God “”(Ruth 1:16).
Naomi didn’t have to say yes. BUT she CHOSE to enter deep family relationship with her DIL even when the relationship was technically done after her son died. This is a picture of the kind of love God intended for MIL and DIL. Not one of duty but of adoption.
This has taught me so much. The relationship takes two. It takes a DIL who WANTS to have a good relationship with her MIL. And it takes a MIL who accepts and adopts her DIL as her own not because she’s her son’s wife, but because she loves her as a daughter.
I’m so thankful my MIL has ACCEPTED, LOVED and CHAMPIONED her daughters-in-law. I’ve become her daughter. Not because I needed another mom, but because God gave me another person to love me on this earth. I’m so thankful He did. Like any relationship, it’s work to grow together, but I know she has adopted me as her own.
I want to be a mother-in-law who loves her daughter-in-law like that someday.
I know not everyone has an amazing relationship with their MIL. If you don’t, I’m praying for you today for healing and peace because our God is a god of peace. And if you do, tell her you cherish her today!
Lord I pray for all the Mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law who are embarking on a journey together. Protect their relationship. Grow them in unity. Teach them how to celebrate one another. We thank you Father for giving us another person to love. In Jesus Name. Amen.
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If you read this far that means we’re two peas in a pod. Jot your email down to GET this month’s from ME to YOU freebie…and so I can connect with you more! We’re in this together!
Andrea Chatelain’s mission is to meet women in their struggles and love them forward with God’s truth. She’s a Midwest mom of three, faith and family writer, and college English instructor to immigrants and refugees. She believes Jesus transforms lives when His people boldly seek Him. Her writing reflects her love for Jesus and heart for fellow believers.
Scrolling Instagram I found a funny, passionate, child advocate who posted all the questions NOT to ask a foster mom. But she’s answering a big one for us today. “How do you handle the complicated relationship with birth parents?” So thankful for her willingness to share her story…
Foster Care: Birth Parents & The Gospel
By Lindsay Veitz
Foster care. Rarely do two little words incite such a big emotional response. Feelings that run the gamete from joy to anger to sadness, and everything in between. It is one of the most difficult roads a family can choose to go down, but the joy that comes with raising children and seeing them thrive in a healthy environment, is one of the most fulfilling things in the world.
Our foster care journey isn’t any more unique than anyone else’s, it was long and emotional, but we expected that going in. What we didn’t expect (and probably should have) was the way the Lord used foster care to allow my husband and I to bring the love of Jesus to a set of very broken and lost parents.
One of the questions I get asked so frequently is, “How did you handle meeting and conversing with your daughters biological parents? I don’t think I could handle being in a room with parents who have harmed their child”. The answer, for me, is so multi faceted. We knew when we became foster parents that dealing with birth parents are a huge aspect of foster care. Most children start out having visitation with family. This doesn’t always happen, as with cases of abandonment or where parental rights have already been terminated. But for most cases, you will have parental visitation.
We said from the beginning that we were going to treat birth parents with dignity and respect, without approving of their behaviors and actions. We would use any interactions we had with them to be a support to their recovery, to be kind to them, and to show them that there was a God who loved them. Knowing that, as 1 Timothy 1:15 says, “Christ came to save sinners, of whom I am the worst”, that we were no better than birth parents. It is only because of God’s grace in our lives that we are not where they are.
This was put into action once we took in our daughter. Within a week we had visitation with birth dad. I won’t lie-it was one of the most awkward encounters of my life. Here I am, walking in and leaving with a child that he had just helped bring into the world three short weeks ago. That first visit was rough. He was very protective of our daughter, telling us how to care for her and that he was going to get her back “very soon”. He didn’t think we would be able to care for his baby girl like he could. We swallowed our pride and supported him, made sure he knew we were on his side, and told him we would be praying he would have the strength to finish his recovery program.
The next visit included birth mom as well. At first she wanted nothing to do with me, and told me she knew how to take care of her own baby. Again, I said nothing in response and instead asked how recovery was going, and reassured her we had no plans to take her baby from her. This eased her a little and she began sharing details of her life, which had been anything but safe and secure. Both of our daughters birth parents have experienced abuse and neglect from their parents, both had no guidance or support growing up, and both came from a long line of addicts. Their story completely broke my heart. The cards had been stacked against them from the start.
Visits continued for a few months, and during that time we were really able to get to know them, and gain trust and respect from them. My husband was able to share the Gospel with birth dad at one visit, and birth mom and I prayed together during multiple visits. Although we already knew we wanted to adopt our daughter, I was able to tell them, without lying, that we supported them and hoped they would be able to regain custody. I also want to emphasize that not once did we condone their actions that had harmed our child, but rather spoke about the negative consequences of their behavior in love. We expressed our disapproval of their lifestyle, but we didn’t shame them for it.
We spoke about the negative consequences of their behavior in love — expressed our disapproval of their lifestyle, but we didn’t shame them for it.
Birth mom told me during one visit that the foster parents they had dealt with previously (with their son, while he was in foster care) were extremely rude and disrespectful to them. That they wouldn’t even look them in the eye or speak directly with them. With tears in her eyes she said, “I already felt bad enough, and they made me feel like I was even worse than worthless”. She expressed how thankful she was for the way my husband and I had treated both her and birth dad, and that she knew we must believe what we talked about since we acted so different.
I don’t tell you this to toot our own horn, or because we are such great examples of how to deal with birth parents. Not at all. Visitation was one of the hardest things to do every week. I tell you this to stress the importance of being Jesus to broken people. If Jesus treated me the way I felt like treating her birth parents on most days, then I would be in for a world of hurt. I’m not better than her because I’m a good person, because I’m not an addict, or because I’m not a criminal. Far from it. I’m not better than her at all-in fact, if it wasn’t for the fact that God himself had to come to this Earth and die for my ugly, sinful, rebellious heart, and I chose to believe it years ago, I would in the same place as her.
The last interaction we had was right before our daughter’s adoption. She was incarcerated, and I went to the jail to visit her. She was in disbelief when she saw me-she said I was the only visitor she had had in weeks. I caught her up on what our daughter was doing, and showed her pictures. She said how grateful she was that we had her daughter, and thanked me multiple times for taking care of her. It was a sweet visit. The last thing she said to me, with tears pouring down her face, was “Thank you for caring about me. Thank you for praying. I’m sorry I failed her. Please tell her how much I love her and that I think about her all the time”.
The small act of being kind and sharing Jesus made them feel loved and less alone. And isn’t that the whole point of Christianity?
-Lindsay Veitz
During this season of dealing with birth parents, I didn’t do anything special. I was just kind to someone. But the small act of being kind and sharing Jesus made them feel loved and less alone. And isn’t that the whole point of Christianity? Not rules and regulations, but letting people who are broken and hurting know that the God of the universe loves them and cares for them.
This is our call as foster parents. Going into a dark place of abuse, neglect, drugs, prostitution, and so much more and filling it with the light and love of the Lord.
Pray for kids in foster care. Pray for the foster parents bringing them in. Pray for birth parents. The Lord hears us. This is at the heart of answering the cry of the orphan-bringing them to the feet of Jesus and letting Him to do more for them than we could have ever dreamed.
Lindsay is an avid advocate for children in the foster care system. She is a former foster mom, and an adoptive mom. She has worked in the foster care system in various capacities for over ten years, and is well versed in trauma informed care. Lindsay currently runs a mentor program for teens in foster care. She loves talking to people about foster care, and how you can get involved. If you would like more information, or have any questions, you can find her on Instagram at@life_with_lindsayv
Thanks for stopping by! Connect more below!
If you read this far that means we’re two peas in a pod. Jot your email down to GET this month’s from ME to YOU freebie…and so I can connect with you more! We’re in this together!
Andrea Chatelain’s mission is to meet women in their struggles and love them forward with God’s truth. She’s a Midwest mom of three, faith and family writer, and college English instructor to immigrants and refugees. She believes Jesus transforms lives when His people boldly seek Him. Her writing reflects her love for Jesus and heart for fellow believers.
I know what it’s like to hold your new baby and feel nothing because of postpartum depression and trauma. I know what it’s like to second guess everything you say and do out of fear and insecurity. And what it’s like to worry about my kids issues and try to hold broken relationships together unsuccessfully. I know failure. I know sin. I know pain. No more or less than you. But Friends, I tell you this because I know you often feel like you’re the only one going through that “thing”. But you’re not. We’re ALL messed up and we ALL need Jesus–and each other.
It’s uncomfortable to tell our weaknesses, especially in the Christian community where often we hide our hard. But I want to tell you, God greatly desires to HEAL and USE all your pain and weaknesses. I’ve learned living through hard things with Jesus is your greatest asset in God’s kingdom.
Do you know I started this blog out of hurt?
As I got to know Jesus through reading Scripture and he started healing my heart in lots of ways, and I couldn’t keep the good news of His love to myself. I pictured you searching for answers like I did.(God are you real? Do you care? Do you see me? Can you even do anything about this “thing”??) And needing a safe space to work out thoughts like I did. And my empathy for you outweighed my desire to look awesome.
That’s why I do this. That’s why I’m here. And I wanted to renew my reason “why” today just so you know the heart behind this space. Every Christian is being built, it’s a process, I’m still learning and growing and healing just like you. But God has used all my pain and weaknesses for your strength as I speak freely of my brokenness and His goodness.
And I bet someone needs you to be that for them.
I bet you are a well of empathy too. You’ve lived through some hard stuff too. And because of that, you see others’ pain better. It sinks into you and God prompts you to reach out because you can’t stand to leave someone in that space alone.
That is you doing God’s work. It’s you allowing the Lord to redeem your weakness to be someone else’s strength. Revealing your hard for someone else’s good is brave and beautiful. It takes vulnerability, compassion and faith.
I recently attended the IF:gathering online event and listened to Pastor Mike Todd speak on being an anchor for others. That sometimes people need us to be an anchor they can hold onto before than can hold onto Jesus. Oh man, it struck my heart.
Who in your life is reaching out their hand and needs an anchor? Who is where you were and needs you to say, “I know, I’ve been there, let me hold onto you while you weather this storm.” Only Jesus can heal our inner wounds, but the body of Christ, You and I, can give to others what we’ve received from God.
Let’s allow God to transform our pain into power. Let’s give away whatever goodness we’ve receive from God in the hard. And be a little anchor of hope and love in our homes and communities.
Whether you’re a new believer, a veteran Jesus lover, a mom, a wife, a friend, or simply a person getting through the ups and downs of life–may you find healing and strength in Jesus and may He embolden you to care for others with the same care He’s shown you. Amen.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too” (2 Corinth 1:3-5).
Thanks for stopping by! Connect more below!
If you read this far that means we’re two peas in a pod. Jot your email down to GET this month’s from ME to YOU freebie…and so I can connect with you more! We’re in this together!
Andrea Chatelain’s mission is to meet women in their struggles and love them forward with God’s truth. She’s a Midwest mom of three, faith and family writer, and college English instructor to immigrants and refugees. She believes Jesus transforms lives when His people boldly seek Him. Her writing reflects her love for Jesus and heart for fellow believers.
I know my problems are real, but often I wonder if my prayers are. Am I praying “right” and does God care? I’m so honored to host author Elisa Morgan (MOPS President Emerita) on such a tender topic. Her words are just what I needed lately. Read on for a fresh perspective on your prayer-life. -Andrea
Why Don’t we Pray About it?
by Elisa Morgan
I lie awake in the night and worry. Driving on errands, my mind darts between the obstacles in my day, searching for a smoother path. Knee-deep in a conversation, I reach for a handhold out from what seems like a ditch of disconnection.
Why don’t I pray about what’s in my heart and on my plate?
Author Paul Miller commiserates, “Our inability to pray comes from the Fall. Evil has marred the image. We want to talk to God but can’t. The friction of our desire to pray, combined with our badly damaged prayer antennae, leads to constant frustration. It’s as if we’ve had a stroke.” (1)
Oh so true! There are moments I experience a kind of spiritual aphasia before God. I send commands to my being to express my desires to God and my yieldedness to his will but then my mouth won’t move. I form some words, slingshot them toward God but before I’ve even finished my release, I’ve forgotten my prayer posture and my mind slips toward something else.
James writes of the trouble such a condition can bring, “You do not have because you do not ask” (James 4:2).
Sometimes I’m a doubter, “like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind” (James 1:6). James goes on to say that such a person “should not expect to receive anything from the Lord” (verse 7).
In other moments I conclude that I’m too selfish to experience God’s response to my prayers as James, again, warns, “When you ask, you do not receive because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures” (James 4:3).
At the center of all my struggles, I’m not sure my babbling before God actually counts as praying.
“Perhaps prayer doesn’t have to begin with an “Our Father” and end with an “Amen” to be a prayer.”
Elisa Morgan
Okay, settle down, Elisa. The psalms are filled with examples of David and other pilgrims crying out to God in everyday emotion. Perhaps prayer doesn’t have to begin with an “Our Father” and end with an “Amen” to be prayer. Theologian Richard Foster offers such hope as he writes, “Countless people, you see, pray far more than they know. Often they have such a ‘stained-glass’ image of prayer that they fail to recognize what they are experiencing as prayer and so condemn themselves for not praying.” (2)
Whew. Whether bent-kneed and patterned or simply stream of conscious rumbling, my prayers are just that: prayers.
I’m pretty sure you relate here. Why don’t we pray more about more things that really matter to us? Why don’t we take advantage of the heart relationship of prayer that God provides for us? Like me, have you been making prayer harder than it has to be? Harder than God means it to be?
For Jesus, prayer was an unending, uninterrupted conversation with the rest of himself. And for us, prayer can be the same: conversation with the God who formed us in our mother’s wombs, who knows the number of hairs on our heads, who hears a word before it is formed on our tongues and who longs to give us what we need before we even ask.
Why would we do anything but pray about it?
Before a word is on my tongue, you Lord, know it completely. Psalm 139:4
2. Richard Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home (New York: HarperCollins, 2003), xi-xii.
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Elisa Morgan (MDiv) was named by Christianity Today as one of the top fifty women influencing today’s church and culture. She has authored over twenty-five books including The Beauty of Broken, Hello, Beauty Full, She Did What She Could and her most recent release, When We Pray Like Jesus. For twenty years, Elisa served as CEO of MOPS International and now is President Emerita. She speaks internationally, writes for Our Daily Bread Devotional and co-hosts Discover the Word radio and the podcast God Hears Her for Our Daily Bread Ministries.
You can find out more about Elisa, book her to speak at your event and sign up for her blog, Really, which reaches thousands at www.elisamorgan.com. Follow her on Facebook and Instagram (@elisamorganauthor) and on Twitter (@elisa_morgan).
With her husband of forty-one years, Evan, she has two grown children and two grandchildren who live near her in Denver, Colorado. Coach, her Rottie-wannabe, takes her on walks daily.
Originally published on the Really blog at www.elisamorgan.com. Used by permission of Elisa Morgan.
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Andrea Chatelain’s mission is to meet women in their struggles and love them forward with God’s truth. She’s a Midwest mom of three, faith and family writer, and college English instructor to immigrants and refugees. She believes Jesus transforms lives when His people boldly seek Him. Her writing reflects her love for Jesus and heart for fellow believers.
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