The Lord’s been waking me between 3 and 4 every morning for the last several weeks. Even on vacation. It must be the Lord because I cherish a good night’s sleep and consider napping one of my favorite spiritual disciplines.
Getting back to sleep is hard for me when the brain kicks in, so I’ve been praying…
- for the Moms who didn’t get a full night’s sleep last night either because their little one is sick, is nursing, or just left for college…our God is a Father with a Mother’s heart. He gets it.
- for the friend who is undergoing treatment; who has read all the scary stuff on the internet yet chooses to read the bible and funny books instead…that the only hole her mind goes into is the pothole in the parking lot on her way to a Nutella milkshake. I pray she’ll have the funniest nurses on the planet and affectionate doctors because she’s going through something that a hug just might be the best medicine of the day.
- for the friend who is ‘between the rains,’ where life and direction is dry, aimless, seemingly purposeless…and I pray she’ll remember the promises offered at her baptism, through her calling. I pray her work towards wholeness will be fruitful, so she will find her identity in His restoration and redemption and not her brokenness.
- for the Mama who has begged the Lord for a cure to work in her baby girl, but now just begs…be SO present Lord.
- for more folks to come to the upcoming training event we’ve been advocating for for the last 8-9 years to provide excellent resources and experiences and friends-in-the-Lord to those who answered the call into service to minister with children in the loca
l church in the North Georgia Conference…and I pray that more than three will come. But if only three come, I pray we will be faithful to pour into them with all the hope and energy as if 100 come.
- for a children’s ministry colleague who continues to look for work in professional ministry because of all the places to cut expenses, her previous church chose the ministry to children…Did she hear you right, Lord? What can she do in the meantime? Can she find meaning and provision? Let her count the moments instead of the days.
- for my grandchildren to live closer…just sayin’.
- for every machine in my office to work today…not like yesterday.
- for His voice to be clear and like a loud, flashing siren when my children, my hubby, or I get even close to stepping over the line of what is right in His eyes.
- for forgiveness for passing judgement…even in my head.
- to be fully present when a heart is before me.
What do you pray for when He wakes you early…really early?
“O God, you are MY God, earnestly (early in the morning) I seek you…On my bed, I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night.” Psalm 63:1, 6