Zoë Elmore
“For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.” Colossians 1:9-12 (NIV)
Our son came home from school and announced that he would not be attending the college he’d planned but would instead be attending a school in another state. There wasn’t anything we could say or do to change his mind. Wanting to thoroughly investigate this option, we invited the representative from the out-of-state school to our home in order to gather the information necessary to prayerfully advise our son.
With all the facts on the table my husband and I spent much of the next two days in prayer and concluded that it would be in our son’s best interest to return to the college plans already in progress. After a family discussion which consisted of my husband and me trying to put him back on track, Josh stormed out of the room and slammed his bedroom door behind him. For the next twelve months Josh barely looked in our direction and only grunted when he couldn’t answer us with a nod.
I cried out to the Lord for wisdom and guidance, and He whispered, Be quiet and trust me to work in your child’s heart.
I thought, Excuse me, Lord, I’m sure I misunderstood You. You can’t possibly expect me to keep silent on this important matter!?
So I decided to stop reigning down wisdom from the top of “Mom Mountain.” I spent the next twelve months praying through and studying today’s verses. I inserted Josh’s name in each verse and read them many times each day, sometimes to myself and other times out loud. During that year the Lord expanded and multiplied the truths and lessons contained in these verses. I experienced a deepening in my relationship with God while I witnessed a softening in our son’s heart.
Before we knew it, we were moving our son into his college dorm room. Despite the evidence of a softened heart, Josh was clearly still angry with us as we left him that day on the college campus. Months passed and we heard very little from our son. I continued to study and pray through these verses.
One afternoon our son unexpectedly came home and joined me on the back porch. He took my hands in his and with tears streaming down his face said, “Mom, I have to ask your forgiveness for my attitude and behavior this last year. While I’ve been at college, I’ve been part of a college ministry and the Lord has opened my eyes to the glorious relationship I can have with Him. Mom, I can’t thank you enough for praying me through these last few months without preaching to me. You allowed the Lord to show me Himself who He is. I’m so grateful that you and Dad continued to love me when I was so angry. I would have never met the godly people at my school if I had disobeyed you.”
Now that is a stand-in-your-chair-and-praise-God-moment if I’ve ever heard one, and I did just that! When I think about that year of quiet desperation, I’m reminded of the spiritual lessons I learned and how they remain an important step in my pursuit of a deepening relationship with my sweet Jesus. I learned to go to the throne instead of the phone for my peace and comfort.
If you find yourself in a desperate place, I hope you will choose to quiet yourself before the Lord in order to study and pray through His Word. In doing so you will receive knowledge of His will, wisdom and understanding for your spirit, and reassurance in place of your desperation.
Dear Lord, thank You for meeting me and teaching me in my quiet desperation. I praise Your name for the miraculous work You have done in my heart and in the life of my son. Only You can change a heart. You deserve all praise and glory. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Related Resources:
Submit a prayer request or praise report
He Speaks to Me by Priscilla Shirer
God’s Purpose for Every Woman, Lysa TerKeurst and Rachel Olsen, General Editors
Application Steps:
Study your Bible on the topic of being alone with God.
Write your own prayer to God praising Him for His willingness to comfort and provide for us in our times of desperation.
Reflections:
If you are facing a desperate time in your life right now, what can you do in order to hear from God more clearly?
If the Lord asks you to be quiet in order to work in the life of a loved one, how quickly will you obey?
Power Verses:
Hebrews 10:23, “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.” (NIV)
Isaiah 50:4. “The Sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught.” (NIV)
“For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.” Colossians 1:9-12 (NIV)
Our son came home from school and announced that he would not be attending the college he’d planned but would instead be attending a school in another state. There wasn’t anything we could say or do to change his mind. Wanting to thoroughly investigate this option, we invited the representative from the out-of-state school to our home in order to gather the information necessary to prayerfully advise our son.
With all the facts on the table my husband and I spent much of the next two days in prayer and concluded that it would be in our son’s best interest to return to the college plans already in progress. After a family discussion which consisted of my husband and me trying to put him back on track, Josh stormed out of the room and slammed his bedroom door behind him. For the next twelve months Josh barely looked in our direction and only grunted when he couldn’t answer us with a nod.
I cried out to the Lord for wisdom and guidance, and He whispered, Be quiet and trust me to work in your child’s heart.
I thought, Excuse me, Lord, I’m sure I misunderstood You. You can’t possibly expect me to keep silent on this important matter!?
So I decided to stop reigning down wisdom from the top of “Mom Mountain.” I spent the next twelve months praying through and studying today’s verses. I inserted Josh’s name in each verse and read them many times each day, sometimes to myself and other times out loud. During that year the Lord expanded and multiplied the truths and lessons contained in these verses. I experienced a deepening in my relationship with God while I witnessed a softening in our son’s heart.
Before we knew it, we were moving our son into his college dorm room. Despite the evidence of a softened heart, Josh was clearly still angry with us as we left him that day on the college campus. Months passed and we heard very little from our son. I continued to study and pray through these verses.
One afternoon our son unexpectedly came home and joined me on the back porch. He took my hands in his and with tears streaming down his face said, “Mom, I have to ask your forgiveness for my attitude and behavior this last year. While I’ve been at college, I’ve been part of a college ministry and the Lord has opened my eyes to the glorious relationship I can have with Him. Mom, I can’t thank you enough for praying me through these last few months without preaching to me. You allowed the Lord to show me Himself who He is. I’m so grateful that you and Dad continued to love me when I was so angry. I would have never met the godly people at my school if I had disobeyed you.”
Now that is a stand-in-your-chair-and-praise-God-moment if I’ve ever heard one, and I did just that! When I think about that year of quiet desperation, I’m reminded of the spiritual lessons I learned and how they remain an important step in my pursuit of a deepening relationship with my sweet Jesus. I learned to go to the throne instead of the phone for my peace and comfort.
If you find yourself in a desperate place, I hope you will choose to quiet yourself before the Lord in order to study and pray through His Word. In doing so you will receive knowledge of His will, wisdom and understanding for your spirit, and reassurance in place of your desperation.
Dear Lord, thank You for meeting me and teaching me in my quiet desperation. I praise Your name for the miraculous work You have done in my heart and in the life of my son. Only You can change a heart. You deserve all praise and glory. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Related Resources:
Submit a prayer request or praise report
He Speaks to Me by Priscilla Shirer
God’s Purpose for Every Woman, Lysa TerKeurst and Rachel Olsen, General Editors
Application Steps:
Study your Bible on the topic of being alone with God.
Write your own prayer to God praising Him for His willingness to comfort and provide for us in our times of desperation.
Reflections:
If you are facing a desperate time in your life right now, what can you do in order to hear from God more clearly?
If the Lord asks you to be quiet in order to work in the life of a loved one, how quickly will you obey?
Power Verses:
Hebrews 10:23, “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.” (NIV)
Isaiah 50:4. “The Sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught.” (NIV)
Labels: God's Perspective, Parenting, Prayer, Time with God, Trusting God, Waiting On God
9 Comments:
How i needed this today! It was on the mark! God has been speaking to me to be still and be quiet. It is only a confirmaton!
Father, You know what's best and o how I love Your Word and I love You so much! You are forever faithful when I have been faithless. Your grace sustains me and it is alwys sufficient for me. When i am weak , You are strong! I love You so much,my Abba Father,in the name of Your Son,Jesus Christ! Amen.
Thank you Zoe! I really needed to hear that today! Just this morning the Lord spoke to me to pray for my husband and our marriage. Something, I shamefully admit, that I have not been faithful at doing lately. Many blessings to you for your faithfulness in behalf of your son.
Joanie
Wow. Awesome. My 20 year old is right on the fence between good and evil. I want to "make sure" he's not running with the wrong people, doing the wrong things, etc. God has let me know that I'm to trust Him. Ouch. I'm not doing well, but I am getting better. Thanks for reminding me that I'm doing the right thing by waiting on the Lord.
Before I opened up the Proverbs 31 website today, I prayed the Lord would provide a devotional that would open my eyes. My 21 yr old daughter is dating a young man that I just don't feel is the right person for her. So many times I try to "fix" things instead of being still and quiet and allowing God to work in her life. I have to remember daily that His hand is at work even when we don't see and that I am to trust Him completely and lean not on my own understanding. I now know to go to God in prayer about this and then sit quietly and behold His power and His glory as He works not only in her life, but mine as well. Thank you for the perfect devotional today.
This was an awesome devotional so many times we want to take things and work it out, instead of staying quite, waiting and listening to God. Thanks
thank you for reaffirming my decision to be praying for my children and their future. Resting in God is a timely and needed reminder.
This devotional was a true blessing to me! I find that when I seek God and become excited about what he is doing in my life and begin to attempt to minister to others, I encounter spiritual warfare! My husband becomes very difficult,issues crop up, and I become discouraged. In the last few weeks, God has been speaking to me to keep quiet, refrain from proving that I have been treated unjustly, and not to call my sister or friends, but to go directly to God. Before reading today's devotion, I felt ready to give up on this decision, I wanted to call my sister and complain. When I sat down at the computer, I prayed, "Please Lord, give me some insight and hope." This devotion was another reminder that God is faithful. It brought tears to my eyes and was a beautiful answer to my prayer. Thank you!
I had a similar situation in my home with my daughter. I knew the only way for me was to be quiet and wait on the Lord to work. I did and God was faithful. Praise His holy Name.
Oh girls, My heart soars to know the Lord is using HIS work in our lives to minister to you.
As only the Lord would have it we are facing different circumstances but the same lessons with our yougest son. I never know when the devotionals we write will be on-line & the very day this one ran, I heard the Lord speak to my heart regarding Joseph. The Lord asked me if I had really learned the lessons of quietly trusting HIM to work in Joseph's life and heart. When I opened my e-mail on Monday there was this devotional. Oh Lord your timing is ALWAYS perfect. I pray for each family facing these "polishing moments" in their lives. We're all in the same boat girls, we just have different seat assignments. Let's continue to pray for one another to "Pray and not Preach". Let's wait for the Lord to continue HIS work behind the scenes in the lives of our beloved children and let's give HIM all the glory. Let's encourage one another, use my blog.
www.zoeelmore.blogspot.com
Post a Comment
Home