FLIP IT!

 

I've been praying on and off for our youngest daughter Claire. Our winter solstice baby.  Our now 26 almost 27 year old who is so smart, graceful, wise, compassionate, non-judgemental, brutally honest, hard-working. I'm not going to go into details here but I will share some things two different people shared with me regarding my prayers for my young adult children. One was our site pastor, Pastor Mat.  He's awesome. I ran into him in the lobby after the last class a couple weeks ago that I was taking every Monday morning, and we got to talking about his latest sermon he preached when Pastor Rex was away (our senior pastor is Rex and when he's away, the site pastors preach).  Well it was about how just because one goes to church doesn't mean they are a Christian and just because someone does not go to church, doesn't mean that they are not a Christian! (Christian used here meaning Christ follower/saved/born again/child of God/ a disciple of God....whatever phrase you use). Of course most of us know this. There was more to his points of course but he also reminded me that although Proverbs 22:6 is a great principle, it is not a promise. BUT...it IS a principle that we stand by...that when we raise a child in the things of God, this will affect their character. I needed this reminder. 

Intentional guidance in moral and spiritual truths does shape a child's character. That they are more likely to embrace their faith when being taught Biblical principles. 

This was again confirmed to me today by a friend I really look up to spiritually speaking. I really needed to hear some of the things she had to say. 

And one thing was to look at the situation I'm praying about and "flip it".  Instead of saying "oh Lord I'm worried about _________", say "Thank You God for the opportunity I have to be a model and for the chance to speak into her life". 

To look at the blessing vs the trial.  To  pray "Thank You God for what You are doing in her life" vs "oh God I am concerned about ________".  

this brings HOPE!! And it reminded me of the Scripture in the photo above. As I trust my God...my dear Father in heaven with my dear youngest daughter, I can have a heart and mind of peace vs worry. I can have the hope of Christ which brings me that peace.  

If you're dealing with a situation that has you focusing on the negative vs the positive try flipping your prayer. God wants us to seek Him.  He knows how we feel.  Let's trust Him with the outcomes. Let's flip the way we are looking at things and see that God has a plan and a purpose and  although we in our humanness can't see it, we can trust Him.

I'm going to start flipping my thoughts and my prayers.