Praying the Bible

I am crazy about books.  One of the most difficult aspects of packing to serve in Africa was condensing our whole life, all our possessions for a family of five, to nine plastic SmartBins from Walmart.  That meant parting ways with my books.  My adoring husband bought a NOOK so I could have plenty of reading material.   I like our NOOK, but it isn’t quiet the same for me.  I’m one of those weird people for whom books are an experience, not just words on pages.  I love the smell of a new book and the way a book feels in my hands.  Book stores rank right up there with fabric stores as my favorite places to visit – maybe higher since they usually also sell coffee.  I imagine I get the same dreamy look on my face in a book store that I have seen on my husband’s face when he shops for tools.  Book stores = bliss!

I did bring some of my books with me.  One that I treasure and use almost daily is “Praying the Bible for Your Children” by David and Heather Kopp.  I found it several years ago in a stack of “remainders” on the $3.00 shelf at an outlet store and picked it up out of curiosity.  Actually I picked up nearly all of the books because I just had to look at and touch all of them, but I put most of them back.  This little $3 treasure changed the way I pray for my kids and for others.  Each page is a prayer based on a promise from God’s Word and the book covers everything from pacifiers to sexual purity.  I learned that praying from Scripture helps me pray in God’s will, focus on His character and see beyond just the immediate and physical needs, and pray with purpose instead of  praying for the “same old things.”  And I’ve learned to “pray outside the book” and use other scriptures as I find them on my own.  I like to mark them in my Bible with the kids’ names and dates so when I come across them again, I can reflect on how God has answered those prayers.  Sometimes I tell my kids I’ve prayed a certain scripture for them if I think it will encourage them, but more often it is between me and God.  Today the prayer focus in the book was “speaking well of others” and one of the passages used is Titus 3:1-2.  When I looked up the passage in my Bible I saw that in addition to “slander no  one,” there are lots of other character traits mentioned which I prayed and asked God to develop in my children. 

You might be tired of reading about the orphanage, but I have to mention my last trip out there because it was so different.  I really considered staying home last week since I was having such an emotional week but I'm glad I didn't.  They had toys!  Someone had brought them dolls, trucks and dinosaurs.  I got to play cars and dolls with them.  In one sense it was sad because they didn't seem to know how to pretend or make car noises or make the dolls "talk".  So, I showed them.  They thought it was hilarious to see the "mundele" (white person) making car noises and horn beeps and lined up to make me "run" each of their cars in turn.  Eventually they started imitating me and then it was my turn to laugh.  We had a lot of fun and it was very good for me - a gift from God - to hear all those giggles.  One sweet girl crawled into my lap and fell asleep but not before she gave me multiple hugs and beamed at me with her beautiful smile.  Pray for those kids.  They are so precious.  Pray that they will one day understand the incredible depth of God's love for them and come to know Him (Ephesians chapter 3).