A Prayer for Women

A Prayer for Women by Pastor John Piper

My earnest challenge and prayer for you is . . .

. . . That all of your life—in whatever calling—be devoted to the glory of God.

. . . That the promises of Christ be trusted so fully that peace and joy and strength fill your soul to overflowing.

. . . That this fullness of God overflow in daily acts of love so that people might see your good deeds and give glory to your Father in Heaven.

. . . That you be women of the Book, who love and study and obey the Bible in every area of its teaching; that meditation on biblical truth be the source of hope and faith; that you continue to grow in understanding through all the chapters of your life, never thinking that study and growth are only for others.

. . . That you be women of prayer, so that the Word of God will be opened to you, and so the power of faith and holiness will descend upon you; that your spiritual influence may increase at home and at church and in the world.

. . . That you be women who have a deep grasp of the sovereign grace of God which undergirds all these spiritual processes; and that you be deep thinkers about the doctrines of grace, and even deeper lovers of these things.

. . . That you be totally committed to ministry, whatever your specific calling; that you not fritter away your time on soaps or women’s magazines or unimportant hobbies or shopping; that you redeem the time for Christ and his Kingdom.

. . . That, if you are single, you exploit your singleness to the full in devotion to God (the way Jesus and Paul and Mary Slessor and Amy Carmichael did) and not be paralyzed by the desire to be married.

. . . That, if you are married, you creatively and intelligently and sincerely support the leadership of your husband as deeply as obedience to Christ will allow; that you encourage him in his God-appointed role as head; that you influence him spiritually primarily through your fearless tranquility and holiness and prayer.

. . . That, if you have children, you accept responsibility with your husband (or alone if necessary) to raise up children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord—children who hope in the triumph of God—sharing with your husband the teaching and discipline they need, and giving them the special attention they crave from you, as well as that special nurturing touch and care that you alone are fitted to give.

. . . That you not assume that secular employment is a greater challenge or a better use of your life than the countless opportunities of service and witness in the home, the neighborhood, the community, the church, and the world; that you not only pose the question: career or full-time homemaker?, but that you ask just as seriously: full-time career or freedom for ministry? That you ask: Which would be greater for the Kingdom—to work for someone who tells you what to do to make his or her business prosper, or to be God’s free agent dreaming your own dream about how your time and your home and your creativity could make God’s business prosper? And that in all this you make your choices not on the basis of secular trends or upward lifestyle expectations, but on the basis of what will strengthen the faith of the family and advance the cause of Christ.

. . . That you step back and (with your husband, if you are married) plan the various forms of your life’s ministry in chapters. Chapters are divided by various things—age, strength, singleness, marriage, employment, children at home, children in college, grandchildren, retirement, etc. No chapter has all the joys. Finite life is a series of tradeoffs. Finding God’s will, and living for the glory of Christ to the full in every chapter is what makes it a success, not whether it reads like somebody else’s chapter or whether it has in it what only another chapter will bring.

. . . That you develop a wartime mentality and lifestyle; that you never forget that life is short, that billions of people hang in the balance of heaven and hell every day, that the love of money is spiritual suicide, that the goals of upward mobility (nicer clothes, cars, houses, vacations, food, hobbies) are a poor and dangerous substitute for the goals of living for Christ with all your might and maximizing your joy in ministry to people’s needs.

. . . That in all your relationships with men (not just in marriage) you seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit in applying the biblical vision of manhood and womanhood; that you develop a style and demeanor that does justice to the unique role God has given to man to feel responsible for gracious leadership in relation to women—a leadership which involves elements of protection and provision and a pattern of initiative; that you think creatively and with cultural sensitivity (just as he must do) in shaping the style and setting the tone of your interaction with men.

. . . That you see the biblical guidelines for what is appropriate and inappropriate for men and women not as arbitrary constraints on freedom, but as wise and gracious prescriptions for how to discover the true freedom of God’s ideal of complementarity; that you not measure your potential by the few roles withheld, but by the countless roles offered; that you look to the loving God of Scripture and dream about the possibilities of your service to him. (For a detailed list of service possibilities, see the pdf titled, Opportunities for Ministry.)

Excerpted from Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood: A Response to Evangelical Feminism by Pastor John Piper. (Crossway Books. Used with permission.)

Prayer

I have been convicted that I do not pray enough. Not that there is some magical number of minutes or hours a day that you need to be in prayer, but I know I've been slacking. I have been faced with situations which have required prayer which have led me to the realization I should have been praying long before things got to this point. For example, every year I have leader positions that need to be filled for various ministries at church. I always bring it up at staff prayers and pray about it when I remember, but it's not down-on-my-knees, desperate prayers for the right people type of prayers. Well, now I'm in a situation where most of the high school youth group is guys, and I only have 1 guy leader. Leads me to my knees - again, where I should have been long ago anyhow- but now I'm getting desperate and realizing my huge need that only the Lord can fill.

I also realize I don't pray for my husband and children like I want to. Marc and I were doing well this summer spending some time together in devotions and prayer, but then his schedule got switched and we are back to ships passing in the night/morning. Unfortunately, I have not taken up praying FOR him like I should. I just googled 'praying for your husband' and found 31 days of prayers for your husband. I'm going to post these daily as a way to remind myself to do so, and invite those of you who read & have husbands to join me in 31 days of praying for our spouses.

Praying for Your Husband
“She does him good….” Proverbs 31:12a

Bless your husband by praying for him!
The Apostle Paul instructed all Christians to pray for one another (Ephesians 6:18). This
includes wives’ responsibility and privilege to pray for their husbands. Earnest prayer for your
husband is good for him, for you and the spiritual health of your home (Proverbs 31:11-12).
Satan desires to destroy your husband, especially his character and his leadership in your
relationship. Trust God through prayer as you daily surrender your husband and marriage to the Lord’s wise, loving care.

Day 1
Pray that your husband will grow spiritually and consider his accountability before the Lord.
Pray that he will guard his heart by developing spiritual disciplines—Bible reading and study,
prayer, meditation, scripture memorization, etc. (2 Peter 3:18; Prov. 4:23)

I will also be posting a prayer by John Piper that I find so fitting and encouraging tonight. There are so many parts of it that make me want to become charismatic & shout "Amen! Preach it!". :)

thoughts on a monday evening

* Isaac got a haircut today - he looks like such a big boy!

* the doc told me today that "I'm hiding a lot of baby in there" and that, just like Isaac, this baby is going to be "well-nourished". Yikes.

* 11 days til D-day. I'm guessing more like 15-17 though.

* I worked on the themes for both Lifeline & Breakaway today & I'm SOOO excited for this year of youth group. It's been stressful to have to get everything done about 3 weeks earlier than typical, but it's all coming together. Now if only I could find a few more male high school leaders.

* We are only getting 1 exchange student this year; Young. He moves in September 1st. Our other student's father decided he did not want his son living in a home with another Korean student. He assumed (most likely correctly) that his son would not improve his English as much if he had the option to speak Korean at home. So all that moving around of the beds, bedrooms, buying mattress pads, etc was really all for nothing. And all that stress about deciding to have 1 or 2 - unnecessary. It always works out in the end, but why are exchange student organizations SO incredibly disorganized and hectic?

* Anxious for the activities of the next few weeks to begin:
August 29: wedding dress shopping w/ SIL & get together with some family
August 31: Nephew Levi's 5th bday
Sept 1: Young moves in
Sept 3: Due date
Sept 4: Labor day party at the SIL & BIL's house
Sept 6: Marc's 30th bday & labor day
Sept 7: Marc starts student teaching
Sept 10: SIL, Jen's bday
Sept 13: Nephew Noah's 8th bday
Oct 2: SIL due with their baby!

WOWZA!!! Lots going on and ALL good things! Lots to celebrate in the next month or so! (not that any of you needed my full schedule, it's more for me!)

* Isaac's new favorite saying is "God made you special, and he loves you very much!". I just melt when he says it.

* We have figured out that Marc is going to take FLMA for 12 weeks after baby is born. He will be taking a reduced schedule of 30 hours a week while student teaching to give him more time with baby & family (and lesson plans and sleep). It's certainly not ideal to have him working at all, but unfortunately a necessity. While I know this semester is going to be a bit chaotic, I am also so grateful for the true 'light at the end of the educational tunnel' for Marc, and I know we will get through it. Remember, you're all invited to the party when all is said & done!

37 weeks

As I sat on the couch last night, timing contractions that were about 4-5 minutes apart for about 2.5 hours, I started realizing that I could really have this baby any day now. Holy smokes, people. This is happening for real, and soon! I knew it wasn't true labor, so I wasn't freaking out at all, but it kinda put my motivation in overdrive. I've got so much to do before this little one makes an appearance. Mostly with work and recruiting enough leaders and getting everything planned for the fall kickoff. And it kind of sucks when most of the church is on vacation & at cottages and doesn't get back to me for WEEKS on end.

Sorry for that little vent.

I also have a large 'to do' list for home which feels never ending. Some nights I get a few things crossed off, and others these poor little swollen feet can take no more and I have to sit and relax. It will all happen, and if it doesn't, it's not the end of the world. I just need to remind myself of that when the basement baseboards are not cleaned and I have heaps of laundry left undone. I'm going to try to choose sanity over stress in these next few weeks. Wish me luck, or better yet, pray for me!

5 years

A week ago today was our 5 year anniversary. It was a typical Thursday for us, unfortunately and we didn't have time to celebrate. Although Marc brought home some McD's fries & a flurry because that was the ONLY thing that sounded remotely good to me. :) Oh and he threw in a pair of diamond earrings as well. WHAT?!?! I don't know how he pulled that one off, but whew, I was blown away. They are simple and elegant and beautiful. Just the thing to make a bloated & swollen 36+ week pregnant woman feel beautiful again.

Sunday, however, we were able to go out and celebrate. Kerri came over to watch Isaac and we headed to Roses for dinner. We sat out on the patio, enjoying the fresh air and lovely view. We spent our time eating and talking and just enjoying real time together. We walked over to the park next door and spread out a blanket and I gave him the wedding scrapbook I've been working on for the last month. It's not done yet, but it's a start to honor the memories from that beautiful day. We've done nothing with our photos and I thought after 5 years it was time! We'll see how long it takes me to finish it!

As part of our wedding scrapbook, I included the typed up message that our pastor gave during our ceremony. We have kind of made a tradition of each anniversary reading through the Scripture and message and reflecting on the mystery of marriage and the mystery of Christ and the church. It is always such a blessing and challenge to remember that our marriage is bigger than just us - it is a living, breathing witness of Christs relationship to his church. We also read our vows to each other again. Doesn't it sound romantic? It was...despite the millions of bugs swarming around us and the high school/college kids who decided to stop right by us as we were reading & be loud and annoying. :)

We reflected on the past five years and talked about what we thought our lives would look like compared to what they do look like. MUCH different than either of us had planned. God sure does like to exhibit his sovereignty in our marriage and I am so glad of that. It certainly has not been an easy or smooth road following where we feel God is leading, but I wouldn't have it any other way, or with any other man.

I love you, Marc. Happy 5 year anniversary!