Monday, July 19, 2010

Let Us Pray




After reading the book, Radical, that I told you about in my last post, there were several things that I was impacted to do. One of them was to enlarge my prayer focus as well as educate my children about missions and people groups around the world. As a part of the "Radical Experiment" that David Platt challenges us with, he recommends a couple of books to help us know how to specifically pray for particular areas of the world. One of these books directed at children and families is called Window on the World. We have added this book to our nightly Bible Story and prayer time. My kids are one and two and a half, so there are way too many words on the page to read it all. However, there are great pictures and we can pick a few things to focus on and pray for those. As they get older and can sit still a little longer we can read and learn more. It would really be great for teenagers even! As we approach our mission calling we will be specifically focusing on France and the French people, but it is great that we can know what is going on around the world and how we can be a part of that in prayer. I remember when I was teaching French at two elementary schools in the Memphis City Schools district. I had 5th and 6th graders who when asked if they could name other countries would say "Arkansas" or "Mississippi". They had no idea that there was more out there! If they had been out of Memphis, they thought they had seen it all. I want my children to be aware of those around the world who don't grow up with the luxuries that we have much less grow up knowing who Jesus is. I want them to be able to see beyond their little "world" and see how big our God is! I want our family to be a part of something bigger than what we are able to physically accomplish. Its so great to know that even before we get to the mission field we can be a part of missions. Its so easy to get caught up in every day life, so its important to take a moment and change our perspective! I definitely need it as much as my kids do! If you are interested in buying this book, or Operation World, which is more adult-focused, you can find them at a good price on Amazon.com. Last night at church, the preacher read through the prayer of Jabez and I have not been able to get out of my mind the words "enlarge my borders". That's what I want. I want to pray BIG and expect God to work beyond what I could ever begin to imagine...whether that means providing the support that we need to get to France or to work in an area of the world that I will probably never see! It all begins with prayer!