It has been a good weekend, thus far.  Rachel had a party Friday night of about 12 teenage girlfriends.  All went relatively smooth and without chaos. I am now ready, though, to have quiet weekends that are family oriented for quite a while.

I was on the run so much last week, and so many late nights, that I did not get up early to pray as my custom is.  By Friday, I felt my spiritual reservoir getting low, and feeling resentful for obligations that have kept me from communing with Him.  The only way that I can get up early to pray is to go to bed early!!! I prayed that He would help me to do that this weekend, and He has answered this prayer. 

I love to wake up way before anyone else in the house will be stirring.  The night before, I prepare my coffee machine, so that all I have to do in my grogginess and in the darkness is to push a single button, and wait to fill my cup. I take my hot cup of coffee to the back den where it is pitch black (there are no windows in this room); I close the door so I will be as if I am praying in my closet (total solitude); and wrap myself in a blanket on the couch to keep warm. 

When I get up late and I only have 15 to 30 minutes to pray, I feel hurried – I need to get all my requests out to Him quickly and cover all the bases in limited time.  But when I get up early, as in hours before anyone else will be waking around here, it is as spending time with my Best Friend and my Heavenly Father.  I pray in this manner:

I start with the beginning of the Lord’s Prayer.

“Our Father, which are in heaven,

Hallowed be thy name,

The Kingdom come,

Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

I start with this because I want to put my mind and spirit before the presence of the Almighty God, Our Father who resides in heaven, and to come before Him in reverence – to hallow His Name.  I pray for His kingdom to come – for Jesus to come again soon; and I pray that His will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

From that point on, I come to Him in a spirit of thankfulness for all that He has done for me in the past day (or days) since I last met with Him in this way.  I do this by reviewing the previous day, going through each thing and event that happened.  I thank Him for these things – it might be time spent with my husband before going off to work – and then it is here as I thank Him for this that I begin to pray for my husband and to offer up requests in behalf of him.  I pray for his day, for pending business opportunities, for guidance regarding His will in our business, for my husband to have wisdom in these areas; and on and on as I think of specific needs for my husband. (Recommended reading: The Power of a Praying Wife, by Stormie Omartian.)

As I go on reviewing the previous day thanking Him, I come to our school time, and here it is that I bring up specific requests for my children – for spiritual needs as well as academic needs to be met.  I pray for their protection; for hedging around them in safety – for their purity of mind as well as for physical protection. 

When I come to our lunch time, I ask that He will help me in this area – food preparation is not one of my natural gifts – it is only in the past decade or so that He brought me to a deeper appreciation and understanding of this important role as a mother and wife - not only the preparing of nutritious meals for the body, but a feeding of the soul and spirit through the nurturing of a meal prepared with love.  I need daily wisdom and guidance in this area. 

I pray that He will give me aid and wisdom in all of my domestic areas.  In specific, I pray that He will help me to “take dominion” over my home, and to organize it efficiently, in order that we have a home that there is a place for everything – opposite of a home where one is always looking for something lost (been there, still there, but improving with His help.)  I pray that He will help me in every area of my home, from organizing to being a better cook.

As I go through each event that happened in the previous day, it is brought to my mind the needs and requests that I bring before Him.  Did something happen unpleasant? Am I still struggling with an unkind or unthoughtful remark?  It is here that I pray for this person and for myself – to forgive, to forget, to love, to be like Christ and not to take offence.

Did I lose my temper?  Was I unloving or impatient to someone?  It is here that I ask for forgiveness and for increased love and patience towards others. 

When I am finished praying, the sun is now peeking out, and my eyes are sufficiently ready to read the Bible.  I keep a notebook journal by my side.  It is just an ordinary notebook, and I put the date on the top of the page.  Then, any verses that I read that speak to me or I find particularly significant or that I have a question about, I write these verses down.  Then I might write what it is that I found interesting about this passage.  I have been doing this for almost three decades. 

I am a different kind of mother and wife because of my time spent with Him.  I can not exist without this time.  It is time that I covet, and that I seek to ‘make happen.’  He meets all of my needs and I have found Him to be a faithful friend and one that answers all prayers.