1 00:00:02,680 --> 00:00:14,800 Speaker 1: Life Audio. 2 00:00:15,200 --> 00:00:17,919 Speaker 2: You're listening to every day Prayers with million praying moms 3 00:00:17,960 --> 00:00:20,200 Speaker 2: helping you pray God's word for your family in the 4 00:00:20,280 --> 00:00:22,840 Speaker 2: areas you need it most. I'm your host, Nicolette Bell. 5 00:00:23,160 --> 00:00:26,120 Speaker 2: Here we believe prayer isn't a last resort. It's our 6 00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:29,400 Speaker 2: first and best response in parenting, and every day we 7 00:00:29,480 --> 00:00:31,520 Speaker 2: come together to partner with God for the hearts of 8 00:00:31,560 --> 00:00:35,040 Speaker 2: our children. Today's devotion is part of our start your 9 00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:37,400 Speaker 2: Summer with Psalm series and is written and read by me. 10 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:41,000 Speaker 2: We will be in Psalm three and we'll pray for 11 00:00:41,080 --> 00:00:43,360 Speaker 2: our kids to be assured that God is the one 12 00:00:43,360 --> 00:00:46,199 Speaker 2: who sustains them so they don't have to be afraid. 13 00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:49,360 Speaker 2: We are spending two weeks praying the Psalms together for 14 00:00:49,400 --> 00:00:52,000 Speaker 2: our children as we jump into summer. Then we will 15 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:55,000 Speaker 2: begin our summer book club on June fifteenth, featuring the 16 00:00:55,000 --> 00:00:57,680 Speaker 2: book When Mothering Is Hard and No One Sees by 17 00:00:57,680 --> 00:01:01,800 Speaker 2: my friend Shilene Roberts. Love this book and I can't 18 00:01:01,840 --> 00:01:04,120 Speaker 2: wait for us to read it together as a community. 19 00:01:04,600 --> 00:01:06,440 Speaker 2: All you need to do to join is to grab 20 00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:08,080 Speaker 2: a copy of the book and make sure you're on 21 00:01:08,120 --> 00:01:11,039 Speaker 2: our email list. We're making it super easy to be 22 00:01:11,080 --> 00:01:13,560 Speaker 2: a part. Everything you need to know is that million 23 00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:16,200 Speaker 2: prayingmoms dot com. You can find a link in our 24 00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:19,240 Speaker 2: show notes. After a quick word from our sponsors, we'll 25 00:01:19,240 --> 00:01:27,440 Speaker 2: pray together for our children. Psalm three, O Lord, how 26 00:01:27,520 --> 00:01:31,959 Speaker 2: many are my foes? Many are rising against me, Many 27 00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:35,440 Speaker 2: are saying of my soul there is no salvation for 28 00:01:35,560 --> 00:01:38,920 Speaker 2: him in God. But you, o Lord, are a shield 29 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:42,840 Speaker 2: about me, my glory and the lifter of my head. 30 00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:46,240 Speaker 2: I cried aloud to the Lord, and he answered me. 31 00:01:46,319 --> 00:01:50,000 Speaker 2: From his holy hill, I lay down and slept. I 32 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:53,240 Speaker 2: woke again, for the Lord sustained me. I will not 33 00:01:53,360 --> 00:01:56,480 Speaker 2: be afraid of many thousands of people who have set 34 00:01:56,520 --> 00:02:01,160 Speaker 2: themselves against me all around. Arise, O Lord, save me, 35 00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:05,320 Speaker 2: Oh my God, for you strike all my enemies on 36 00:02:05,400 --> 00:02:09,080 Speaker 2: the cheek. You break the teeth of the wicked. Salvation 37 00:02:09,480 --> 00:02:15,200 Speaker 2: belongs to the Lord. Your blessing be upon your people. 38 00:02:17,200 --> 00:02:22,080 Speaker 2: This is such a beautiful psalm of David found in 39 00:02:22,200 --> 00:02:27,120 Speaker 2: Psalm three. You know, as summer begins for us, for 40 00:02:27,240 --> 00:02:29,720 Speaker 2: many of us, it means maybe a little bit of 41 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:32,640 Speaker 2: a slower pace in the morning, not rushing out of 42 00:02:32,680 --> 00:02:36,560 Speaker 2: the door to school every day, maybe a little bit 43 00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:40,640 Speaker 2: more intentionality with how we spend our time. I have 44 00:02:40,720 --> 00:02:43,160 Speaker 2: to still work this summer, but I'm going to be 45 00:02:43,160 --> 00:02:46,440 Speaker 2: more intentional about my afternoons and evenings with my kids 46 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:49,640 Speaker 2: and just really trying to be present in the slowness 47 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:53,080 Speaker 2: of summer. As we think about these things and as 48 00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:56,520 Speaker 2: our schedule slows a bit, it allows us the space 49 00:02:57,080 --> 00:03:01,000 Speaker 2: to think about what we're really praying for our kids 50 00:03:01,080 --> 00:03:05,960 Speaker 2: and how we are interceding for them in this season. 51 00:03:06,040 --> 00:03:08,520 Speaker 2: And Psalm three gives us some really good things to 52 00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:10,800 Speaker 2: pray for, and so I want to kind of outline 53 00:03:10,840 --> 00:03:13,840 Speaker 2: some of those for us today. The first is in 54 00:03:14,360 --> 00:03:17,960 Speaker 2: verse three, where David writes that the Lord is a 55 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:22,360 Speaker 2: shield about me and the lifter of my head. And 56 00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:25,880 Speaker 2: it reminds me of how much I desire and want 57 00:03:25,919 --> 00:03:29,920 Speaker 2: my children to know God as their protector, the one 58 00:03:29,919 --> 00:03:33,239 Speaker 2: who is the shield about them. What a great thing 59 00:03:33,360 --> 00:03:35,640 Speaker 2: to pray for our kids, for the Lord to be 60 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:39,360 Speaker 2: a shield around them, a shield about them. I literally 61 00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:43,440 Speaker 2: picture them kind of being hemmed in and hedged in 62 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:46,840 Speaker 2: on all sides. That the Lord is the one who 63 00:03:46,880 --> 00:03:50,880 Speaker 2: protects them from the attacks of the enemy and from 64 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:54,200 Speaker 2: the outside influences of the world. That He is their 65 00:03:54,800 --> 00:03:59,040 Speaker 2: shield their protector. Then it says that he's the lifter 66 00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:02,520 Speaker 2: of my head, the lifter of my head, the one 67 00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:06,920 Speaker 2: that comforts me, the one that helps me when I'm weak, 68 00:04:07,080 --> 00:04:11,840 Speaker 2: the one that changes my perspective, lifts up my head 69 00:04:11,960 --> 00:04:15,920 Speaker 2: so that I can see a little bit differently. For 70 00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:19,640 Speaker 2: our kids to know the Lord in that intimate way. 71 00:04:19,640 --> 00:04:23,480 Speaker 2: There's such an intimacy here in this idea of lifture 72 00:04:23,640 --> 00:04:26,640 Speaker 2: of my head. I think of when I have conversations 73 00:04:26,640 --> 00:04:29,080 Speaker 2: with my daughter, maybe she's done something that she shouldn't 74 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:32,279 Speaker 2: have and I'm having to correct her, and her head 75 00:04:32,360 --> 00:04:36,200 Speaker 2: begins to drop and she says, I'm sorry, mommy, and 76 00:04:36,240 --> 00:04:39,800 Speaker 2: her head is just dropping down, or when you're tired 77 00:04:39,880 --> 00:04:42,760 Speaker 2: and their head it drops down, and I picture the 78 00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:45,159 Speaker 2: way I kind of will take her chin and lift 79 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:48,440 Speaker 2: it up, ever gently, and have her eyes meet mine 80 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:50,679 Speaker 2: again and just tell her you know, it's okay, baby, 81 00:04:50,720 --> 00:04:54,360 Speaker 2: and I love you, and reassure her of my love 82 00:04:54,440 --> 00:04:57,359 Speaker 2: for her even in those moments of correction. And I 83 00:04:57,360 --> 00:05:00,720 Speaker 2: feel like that's what the Lord is doing here in 84 00:05:00,760 --> 00:05:04,520 Speaker 2: this picture that we get from David, this gentle lifting 85 00:05:04,600 --> 00:05:08,080 Speaker 2: of the chin, the lifting of the head, to remind 86 00:05:08,200 --> 00:05:11,240 Speaker 2: us that he loves us, and he sees us, and 87 00:05:11,279 --> 00:05:14,800 Speaker 2: he wants us to look to him, to look at 88 00:05:14,880 --> 00:05:19,360 Speaker 2: him and to see things the way that he sees them, 89 00:05:19,520 --> 00:05:23,159 Speaker 2: and he helps us to do that. In verse four, 90 00:05:23,279 --> 00:05:25,960 Speaker 2: David writes, I cried aloud to the Lord, and he 91 00:05:26,240 --> 00:05:30,719 Speaker 2: answered me. I want my children to know that the 92 00:05:30,920 --> 00:05:35,679 Speaker 2: Lord hears and responds to prayer. That when we pray, 93 00:05:35,760 --> 00:05:38,880 Speaker 2: we aren't just praying empty prayers. We're not just saying 94 00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:42,880 Speaker 2: words and lifting them up into an empty sky. Right, 95 00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:47,600 Speaker 2: that we're praying to a person, to God, the Father, Jesus, 96 00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:51,839 Speaker 2: the Son, through the Holy Spirit, the Trinity, our triune God, 97 00:05:51,920 --> 00:05:55,760 Speaker 2: that we can talk to him directly, and that when 98 00:05:55,839 --> 00:05:58,920 Speaker 2: we cry aloud, when we tell him what we need, 99 00:05:59,279 --> 00:06:02,800 Speaker 2: he hears us, and he answers us, he responds, and 100 00:06:02,839 --> 00:06:05,479 Speaker 2: it's not always in the way that we think or expect. 101 00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:08,320 Speaker 2: And we're going to talk more about that in the 102 00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:12,320 Speaker 2: episodes to come. But my prayer today is that I 103 00:06:12,360 --> 00:06:14,920 Speaker 2: want my children to know that God hears them when 104 00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:18,520 Speaker 2: they pray, and that he responds, that He has action 105 00:06:19,080 --> 00:06:22,080 Speaker 2: to their prayers, and I want there to be evidence 106 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:25,039 Speaker 2: of that in their lives. So I'm praying that for 107 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:28,040 Speaker 2: my kids today and invite you to do the same. 108 00:06:29,520 --> 00:06:34,000 Speaker 2: In verse five, David writes that he laid down and slept, 109 00:06:34,320 --> 00:06:38,719 Speaker 2: he woke again for the Lord sustained me. I want 110 00:06:38,720 --> 00:06:42,000 Speaker 2: my children to know that the Lord is our sustainer, 111 00:06:42,560 --> 00:06:46,400 Speaker 2: our helper. He's the one that's keeping us, That he's 112 00:06:46,560 --> 00:06:49,440 Speaker 2: with us when we sleep and when we wake, that 113 00:06:49,520 --> 00:06:51,560 Speaker 2: he's the one who gives us the breath and our 114 00:06:51,640 --> 00:06:55,000 Speaker 2: lungs and the ability to open our eyes and face 115 00:06:55,440 --> 00:07:01,200 Speaker 2: this new day. That he's the one sustain us from 116 00:07:01,360 --> 00:07:04,000 Speaker 2: day in and day out. He is the one we 117 00:07:04,040 --> 00:07:08,440 Speaker 2: can look to for our sustenance. Such a gift every 118 00:07:08,520 --> 00:07:11,440 Speaker 2: day to wake up, and we take it for granted. 119 00:07:11,640 --> 00:07:14,600 Speaker 2: More often than not. We just wake up and go 120 00:07:14,640 --> 00:07:17,120 Speaker 2: about our days and don't even really think about it. 121 00:07:17,480 --> 00:07:20,040 Speaker 2: But the Lord is the one who is sustaining us. 122 00:07:20,080 --> 00:07:22,360 Speaker 2: And when we keep that on our on our minds, 123 00:07:22,680 --> 00:07:26,480 Speaker 2: we're reminded that it's not all the way up to 124 00:07:26,680 --> 00:07:28,640 Speaker 2: us right, that we have a part to play in 125 00:07:28,680 --> 00:07:32,240 Speaker 2: this living out God's plan in our lives, but that 126 00:07:32,680 --> 00:07:36,560 Speaker 2: he is the one who allows us to live and 127 00:07:36,640 --> 00:07:40,720 Speaker 2: move and have our being. As it says in Colossians one, 128 00:07:40,880 --> 00:07:45,040 Speaker 2: the Lord is our sustainer and then in verse six, 129 00:07:45,160 --> 00:07:49,000 Speaker 2: David writes, I will not be afraid of the many 130 00:07:49,160 --> 00:07:53,440 Speaker 2: thousands of people who have set themselves against me. He's saying, 131 00:07:53,640 --> 00:07:58,280 Speaker 2: I will not fear. He's telling himself, I will not fear. 132 00:07:58,320 --> 00:08:01,000 Speaker 2: I will not be afraid. I pray that for my 133 00:08:01,160 --> 00:08:05,520 Speaker 2: children that they would not be afraid. Whether in my family, 134 00:08:05,560 --> 00:08:08,840 Speaker 2: where it's my toddler who is wrestling with bad dreams, 135 00:08:09,480 --> 00:08:12,800 Speaker 2: may she remember that God is the one who is 136 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:17,200 Speaker 2: with her in sustaining her as she lays down to sleep. 137 00:08:17,520 --> 00:08:22,280 Speaker 2: Or maybe it's your teenager who's struggling with anxiety, or 138 00:08:22,320 --> 00:08:27,160 Speaker 2: an elementary school aged child that is struggling with friendships, 139 00:08:27,280 --> 00:08:31,080 Speaker 2: or a middle school age child that's struggling with relationships. 140 00:08:31,160 --> 00:08:34,480 Speaker 2: Right that our kids, that we can pray for them 141 00:08:34,640 --> 00:08:39,360 Speaker 2: to not be afraid, that they would know that the 142 00:08:39,559 --> 00:08:43,120 Speaker 2: Lord is the one who is their helper in their 143 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:47,120 Speaker 2: time of need. I love how David ends this psalm 144 00:08:47,160 --> 00:08:52,480 Speaker 2: in verse eight, Salvation belongs to the Lord. Lord, your 145 00:08:52,520 --> 00:08:57,440 Speaker 2: blessing be upon your people. He remembered that the Lord 146 00:08:57,559 --> 00:09:01,080 Speaker 2: is the one in which salvation comes through, and that 147 00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:04,840 Speaker 2: he is the one who gives blessings to his people, 148 00:09:05,280 --> 00:09:08,679 Speaker 2: and the confidence that David had in God. I pray 149 00:09:09,160 --> 00:09:14,560 Speaker 2: that our families would have that same confidence in the Lord. 150 00:09:14,679 --> 00:09:18,840 Speaker 2: Salvation belongs to the Lord. May our kids know that 151 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:22,440 Speaker 2: that nothing in the world will save them apart from 152 00:09:22,520 --> 00:09:26,040 Speaker 2: Jesus Christ. There is nothing and no one that they 153 00:09:26,080 --> 00:09:29,000 Speaker 2: can look to and come to that will be able 154 00:09:29,080 --> 00:09:34,120 Speaker 2: to offer them the salvation and life that Jesus offers them. 155 00:09:34,720 --> 00:09:37,000 Speaker 2: And so our prayer for our kids today is that 156 00:09:37,040 --> 00:09:41,240 Speaker 2: they would know that salvation belongs to the Lord, that 157 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:46,120 Speaker 2: it's his and in him they can experience the life 158 00:09:46,240 --> 00:09:49,800 Speaker 2: and freedom and peace and joy and love that comes 159 00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:55,520 Speaker 2: from a life of being in that salvation, receiving that 160 00:09:55,600 --> 00:10:00,840 Speaker 2: salvation and living it out day by day. Pray together 161 00:10:01,040 --> 00:10:06,720 Speaker 2: for our children. Father, help my children to be reassured 162 00:10:07,160 --> 00:10:11,000 Speaker 2: that you are a shield about them. May they know 163 00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:16,160 Speaker 2: and trust you as the lifter of their head. May 164 00:10:16,200 --> 00:10:19,880 Speaker 2: they cry out to you and listen and hear when 165 00:10:19,880 --> 00:10:24,640 Speaker 2: you answer. Assure them that you are the one who 166 00:10:24,679 --> 00:10:29,720 Speaker 2: sustains them, and help them to not be afraid. Help 167 00:10:29,760 --> 00:10:33,840 Speaker 2: them to look for salvation in you alone, for you 168 00:10:33,920 --> 00:10:37,840 Speaker 2: are the only one who can satisfy our thirsty souls. 169 00:10:38,880 --> 00:10:44,360 Speaker 2: In Jesus' name, we pray Amen I hope you're planning 170 00:10:44,360 --> 00:10:47,000 Speaker 2: to join us for our summer book Club beginning on 171 00:10:47,240 --> 00:10:50,080 Speaker 2: June fifteenth. Head to the homepage to our website to 172 00:10:50,240 --> 00:10:53,840 Speaker 2: find out more. Until next time, friends, May the Lord 173 00:10:54,000 --> 00:10:57,960 Speaker 2: bless you and keep you, Make his face shine upon 174 00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:01,320 Speaker 2: you and be gracious to you. May the Lord look 175 00:11:01,400 --> 00:11:03,560 Speaker 2: with favor on you and give you peace.