1 00:00:02,680 --> 00:00:11,640 Speaker 1: Life Audio. Welcome to the Untangling Prayer Podcast. I'm Rachel Wojo, 2 00:00:11,960 --> 00:00:17,200 Speaker 1: and each week we unravel life'esnots through prayer. Here you'll 3 00:00:17,239 --> 00:00:21,360 Speaker 1: find practical wisdom and prayer encouragement to guide you through 4 00:00:21,400 --> 00:00:26,439 Speaker 1: life's hardest seasons. Join me as we untangle life's messes together, 5 00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:34,600 Speaker 1: one prayer at a time. Well, hey there, I'm Rachel, 6 00:00:34,640 --> 00:00:38,200 Speaker 1: and I'm so glad you've joined me today. If you're 7 00:00:38,440 --> 00:00:42,440 Speaker 1: a mom and you've ever stood in a doorway watching 8 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:45,919 Speaker 1: your child struggle and thought, I don't even know what 9 00:00:45,960 --> 00:00:49,760 Speaker 1: they need right now, then this episode is for you. 10 00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:53,360 Speaker 1: Whether your kid is two or twenty two. There are 11 00:00:53,440 --> 00:00:56,520 Speaker 1: seasons where you can tell something is off, but you 12 00:00:56,560 --> 00:00:59,720 Speaker 1: can't fix it. Maybe you can't even name it, and 13 00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:02,320 Speaker 1: you don't know how to pray about it. Today we're 14 00:01:02,360 --> 00:01:06,360 Speaker 1: going to talk about that exact space. But before we 15 00:01:06,440 --> 00:01:09,080 Speaker 1: dive in, I wanted to make sure you know about 16 00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:12,920 Speaker 1: the prayer cards thirty one Prayers for a Mom's Heart. 17 00:01:13,480 --> 00:01:16,120 Speaker 1: These prayers are written for the moms when you don't 18 00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:19,320 Speaker 1: know what to say, when you're exhausted, and when you're 19 00:01:19,440 --> 00:01:23,320 Speaker 1: scared for your kids. Maybe you're even feel like you're 20 00:01:23,360 --> 00:01:27,760 Speaker 1: failing there's a prayer in there for almost every season 21 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:32,160 Speaker 1: of Motherhood, and you can grab them at Rachel woojo 22 00:01:32,240 --> 00:01:35,240 Speaker 1: dot com slash shop. I'll have the link in the 23 00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:38,480 Speaker 1: show notes. And now for the s Weeek segment of 24 00:01:38,680 --> 00:01:43,000 Speaker 1: Questions in Hard Spaces, where I answer the hard questions 25 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:47,480 Speaker 1: about prayer that people email me or DM me. And 26 00:01:47,960 --> 00:01:51,320 Speaker 1: today's question is one that I get a lot, but 27 00:01:51,760 --> 00:01:55,240 Speaker 1: in slightly different forms. This week's version came from a 28 00:01:55,280 --> 00:01:58,640 Speaker 1: mom who wrote, how do I pray for my child 29 00:01:58,680 --> 00:02:02,880 Speaker 1: when I don't even know what they need? And I 30 00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:05,400 Speaker 1: just want to be honest with you. I have prayed 31 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:09,400 Speaker 1: that exact question myself more times than I can count. 32 00:02:10,040 --> 00:02:13,480 Speaker 1: There are many times where the hard part of this 33 00:02:13,639 --> 00:02:17,040 Speaker 1: question isn't really about the praying. It's about the knowing. 34 00:02:17,639 --> 00:02:20,480 Speaker 1: It's standing in front of your child, maybe a three 35 00:02:20,520 --> 00:02:24,000 Speaker 1: year old having a meltdown that you can't decode, or 36 00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:27,480 Speaker 1: a fifteen year old who refuses to talk, or a 37 00:02:27,520 --> 00:02:32,040 Speaker 1: grown child who's making decisions that you don't understand, and 38 00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:35,880 Speaker 1: in those moments, you know the most loving thing you 39 00:02:35,960 --> 00:02:38,200 Speaker 1: can do for them is pray for them. Do you 40 00:02:38,240 --> 00:02:41,040 Speaker 1: have no idea what to pray? We feel like we 41 00:02:41,080 --> 00:02:43,639 Speaker 1: should know, don't we We're the mom We've been there 42 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:47,720 Speaker 1: since day one, and when we don't know, we often 43 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:51,520 Speaker 1: feel like we're failing our kids. So I wanted you 44 00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:55,320 Speaker 1: to hear this today. Not knowing what your child needs 45 00:02:55,880 --> 00:03:00,320 Speaker 1: doesn't disqualify you from praying for them. It actually lose 46 00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:03,320 Speaker 1: you toward the kind of prayer that's worked for any 47 00:03:03,360 --> 00:03:07,240 Speaker 1: mother of any child in any generation. And it's the 48 00:03:07,240 --> 00:03:09,880 Speaker 1: prayer that admits that we don't have all the answers, 49 00:03:10,520 --> 00:03:13,760 Speaker 1: but we can ask the one who does. When my 50 00:03:13,840 --> 00:03:18,360 Speaker 1: kids were little and I didn't know what was wrong 51 00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:20,880 Speaker 1: with them, I would pray something like, Lord, you made her, 52 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:23,840 Speaker 1: you know her. I don't even know what to ask 53 00:03:23,880 --> 00:03:27,200 Speaker 1: you for, but I know that you know what she needs. 54 00:03:27,280 --> 00:03:30,639 Speaker 1: Would you meet her where she is? And it's not 55 00:03:30,800 --> 00:03:35,600 Speaker 1: really sophisticated to pray that way, but I think that 56 00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:39,560 Speaker 1: God is always after our hearts. So if that's where 57 00:03:39,560 --> 00:03:41,680 Speaker 1: you are this week, praying for a kid that you 58 00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:45,480 Speaker 1: can't read, or maybe a season you can't figure out, 59 00:03:45,720 --> 00:03:48,560 Speaker 1: a need you can't name, you're not behind in your 60 00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:53,560 Speaker 1: prayer life. You're actually where prayer starts. Thanks so much 61 00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:56,960 Speaker 1: for listening into the segment of questions. In hard spaces. 62 00:03:57,400 --> 00:04:00,960 Speaker 1: We'll be right back after this word from us our sponsors. 63 00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:05,400 Speaker 1: Thank you for allowing that word from our sponsors. And 64 00:04:05,480 --> 00:04:09,040 Speaker 1: now I'm diving into the segment that we call Pray 65 00:04:09,160 --> 00:04:14,280 Speaker 1: More worry Less, and that segment is a principle each week. 66 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:19,160 Speaker 1: Today's principle is God knows your child better than you do. 67 00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:22,719 Speaker 1: I want to start with something that happened yesterday. My 68 00:04:22,880 --> 00:04:26,279 Speaker 1: daughter trist is getting married this fall, and she's been 69 00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:30,320 Speaker 1: going through her things, trying to narrow down what she's 70 00:04:30,400 --> 00:04:33,560 Speaker 1: keeping and what she's giving away or getting rid of. 71 00:04:33,640 --> 00:04:36,080 Speaker 1: And she's had these two boxes that she calls her 72 00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:41,000 Speaker 1: keep boxes. Stuff from school, notes from teachers, drawings, all 73 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:44,720 Speaker 1: those things she's trying to consolidate down to one. So 74 00:04:44,760 --> 00:04:47,760 Speaker 1: she's been pulling things out, and she was reading to 75 00:04:47,800 --> 00:04:51,320 Speaker 1: me last night these notes from her teachers. It hit 76 00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:53,960 Speaker 1: both of us how many of them said the same 77 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:57,520 Speaker 1: thing in different words. She cries when she gets frustrated, 78 00:04:57,600 --> 00:05:01,000 Speaker 1: she struggles when she's angry. She has a hard time 79 00:05:01,080 --> 00:05:05,120 Speaker 1: calming herself down. But and this is the part that 80 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:07,920 Speaker 1: I want you to hear, those weren't the only kinds 81 00:05:07,920 --> 00:05:11,480 Speaker 1: of notes in the boxes right alongside them, were notes 82 00:05:11,520 --> 00:05:15,719 Speaker 1: about her fun personality and how funny she is, and 83 00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:19,160 Speaker 1: about the joy that she brought into a classroom, the 84 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:21,839 Speaker 1: way that she lights up her room. This has always 85 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:25,160 Speaker 1: been true about Trist's too, and so even though she 86 00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:31,080 Speaker 1: has had very difficult self regulating, she's also a lot 87 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:33,640 Speaker 1: of fun. And she gave me permission to share all 88 00:05:33,640 --> 00:05:36,279 Speaker 1: of this with you. I knew the hard parts, of course, 89 00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:38,680 Speaker 1: we both lived them from the time that she was 90 00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:42,440 Speaker 1: an infant. She had a really hard time self regulating. 91 00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:46,840 Speaker 1: It was tough in toddlerhood. It was tough in elementary school, 92 00:05:47,040 --> 00:05:49,479 Speaker 1: it was hard in middle school, and even in parts 93 00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:51,800 Speaker 1: of high school. A lot of parts of high school. 94 00:05:52,279 --> 00:05:54,760 Speaker 1: There were so many days when Matt and I just 95 00:05:54,800 --> 00:05:58,040 Speaker 1: didn't know what to do. We tried everything we knew 96 00:05:58,080 --> 00:06:01,080 Speaker 1: to try, and the answer wasn't directly in front of us. 97 00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:06,360 Speaker 1: But we prayed. We prayed a lot, through tears, through exhaustion. 98 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:10,960 Speaker 1: Sometimes we had no idea what to specifically even ask for. 99 00:06:11,800 --> 00:06:15,080 Speaker 1: And what I was thinking yesterday is I was watching 100 00:06:15,080 --> 00:06:19,320 Speaker 1: her sort through those notes. She's twenty two. Now, her 101 00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:24,000 Speaker 1: brain has matured. She understands herself in ways she couldn't 102 00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:27,520 Speaker 1: when she was eight. We can see looking back that 103 00:06:27,640 --> 00:06:30,719 Speaker 1: God was answering prayers. We didn't even know how to pray. 104 00:06:31,600 --> 00:06:36,279 Speaker 1: We were praying help her, and He was doing a slow, 105 00:06:36,520 --> 00:06:40,080 Speaker 1: patient work of forming a young woman who now has 106 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:45,040 Speaker 1: language for what she's feeling, who has tools, who knows herself, 107 00:06:45,560 --> 00:06:47,760 Speaker 1: who brings so much joy to the world, and that 108 00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:51,320 Speaker 1: brings me to someone thirty nine. It's a passage I 109 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:54,560 Speaker 1: really wanted to emphasize in this time together. For you 110 00:06:54,720 --> 00:06:58,200 Speaker 1: created my inmost being. You knit me together in my 111 00:06:58,360 --> 00:07:03,560 Speaker 1: mother's womb. I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works 112 00:07:03,640 --> 00:07:06,719 Speaker 1: are wonderful. I know that full well. My frame was 113 00:07:06,760 --> 00:07:09,400 Speaker 1: not hidden from you when I was made in the 114 00:07:09,440 --> 00:07:12,920 Speaker 1: secret place. When I was woven together in the depths 115 00:07:12,920 --> 00:07:17,240 Speaker 1: of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All 116 00:07:17,360 --> 00:07:19,800 Speaker 1: the days ordained for me are written in your book 117 00:07:20,160 --> 00:07:23,840 Speaker 1: before one of them came to be. Listen to that 118 00:07:23,920 --> 00:07:28,080 Speaker 1: last line for a second. All the days ordained for 119 00:07:28,200 --> 00:07:31,200 Speaker 1: your child were written in God's book before one of 120 00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:35,000 Speaker 1: them came to be. Every day you didn't know what 121 00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:39,800 Speaker 1: your child needed, God already knew. He knows every season 122 00:07:40,280 --> 00:07:44,320 Speaker 1: you haven't been able to decode. God knows the hard 123 00:07:44,360 --> 00:07:48,720 Speaker 1: stages the surprising turns, the version of your child that 124 00:07:48,800 --> 00:07:52,280 Speaker 1: you're wanting to picture but is not there yet. God 125 00:07:52,320 --> 00:07:55,000 Speaker 1: already sees all of that, and that's why we can 126 00:07:55,080 --> 00:07:57,960 Speaker 1: pray when we don't even know what to ask for. 127 00:07:58,160 --> 00:08:02,520 Speaker 1: We're not expected to be the experts on our kids. 128 00:08:02,680 --> 00:08:06,120 Speaker 1: God is he knit them together. He knows the wiring 129 00:08:06,200 --> 00:08:09,040 Speaker 1: of their brain, the shape of their soul, the things 130 00:08:09,080 --> 00:08:12,440 Speaker 1: they'll grow into and the things they'll grow out of. 131 00:08:13,280 --> 00:08:16,440 Speaker 1: And that's where I was thinking about for John five. 132 00:08:17,480 --> 00:08:22,120 Speaker 1: This is the confidence we have in approaching God that 133 00:08:22,200 --> 00:08:25,920 Speaker 1: if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 134 00:08:26,280 --> 00:08:29,400 Speaker 1: And if we know that He hears us whatever we ask, 135 00:08:29,600 --> 00:08:33,120 Speaker 1: we know that we have what we have asked of him. 136 00:08:33,920 --> 00:08:37,360 Speaker 1: So here's where this kind of lands for me. When 137 00:08:37,400 --> 00:08:39,920 Speaker 1: I don't know how to pray for one of my children, 138 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:43,440 Speaker 1: I can pray, Lord, would you do what it is 139 00:08:43,520 --> 00:08:46,760 Speaker 1: according to your will for them? And I know He 140 00:08:46,760 --> 00:08:50,040 Speaker 1: hears that prayer every time. I don't have to have 141 00:08:50,080 --> 00:08:52,840 Speaker 1: the right words. Takes the pressure off of me. I 142 00:08:52,840 --> 00:08:55,839 Speaker 1: don't even have to know exactly what's wrong. I can 143 00:08:56,000 --> 00:09:00,720 Speaker 1: just take them to God, who already knows our final 144 00:09:00,760 --> 00:09:03,520 Speaker 1: segment I wanted to share an answer prayer story like 145 00:09:03,559 --> 00:09:07,120 Speaker 1: I usually do each week, and because I'm living in 146 00:09:07,160 --> 00:09:11,280 Speaker 1: the middle of this answer prayer story. When Chris was 147 00:09:11,320 --> 00:09:14,800 Speaker 1: struggling through those years of trying to figure out how 148 00:09:14,840 --> 00:09:17,720 Speaker 1: to self regulate as she was growing up, there was 149 00:09:17,880 --> 00:09:20,800 Speaker 1: a specific prayer that Matt and I prayed. We prayed 150 00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:23,480 Speaker 1: that God would bring the right people into her life, 151 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:28,800 Speaker 1: friends who would understand her, and eventually, though we barely 152 00:09:29,200 --> 00:09:33,079 Speaker 1: let ourselves whisper this on some days, a man who 153 00:09:33,080 --> 00:09:37,280 Speaker 1: would love her and walk her into adulthood. We didn't 154 00:09:37,400 --> 00:09:41,520 Speaker 1: know what to pray for her relationship specifically. We just 155 00:09:41,559 --> 00:09:44,280 Speaker 1: had to trust that God knew the shape of who 156 00:09:44,360 --> 00:09:47,559 Speaker 1: she'd be at twenty two or twenty five or thirty. 157 00:09:48,480 --> 00:09:52,760 Speaker 1: Fast forward, She's now engaged to an incredible young man. 158 00:09:52,880 --> 00:09:56,840 Speaker 1: He's kind, he's patient, he sees her clearly and loves 159 00:09:56,840 --> 00:09:59,040 Speaker 1: her well, and they love each other and they're getting 160 00:09:59,080 --> 00:10:03,000 Speaker 1: married this fall. And what really gets me is that 161 00:10:03,040 --> 00:10:08,440 Speaker 1: God was answering this prayer for years before Noah ever 162 00:10:08,480 --> 00:10:11,880 Speaker 1: showed up. Before Tris and Noah met, God was forming 163 00:10:11,920 --> 00:10:15,040 Speaker 1: each one of them. He was forming her into the woman, 164 00:10:15,840 --> 00:10:18,319 Speaker 1: and he was forming him into the man who would 165 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:20,880 Speaker 1: love her well. He was lining up a story that 166 00:10:21,080 --> 00:10:25,480 Speaker 1: neither of them could have engineered. I prayed prayers. I 167 00:10:25,520 --> 00:10:29,720 Speaker 1: didn't know how to pray, but God answered them in 168 00:10:29,840 --> 00:10:34,320 Speaker 1: ways that I couldn't have scripted if I tried. So, 169 00:10:34,360 --> 00:10:37,320 Speaker 1: if you're praying for your kids right now and you 170 00:10:37,360 --> 00:10:41,040 Speaker 1: don't know what to ask for, keep praying. God hears you. 171 00:10:41,440 --> 00:10:46,360 Speaker 1: He's already at work on an answer you can't see. 172 00:10:46,640 --> 00:10:50,360 Speaker 1: If today's episode resonated with you, and if you're in 173 00:10:50,400 --> 00:10:53,680 Speaker 1: that place of praying for your kids without always having 174 00:10:53,760 --> 00:10:56,240 Speaker 1: the words, then I want to point you back to 175 00:10:56,559 --> 00:10:59,920 Speaker 1: the prayer Cards thirty one Prayers for a Mom's Heart. 176 00:11:00,440 --> 00:11:03,400 Speaker 1: I wrote these for the days when I didn't have 177 00:11:03,480 --> 00:11:07,080 Speaker 1: the words, and there's a prayer in there for every 178 00:11:07,120 --> 00:11:11,040 Speaker 1: mom who's exhausted, for the mom whose kid is struggling, 179 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:14,160 Speaker 1: for the mom who feels like she's failing, for the 180 00:11:14,200 --> 00:11:18,320 Speaker 1: mom watching her child walk through something that she can't fix. 181 00:11:18,600 --> 00:11:22,480 Speaker 1: Each one is short, scriptural, and meant to be prayed 182 00:11:23,120 --> 00:11:26,600 Speaker 1: when you have nothing else to give. You can find 183 00:11:27,040 --> 00:11:31,040 Speaker 1: the prayers at rachelwojo dot com slash shop. I really 184 00:11:31,080 --> 00:11:33,880 Speaker 1: do believe these will meet you right where you are. 185 00:11:34,720 --> 00:11:38,280 Speaker 1: Thank you for joining me on the Untangling Prayer Podcast. 186 00:11:38,880 --> 00:11:43,440 Speaker 1: I pray that today's episode has encouraged you in your 187 00:11:43,480 --> 00:11:47,280 Speaker 1: walk with the Lord, and until next time, remember God 188 00:11:47,400 --> 00:11:52,080 Speaker 1: sees you, he hears you, and he knows your needs. 189 00:11:56,840 --> 00:12:01,080 Speaker 1: Thanks for joining me on the Untangling Prayer Podcast. If 190 00:12:01,120 --> 00:12:04,520 Speaker 1: this episode resonated with you, share it with someone who 191 00:12:04,600 --> 00:12:08,040 Speaker 1: could use a little hope, and be sure to subscribe 192 00:12:08,120 --> 00:12:12,880 Speaker 1: for more. Until next time, keep seeking, keep trusting, and 193 00:12:13,160 --> 00:12:14,280 Speaker 1: keep praying.