Day 88: Ember Faith Prayer Countdown

Many people warn against praying for patience, and there is a pretty good reason for that. You've probably heard that when you pray for patience, God brings people and situations into your life that require you to act with patience. Well, God does seem to work that way, but I don't think that means that we should avoid asking for patience. If we are striving to follow Christ, God will work in us to produce patience whether we ask for it or not. If we were to ask, maybe He would give us a supernatural strength and ability to operate with patience. James 1 tells us that patience works in us to produce perfection or completion:

 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

                                                                                                     James 1:2-4 NKJV

There is no doubt in my mind that patience is difficult to cultivate, and I could surely use some work on that virtue in my life. You could say that the past couple of years have really began to develop patience in me, but I learned a lot of those lessons in patience the hard way. Today, it is our prayer that Ember would begin to develop patience earlier and more easily in life than we did.

Dear Father, You are so patient with us! We are forever grateful, but we admit that we often fail when it comes to being patient with You. We did not always act with grace during the period of waiting for You to give us a child. We were tempted, like Sarah, to take matters into our own hands. Lord, we pray that You would give us strength to live life with patience, so that we might set an example for our daughter. Help us to be patient with her as she learns and grows. Help us to be patient with You as we face times of uncertainty. Help us to wait for You to show us Your direction. We pray that our daughter would learn to be patient and wait for Your voice in every situation that she finds herself in. Lord, give her supernatural strength to stand strong while she waits on Your direction. We pray that she would be patient with us as we learn and grow as parents, and that she would to be patient with all those around her, showing them Your love and grace. This we pray as we patiently await the arrival of our beloved Ember Faith.

Day 89: Ember Faith Prayer Countdown

Peace is a subject that has been discussed often on this blog over the past year and a half, something that we have struggled with and sought after through some very difficult times. We have learned a lot about true peace in the midst of our struggles, and today we want to pray for that virtue to be strong in the life of our daughter. Here is what Wikipedia has to say about the fruit of the Spirit known as peace:

Peace is the result of resting in a relationship with God.^[15] Peace is a tranquility, a state of rest, that comes from seeking after God, or, the opposite of chaos. Peace or eirḗnē is God's gift of wholeness and derived from eirō, "to join, tie together into a whole",^[16] properly, when all essential parts are joined together as one or as a whole.

The word "peace" comes from the Greek word eirene, the Greek equivalent for the Hebrew word shalom, which expresses the idea of wholeness, completeness, or tranquility in the soul that is unaffected by the outward circumstances or pressures. The word eirene strongly suggests the rule of order in place of chaos. When a person is dominated by peace, he has a calm, inner stability that results in the ability to conduct himself peacefully, even in the midst of circumstances that would normally be very nerve-wracking, traumatic, or upsetting...Rather than allowing the difficulties and pressures of life to break him, a person who is possessed by peace is whole, complete, orderly, stable, and poised for blessing.^[17]

Today, we pray for peace for our daughter, Ember Faith:

You will keep him in perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You.
Trust in the Lord forever,
For in YAH, the Lord, is everlasting strength.
                        Isaiah 26:3-4 NKJV

Oh God, we thank You for making Your peace real to us. We thank You for filling our hearts with peace in the middle of the most desperate circumstances. Lord, help us to create a home that promotes peace and teaches it as a gift that comes from knowing and trusting You. We are asking that You would speak peace to our daughter everyday of her life, that You would whisper words of peace to her heart in every situation that she is in. Help her to trust You completely and to rest in You. May Ember not only feel Your peace in her heart, but also live out peace in all her relationships.

God blesses those who work for peace,
for they will be called the children of God.
                            Matthew 5:9 NLT

Lord, may our daughter's life be marked by incomprehensible peace. May she be known as one who works to bring peace! This we pray as we await the arrival of our sweet Ember Faith.

Day 90: Ember Faith Prayer Countdown

Today we continue our series of prayers that express certain virtues we hope will be evident in Ember's life. Most of these virtues are the fruit of the Spirit, as listed in Galatians 5:22-23 (NKJV):

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law."

 Today, we pray that Ember would have joy in her life.

"Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!"
                                                          Nehemiah 8:10b NLT

Dear Lord, we pray that You would teach us to live in Your joy and to share that joy with our daughter. We pray that Ember would learn that Your joy is her strength, and that a life lived in Your joy is the most abundant and fullfiling life. Lord, may she come to understand that joy is not something she can find in life by seeking things that will make her happy. Help her to see that joy is only found in having a right relationship with You and seeing things from Your perspective. Fill her life with Your joy and the strength that comes from it. May Ember be known as the kind of person who spreads joy to everyone she meets. This we pray as we await the arrival of our precious little blessing. 

Day 91: Ember Faith Prayer Countdown

It seems like time has been moving so fast since we started this prayer countdown. Everyday, we are surprised by what day we are on. Today, we are beginning to pray a series of prayers regarding the kind of person we want Ember to be. Ultimately, we want her to be exactly who God created her to be. We want her to be a follower of Christ, who is surrendered to His will and His plan for her. However, we also want to ask God to develop specific virtues in her. So today, we pray that Ember would be full of God's love and compassion.

Father, You are so loving and so kind. You surround us everyday with evidence of Your love and compassion, if we would only open up our eyes and see it. Lord, we desire to share Your love with our daughter, and we pray that she would grow up to be a young lady known for her compassion. May You fill her heart so full of Your love that she would not be able to keep it to herself. We pray that she would learn to show Your love to all those around her, even those who seem unlovable, those who may have hurt her. May her heart never be afraid to love. May her hands never be to busy to show compassion to someone in need, and may her life never be so full of people that she has no room to love You. This we pray as we await the arrival of our sweet Ember Faith.