day 24: praying for people unknown

31 Days Index 

We talked yesterday about time. I believe that if the Lord is truly #1 in your life, your time should easily reflect your commitment to prayer and quiet time/being in the Word/worship etc.

But let's dig a little deeper into prayer. There is just a little something that God has put on my heart lately...

I'm good at praying for the right now moments...praying for the things in the near future...praying in thanksgiving for what's in front of me. But what about a prayer of surrender to the unknown? What if we were intentional about praying for people in our lives before we even met them? For whatever reason, the Holy Spirit keeps stirring and stirring this wondering in my heart.

First, let me clarify: when I'm talking abut praying for people unknown, it's a challenge I want to give to you no matter what stage of life you find yourself in!

Pray for your future spouse.

For your future babies.

For the future spouse of your sweet kiddos.

For your future grandchildren.

For the legacy that the future generations of your family will leave.

Source (& free printable!)

Well, maybe thaaaat could be a reason God has laid this on my heart...

I treasure my friendships like whoa. The girlfriends that I have are like gold. They are rare gems, and I treasure them so dearly! Their hearts push me to be more like Jesus in many different ways. And I could just talk, talk, talk their sweet little ears off!!! And right now...I literally could talk to them about when we have babies and our future kiddos being bffs and that we'll hopefully eventually be neighbors (you get the picture) for hours. But what about Jesus? Yep, I need to turn to Him more.

You see, since Marky and I moved to Wilmington, I've felt this strong urge to pray for our future little flock of Houston babies. I don't know how to explain it. I just felt led to start committing their lives to prayer daily. Not because we're trying. Not because we're getting ready to have them in the near future. But amidst the peace I feel in this stage of life, God laid on my heart to pray for these little humans that we'll bring into the world one day.

(Side note of t keepin' it real here...there are still plenty of "baby fever" jokes in our house. I do love to talk about the little humans that we'll create one day. That's nothing new though. I've been talking about having babies since my my sister and I played "house" every single stinkin' day of our lives and precisely named 2 little baby dolls Sally and Melissa. Amidst the contentment of where we are right now...I've been anticipating being a mama with such happiness ever since I can remember. :))

So every night. I pray. Hard. For these however many little kids of ours. Some by name. (But not all of them have names yet...;))

And then...this happens: WORRY. FEAR. WHAT IF... after WHAT IF?... creeps into my brain.

To that...God always tells me His words right here:

Source

So I'm praying...praying through any fear... praying steadfastly for the people unknown. With contentment and joy for the here and now. With hope and trust for the future. I'm being intentional about my time. My prayers. And living deeply in my life stage while covering the next in prayer.

Source