Sunday Morning Prayers

I’m praying for you today as you worship with your church people. 

Church people can be so sweet. But sometimes in masses, they are a lot to handle. Just too much. Too many questions. Too much interest. Too much advice. Too many words. Too many needs. Too many opinions. Too much. 

In all that too-muchness, realize that you don’t have to fix it all, answer it all, receive it all, or respond to it all. It’s not doable or healthy. 

Deal with what only you need to deal with. Don’t own someone else’s worry. Don’t take someone’s very vocal opinion as your mission if it doesn’t need to be. 

Stop obsessing about all the conversations you’ve had. Move in the strength of the Lord and let it be. Trust him to give you words to say and the spirit in which to say them. 

And… if Ms. “Too Much” comes at you this morning all hot and heavy, smile. Listen and say, “Wow. That’s interesting.” 

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had. Romans 15:5 

I’m praying for you today and for the friendships, you have or don’t have.  

Ministry can create an isolating bubble around friendships: 

• You may feel like you can’t be yourself. 
• You may distrust someone’s motives. 
• You may be unable to move beyond your role as a ministry wife to reveal the broken, imperfect person that you really are.  
• You may not have the energy or time to invest in growing a relationship.  

Even though friendships can be hard for all these reasons, they are so WORTH THE EFFORT and risk. 

Ask God for a friend.
Be open. Be wise. Be honest.
Be ok with the relational ebb and flow that comes in each season.
Put yourself in situations where friendships can grow. 

I’m praying for you and that out-of-control feeling you have when it comes to your children…especially as you trapse through your church doors this morning. 

This mom gig is no joke. For all the hopes I had at managing a great life for my kids and crafting their experiences, I’ve discovered the heartache that comes from this broken world and the reality to where my control abruptly ends. It makes me desperate for Jesus to work in ways where I can’t reach. 

So if you are exhausted or questioning or worried or frustrated in your parenting this morning, breathe and reach for Jesus. He is working in ways that you can’t see and loves your kids more than you do. 

for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Philippians 2:13 

And for you sweet friend who is struggling with infertility or loss and this post pierces your heart, I’m so sorry. There are no words. I wish I could hug your neck and hear your heart over coffee. God loves you. He sees you. He is working in ways that you can’t see. 

Today, I’m praying for your marriage and relationship with that man up on stage or the one bustling around the church.  

He may be exhausted and weighed down.
You may feel isolated and unable to share with him your burdens because you don’t want to add one more to his.
You may feel like the third wheel to his calling and might even resent it.  

I get it. It can be difficult to feel all these things in the privacy of your heart and still smile on Sunday.  

I encourage you to pour it ALL OUT to Jesus in prayer: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Ask God to show you when and how to share with your husband what you feel. Seek wise, trusted counsel to gain some context and framework. Be in the word to gain a rootedness in truth. 

Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. Psalm 62:8 NIV 

I’m praying for you today. 

I’m praying for you today as you may not have any words (or too many).
As you relate to others and wonder what you will say.
As your struggle with your own faith but know there will be an expectation for you to say something right, true, and encouraging.
Or maybe you always have lots of words and sometimes over-compensate by saying too much chitter-chatter. Me, too.  

Breathe. Release the standard you have for yourself to always say the right thing. That just won’t happen 100% of the time.
Lean into Jesus.
Confess your wordlessness or wordy-ness.
Admit that you are struggling.
Ask him to fill you with his words and obey his movement.
Open your heart to see what he will do regardless of whether you feel like it or not.
Ask him to fill you with his words.
And open your heart to see what he will do regardless of whether you feel like it or not.

But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.” Exodus 4:10-12

God gets you. He “will be with your mouth.” I just love that. 

I’m praying for you and any relational weariness you may have: 

– Tired of the same fight over and over in your marriage 
– Weary from a friend who is a taker and you just can’t say “no”
– Exhausted from all the work it takes to grow a human child 
– Overwhelmed with all the needs in your church and you wonder if you are making a difference 

I know you may be tired, friend. I see you working so hard to keep it all spinning. Just make sure to: 

Get some sleep.
Eat healthy food.
Exercise and drink water.
Ask God if you are weary because you are doing it in your own.
People can be exhausting. We aren’t meant to love them on our own.  

Today, I pray that you will have eyes to see people in your church as God sees them and love them as he does. 

It’s difficult to love broken people. Some are easier than others. Some may feel downright impossible to love. Today instead of avoiding someone in the hallway or hoping you don’t see this person in the parking lot, I’m praying for you in all these messy, complicated relationships.
Invite God into loving others by asking him for eyes to see them as he sees them.   

Before you step out of your car, lift up this prayer:
God, help me today. Open my eyes to see people as you see them. And from that move me to love them like you do. Give me patience, humility, perspective, and wisdom. Fill me with your abundant love and may it overflow onto everyone that crosses my path. 

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Matthew 9:36 

I’m praying for you today and your lonely heart. 

Some of my sweetest friendships were rooted in our church. Girlfriends who loved me through losses and disappointments and fears. Those who made me meals when my dad died, cleaned my bathrooms when I had surgery, and prayed me through a type 1 diagnosis of our oldest son. They saw me and loved me for me. 

But, it took me a long time to open up to them. There were many years of loneliness and isolation – wondering if anyone would see me at church for more than just my husband’s position or to leverage me for information. It stinks to feel used or dispensable. 

I don’t know where you land today:
Maybe you have a loving church family.
Maybe you have a 1 or 2 or 5 amazing girlfriends who love and support you.
Or maybe you feel lonely. You may know a ton of people who would call you “best friend,” but it’s really a one-sided relationship, and they really don’t know you.
Or maybe you are scared to open up and let them know your fears and missteps because what would they say if they knew the “pastor’s wife” had those struggles. So, you are caught in this role of perfection and isolation, never really being yourself- only playing a part. 

Believe me, I get it. I’ve struggled with all these things. Make the tininest movement forward today. Ask God for a “heart friend.” Put yourself out there (maybe outside your church in your community) to connect with others. Ask God to show and heal you from the unhealthy parts of yourself. 

God gave us each other to love each other and that doesn’t exclude a ministry wife. I’m praying for your lonely heart today. 

I’m praying for the relationships with your kids today. 
Being a parent is such a privilege. It is a true gift from God to love and care for a little person. 

But… your kids can drop you to your knees faster than anything. Each season brings with it another layer of relationship and surrender. It doesn’t take long until you realize you don’t have as much control as you thought you did.
Boy, we need Jesus.
And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19, NIV 

So today as you sit in church maybe heavy-hearted about your relationship with your kids or rehashing how you are failing them as a parent, remember:
God loves them more than you do.
Their behavior doesn’t necessarily reflect your ability as a parent. 
God is working when you can’t see it. 

Keep leaning into him for strength, wisdom, and love. 

Today, I’m praying over your marriage. May God protect it and bless it. May he ignite a sweet spark of intimacy between you and your husband this week. 

Any marriage is complicated. We carry in with us our upbringing, our past, our preferences, and personalities. But when you add the layer of ministry, church leadership, expectations, judgements, etc, the challenges can catapult marriage into a different stratosphere. 

So, I’m praying for you today as you watch your husband lead and for any bitterness or distance or frustration you may feel. See it for what it is and talk to God about it. Talk to your husband. Seek counsel. You don’t have to stay stuck. 

God sees you in your marriage and loves you where you are. 

*I love who Hagar knew God to be in the midst of her messy marriage with Abraham.
She [Hagar] gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” Genesis 16:13, NIV 

On this hot and dry summer Sunday morning, I’m praying that pride won’t get in your way from loving people. 
Pride, I know. We surely don’t struggle with that? 

I’ve recently been reminided of pride in my heart. It’s deep and twisted. It can reveal itself in a variety of ways: 

• when I get cranky with others when they don’t respect my time by being late to something or not being aware that they talk way too long on the phone or in the hallway 
• when I get hurt that someone didn’t encourage me instead they complain about all the ways my husband isn’t doing things that they think should be done 
• when I seethe on the inside when someone completely ignores me in the hallway or the grocery store after I have been so nice to them 

and oh so many more… 

If you have felt these things, ask God if the root of your response is pride. Ask him to show you the ways that you choose yourself over him. Ask him to show you when you place your confidence in yourself instead of him. I’m all about boundaries and owning what only you need to own. But so many times, pride trips me up and blocks me from loving people from this healthy place. 

I pray that you will go first to Jesus and live confidently in the overflow of his love. 
We can’t control how others treat us. But, we can manage how we take their treatment to heart. 

But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. Jeremiah 17:17 

I’m praying for you this morning that you put down the expectation you have for yourself to fix other people’s problems.  

Sure, I know. Many people come to you with their problems. They share about their broken marriages or parenting issues or friendship struggles or tricky family dynamics or their doubt in God or their secret sins. I know it’s a lot to bear. But, you are not meant to bear the responsibility of fixing them. You can’t fix it. Point them to the one who is the answer. Point them to Jesus.  

“When John saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” John 1:36 NIV
And my friend, rest on everything he is for you. You are more to God than a fix-it agent. You are his child, and he loves you for you. 

I pray for you today, friend. I pray that you will live in the freedom that you have been given through Jesus.

On this weekend where we blast fireworks and waves flags to celebrate the declaration of our country’s freedom, may your heart settle in the freedom that Jesus died for you to have.

You are FREE from the bondage of your sin, your pride, insecurity, your past, shame, and bitterness. They have no right to control or condemn you.

Can we step into the hope of that today?
Can we begin to see that we carry way more than what we need to?
Can we breathe in the freedom from have-tos, should-dos, and wish-I-dids?

Friend, invite God into the mess. Live as a free child of God that you are.

Live as free people… 1 Peter 2:16 NIV

Today (for all us people pleasers), I pray that if you teeter on the edge of people-pleasing that God will nudge you to focus on him.

I like to make people happy. I like to make people feel loved and seen and known. And, I also like people to like me. I’m motivated in part from a genuine love for people. Other parts are motivated out of a need to have people like me. It’s kind of messy.

So today as you love on people in your church:

I pray that the Lord will give you eyes to see others as he sees them.
I pray that he will infuse you with strength to have just one more conversation.
I pray that you will remain motivated to “the why” behind what you do.
I pray that you will seek to please Jesus first.

Am I saying this now to win the approval of people or God? Am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be Christ’s servant. Galatians 1:10

I am not seeking glory for myself; but there is one who seeks it, and he is the judge. John 8:50

I pray that you will let go of comparison today. I do it without even knowing it.

When I see someone doing something amazing like singing or leading or speaking or teaching or loving on babies or looking so fun or creating beautiful things or having a great style or great hair, one of my first reactions isn’t to celebrate how God has gifted them or celebrate who they are. Sadly, I swing into insecurity and make it about me:
Well, I can’t do that.
I don’t look like that.
She’s way better than me.

Comparison. ugh. I wonder if I’m the only one who goes there.

What if we would live in our gospel identity and our first thought would not be comparing but celebrating who she is?
What if we wouldn’t use someone’s giftedness as a judgment of our uniqueness?
What if we would grow healthy and value how God has gifted us regardless of how he has gifted anyone else?
What if we didn’t compare the perfect pictures on Facebook and Instagram to our messy realities which only breeds discontent?
What if we didn’t compare?

God has created and gifted each one of us uniquely. He has our story written. We need to lean into him, obey him, listen to him, and spend time with him so that he can grow and guide us into exactly the beautiful and gifted person he created us to be.

There is such contentment found here.

Let’s let go of comparison today.

Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, for each one should carry their own load. Galatians 6:4-5 NIV

• Sit in the truth that God works wonders and will overcome.
• Fix your eyes on him and not on the complexities of relationships within your church.
• Be infused with his constant love for you as his child instead of your position in ministry. He loves you regardless of what you do for him.

• Why did she ignore me in the hallway? I guess I’m expendable to her. 
• What was that face? I must have made her mad (or my minister-husband did). 
• She’s more put together than I am. How can her hair always look so good?
• I wish I could be more outgoing like her. I feel so mousy. She seems to be so admired. 
• I wish I was softer and more gracious. I’m so loud and I don’t know if others know how to handle me.

• Ask him to help you see people as he sees them and to love them as he loves. 
• Ask him to help you serve others for “the glory of his name.” Not for your name or your husband’s reputation but for his name and glory. 

Praying for you today, sweet ministry wife, as you wake up and get yourself ready for church. As you smile and love and stand with your man. As you listen and serve and bite your tongue and lean into Jesus. May you feel refreshed by God’s truth.