Janet Thompson

During times of physical weakness, prayer becomes our lifeline to God. We may not be able to even get out of bed or hold a Bible to read, but we can close our eyes and pray. Our faith assures us that God is always present, especially in our weakest moments, and He’s our comforter, peace-giver, confidant, energizer, sustainer, and our source of spiritual strength when our body is limp, and our mind may be medicated or fuzzy. God sees it all and cares about it all.

Here are 7 ways you might consider praying when your body is weak but your faith in God is strong.

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Satan works overtime in trying to stop us from reading our Bible because he knows better than anyone that it’s God’s written Word.  

When I married my husband 30 years ago, I had recently rededicated my life to the Lord at a Harvest Crusade. I committed to God to live the rest of my life as a biblical Christian, wife, and mother. My daughter was not a Christian at the time and was appalled that her once independent successful businesswoman mom was now in her words, “Going to be a doormat.” She was skeptical of Dave, who actually is a gentle, kind, godly man, but she feared he was going to dominate me.

It wasn’t until she became a Christian several years later when she and her fiancé accepted Christ in a biblical marriage class that she had an awakening regarding the truth behind biblical gender roles.

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I personally know the heartache and heartbreak of a wandering child, sometimes referred to as a prodigal from the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32. A wandering or prodigal child at any age is a child who is breaking the heart of God and his or her parents. Maybe they’ve wandered away from their faith, or maybe they haven’t ever made a commitment to follow Jesus. They’re being influenced by the worldly culture and may reject the love and concern of parents or grandparents.

When endless talking, restrictions, and discipline fail, we feel desperate, like there’s nothing we can do to save our child from their destructive choices. We know there are dire consequences if they continue down their deceptive path, and the thought of losing them forever haunts us day and night.

We feel. . .
Helpless.
Discouraged.
Devastated.
Sad.
Hopeless.

But God reminds us in James 5:19-20 NLT, “My dear brothers and sisters, if someone among you wanders away from the truth and is brought back, you can be sure that whoever brings the sinner back from wandering will save that person from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins.”

So with encouragement from the Lord’s Word, we diligently pray for our wandering child. We know only God can save our child. Praying and interceding are the most powerful things we can do. Often, we think of prayer as a last resort after we’ve exhausted our own attempts at fixing a situation. I’m suggesting that prayer take precedence over everything else you’re trying. 

The following are seven ways I prayed for my daughter before she returned to God and to me. There are also prayers to personalize for your specific child.

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We’ve all been there. We find a quiet place, get comfortable, or maybe be on our knees. We close our eyes and hands, folded, ready to pray to our Lord and Savior . . . and crickets. Our mind goes blank. We may become frustrated or emotional and can’t find words to articulate a prayer. We know that prayer is an important and essential aspect of our Christian life, but there are times when the words don’t come; instead, our mind wanders to all the things we need to do next.

If this happens to you, and you’re just at a loss for words to pray, don’t fret or worry. Sometimes, words aren’t even needed. God definitely doesn’t want us stressing. We’ve all experienced such a time in our walk with God, who knows our every thought and is patient and forgiving.

Here are seven ways to help get the prayer words flowing or encourage you to rest quietly in God's presence.

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I first heard the colorful Bible story of Jacob’s Ladder as a young child in Sunday school. I still remember the teacher showing us pictures of angels descending and ascending on the ladder from heaven in Jacob’s dream as he slept on the ground and God appears at the top of the ladder speaking to Jacob.

God promises Jacob that he will stay with him wherever he goes and will eventually bring him back to the land where he is having this dream. Jacob realizes the significance of this astonishing visit from God and it wouldn’t be the last time God spoke so dramatically to Jacob in a dream.

As a child, it was an enthralling story to hear, but as an adult, I’ve learned God was speaking to all of his people who would later read of Jacob’s Ladder in Genesis 28 and see how it could apply to their own life.

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