By a MITI Mom in Greece
Using the MITI Four Steps of Prayer has changed my life and redeemed my mothering. My first experience with Moms In Touch was in the fall of 1995 in Belgium. At the time, my children were 9 and 5 years old. The previous five years of my mothering journey had been especially challenging.
At the International Chapel, I learned about the Four Steps of Prayer and praying in one accord using the Word of God. While I did not feel comfortable praying out loud at first, I could feel the Spirit move me when the other mothers would pray for the group’s children. I marveled at how Scripture had so much to say about every concern I had for my children. I learned how God cares so deeply for my children and how much He wants them to belong to Him and walk in His paths.
Spending concentrated time in Praise, Confession, Thanksgiving and Intercession every week, I soon started praying similar steps during my private devotional time. As I searched the Word for praise passages, I discovered more about God’s character and names. I could focus more on who God is and less on my concerns. Thanksgiving, with a focus on a grateful heart, was an antidote to my concerns. Praying short prayers of thanksgiving during the day helped to retrain my thinking and lifted my spirit. Scripture replaced old “tapes” of distorted thinking and gave my mind something true and beautiful to reflect upon.
Intercession for my children became a way to heal my mothering. I knew that I was not a perfect mom, just a mom who imperfectly loved her kids and was throwing herself at God’s feet in praying for her kids. I prayed for myself too, asking God to strengthen me and guide me as a mom. I felt so weak in many ways, yet I knew that God was strong and loved my kids with a perfect love. Encountering so many different situations where I did not have the wisdom or power to face, I could lift my kids up to the One who had all wisdom and power, and who could make all things work for good in my kids' lives.
God also used prayer to heal my relationships with other mothers. The process of raising children in a culture different from the one in which I was raised was an isolating experience at times. I felt that there were few women with whom I could truly relate who shared the same sense of motherhood in regards to spiritual stewardship.
God would prove me wrong when, as praying mothers, He wove us together as we became transparent with one another and with God during our prayer time. Our hearts entwined as we prayed for each other’s children. Moms from abroad supported us in prayer and we discovered that the heart of mothers beat the same for their children all over the world.
During my years of praying for children and schools here in Greece and the challenges our youth faced, I developed a heart of mercy toward the struggles of my Greek sisters. My passion increased in spreading the word that God loves them with an everlasting love, that He is intimately concerned with their mothering and that He wishes to partner with them in raising their children.
God used Moms In Touch and the process of praying with other mothers for our children and schools, to heal so much in my life. He has taken my struggles and concerns for my kids and continuously taught me how to surrender. He transformed my desire for solutions to challenges into a passion for prayer and for God Himself. This is a gift that will remain with me no matter what season of motherhood I find myself in. I have the assurance that in all circumstances, God is present with His everlasting love and sovereignty.
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