Overcoming My Fear of Praying Out Loud

By Michelle Lewis

A Moms In Touch Co-Leader

     Fear has ruled my life for many years, becoming a stronghold that limited my ability to do God’s work. Fear of failing, fear that I’m not good enough, fear of the unknown—I’m prone to be fearful over pretty much any new situation that is presented to me.

     Well, a few years ago, the Lord got a hold of me and began working on this fear of mine. When my boys were 4 and 1, praying was something I only did by myself, if at all. I wasn’t in a habit of praying and I NEVER prayed out loud, not even with my husband. I mean this was absolutely terrifying to me. But God got a hold of my heart and began really working on this “fear” that I wasn’t letting go of.

     When Nate entered preschool, a woman I did not know stopped me in the hallway and began talking to me about starting a Moms In Touch group for our preschool. I didn’t really know what MITI was, but I agreed to attend the introductory meeting she was planning. I was curious. I knew it involved praying and wanted to know more. I attended the meeting and was feeling convicted right there.

     The idea of praying out loud was frightening, but the Lord had already begun softening my heart to the idea, and the conviction was just too powerful to pass up. I decided to go to the first MITI meeting and figured I’d just listen to the other moms pray. What I didn’t know, but the Lord did, was there would be only one other mom – the leader. Just her and me – that was it!! She prayed and then I prayed. It was wonderful!

     As the weeks went on, my fear was lessening, and I was joyfully praying for my son and praying for the other mom’s kids as well. My experiences praying in a MITI group and what I discovered about God were almost addicting. I saw how He gave me peace as I prayed for His help. I felt His presence with us during those meetings when I would see how the Lord heard and answered many of our prayers. My faith in God’s ability to help me despite my fears was very evident during this season in my life, and I began to trust Him more and more.

     In the fall of 2009, I really felt led to start a church-based Moms In Touch group for the women at my church. But, of course, there was a problem: This would mean I would have to co-lead the group. This was still a scary idea for me, but the Lord has continued to show me that when I seek Him first, ask for His guidance and then trust in His leading, all I have to do is obey and take that first step.

     God has shown me that we need to be our kids’ prayer warriors. Whether our children are babies, young kids, teenagers or adults, they need our prayers.

     While I still am fearful of new situations, when I obey and follow through in what the Lord is asking of me, I’m always blessed by the way He works in my life. He continues to show me that as long as I do my part, He will do His. I trust that with all my heart.

Mom Continues to Pray for College Daughter

By Elise Daly Parker

Pray without ceasing. 1 Thessalonians 5:17.

Catie has just begun her senior year of college. The time, predictably, has been full, yet so swift. I think about the process we went through to get her there. The discovery of a school we had never heard of, and the dream to study something she loved, but had not been trained for, music. It was a God thing. Catie was guided there, almost against her will.

“I do not want to go to a Christian school. Too homogenous. Not diverse enough.” She stated emphatically.

Yet we visited Eastern University (I really don’t know why … I felt drawn), a school committed to faith, reason and justice, and she liked it. Tess, her best friend and cousin, joined us and liked it too. Then they had an Experience Eastern weekend, which we somehow arranged at the absolute last minute. They had a blast staying on campus and partaking in all sorts of fun, get-to-know Eastern activities. And then Catie was accepted into the Music program with a scholarship. Well, that sealed the deal.

I had asked God to guide Catie to the right place for her. He outdid Himself. Really. There were signs and wonders every step of the way, like the creepy black birds cawing in the gray stick branches of trees that lined the walk up to one of the universities we visited. This set an ominous tone and a chill down our spines neither of us could shake. That school was quickly checked off the list as a definite “NO!”

Life over the course of these three years has not been perfect, but I believe the choice for Catie has been pretty close.

There have been incredible joys: friendships I suspect will last forever; adventures that have grown and stretched Catie (some of which I don’t want to hear about); accomplishments in and exposure to music and academics; learning that has broadened her intellect and critical thinking; faith that has been tested and refined. I am so thankful.

But there has also been difficulty: the reality of balancing a rigorous and challenging workload, the trials of fragile relationships that snap. There has even been some devastation: a badly broken heart that tore Catie apart; and a fierce, battle against Lyme disease, that wreaked havoc, weakening her young body and stealing clarity from her mind. Thank God, this was a struggle Catie eventually won.

There were many tearful calls home asking for prayer. Though there were times I felt helpless and out of touch, prayer is the one thing I could always offer. And there were hundreds of prayers lifted up with my Moms In Touch praying sisters, who helped carry burdens and celebrate triumphs. The way has not always been easy, but it has been laced with powerful, believing, fervent prayer.

In just a few months, which I know will whoosh by, Catie will leave the cocoon of college and fly out into the big, bad, wonderful, dangerous world. I will have to let go a little more; not my specialty, but it is my role to do all I can to prepare her for this leaving. I find peace, knowing that as long as I’m living, through prayer, I will accompany Catie wherever she goes.

How about you? As this Fall begins, are you releasing any of your kids into the next stage of life? Preschool? Kindergarten? Middle school? High school? Maybe college, a career, or a new home? What gives you peace in the letting go?

(Reprinted with permission from Elise Daly Parker's blog.)

High School Principal Tells MITI Group Their Prayers Are ‘The Oxygen That I Breathe’

With tears in his eyes, the principal stood in front of his school’s Moms In Touch group, thanking them for their faithful prayers over the past seven years.

It means so much to know that “moms are praying for me,” he shared. “Moms are being faithful, they care so much that they take off work to pray for me, my staff, the students. You’re covering the school with prayer. You can’t imagine how that strengthens me as a principal. It’s the oxygen that I breathe.”

When he had first accepted the position to start a brand new school, he was not yet a “son of the King.” But that did not stop the Moms In Touch group from praying faithfully for him.

“I had fought God for 30 years,” he shared at a MITI gathering. Then in October 2004, after the MITI group had been praying for his salvation, he began to ask, “God, are you real?”

“Unbeknownst to me, these faithful children of the Lord had been praying for a believing principal,” he said. “God was a magnet pulling me towards Him.” Then, later in the school year, he gave his life to Christ. “I felt a shower of grace,” he explained.

When the MITI moms came into his office to introduce themselves and ask if they could encourage the staff through Words and Deeds, he surprised them with a request.

“I asked if they would meet with me on a monthly basis for prayer. It seemed like the most natural thing.”

For seven years, they met monthly early in the morning to cover their principal, staff and school in prayer.

“We’ve had some profound moments,” he said of his time in prayer with the MITI group. With a staff of 200 and 2,500 students, “being a high school principal, is a lot like running a small city. There’s a potential for crisis every day.”

At times, he has sent out SOS emails saying, “I need prayer now.” Then, “three hours later the issue goes away. That’s the power of prayer. I can guarantee you that God answers prayer in a visceral way that transforms me and my school. I now have four believing secretaries, a receptionist and four assistant principals.

“Thank you for praying for me, Moms In Touch. Continue to pray that whatever I do will bring glory to God.”

Praying in a MITI Group Changed Her Life, Helped Her Mothering and Improved Her Quiet Times

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.

Knitting Our Hearts Together in Prayer for Our Kids

By Rhonda VanderPloeg

Arizona State Coordinator

The bulletin ad read, “Come to a Moms In Touch Informational; a new group is forming for Blue Star Elementary School.” My heart did a little leap. I knew this was God’s answer to my pleas to teach me to pray and to be a wise mother. Soon our home was the meeting place for this new prayer group in Holland, Michigan. I found myself discovering the Lord in a whole new way as we focused on one of His attributes each week. The short, focused prayers drew me closer to God’s heart. I also enjoyed the support of other moms, and saw my children and school impacted by God’s power to answer prayer.

Since that time in 1994, Moms In Touch International has been a constant in my life. When the Lord moved our family to Arizona in 2003, I expected to again pray in a Moms In Touch group. Sadly, I soon realized that most moms in my area had never even heard of Moms In Touch. They were missing the joy of seeing God’s power through corporate prayer at work in their children’s lives.

Ready or not, I was drafted by the Holy Spirit to start the first group for our new school. Renewed passion burned in my heart for this ministry. I had a vision like never before. I wanted to share this power with other moms and spread MITI throughout my entire state.

What a privilege and thrill to be Arizona’s State Coordinator. I love to see firsthand how the Lord works in so many lives through the discovery of this simple prayer format that knits our hearts together for the sake of our kids before the throne of grace.

Rhonda VanderPloeg, Arizona State Coordinator, lives in Mesa. She has been married since 1984 and has five children from elementary school to young adults. She loves to discover and learn about God’s creation during quiet moments hiking in the desert.

What is YOUR Moms In Touch story? 
Click on POST A COMMMENT below to share. 

A Lasting Gift for Her Graduate

By Szonja Rozsa

A MITI mom from Chelsea, Michigan

I have been a MITI mom from the time my children were in preschool, and they are now both in college.

Two years ago, as my daughter was preparing to graduate from high school and then to turn 18, I had the strong desire to give her something meaningful and lasting to acknowledge these two significant events in her life.

After thinking for a while, I remembered a challenge I heard many years ago at a Moms In Touch International conference: "What legacy do you want to/will you leave your children?" This question and the talk it was part of made a great impact on me and the direction our family took as we raised our children. I remained a stay-at-home mom and led a MITI group (and was an Area Coordinator) for many years.

I certainly saw no greater gift I could leave for my children than the legacy of praying God's word for them.

Now I realized, I needed to share those prayers with my daughter.

I decided to purchase a Bible with wide margins, and I embarked on the huge task of highlighting and dating every scripture I prayed for her over 14 years, writing the personalized prayers on the margins of the Bible. (I am soooo thankful for those weekly prayer sheets that I saved through the years!)

Well, I was NOT finished by the time graduation and her birthday came, but I did wrap up the Bible, telling her that it was a gift I had been working on since she was a little girl. She had grown up knowing about our weekly prayer time, the Four Steps of Prayer, the women who prayed for her regularly and the fact that I was praying not only for her daily practical needs but also claiming scripture for her. Still, she was puzzled about what the gift could be—until she opened it.

It took me almost two years to finish. When she came home for Easter this year, I was finally ready to give her the Bible, with all the highlights, dates and prayers in it.

In God’s perfect and sovereign plan, the week before Easter, the chapel speaker at my daughter's college talked to the students about praying scripture for people. Many of the girls in my daughter's small group and on her hall had never heard of this before! They were so excited about it, talking among themselves how they would start praying scripture, even for their future children. My daughter was sharing with me how surprised she was to hear that not all moms/parents pray scripture for their children. She grew up assuming this is what everyone does.

As she started to flip through her "finished" Bible, very soon tears started rolling down her face. Later that night as I went to tuck her in, she told me that when I first gave her the Bible after her graduation, she did not really appreciate it much, but now, as she was reading the verses and the prayers, she saw that so many of them have already been answered. She was overwhelmed by the Lord's faithfulness and love to her through the answers she has already experienced.

Thank you, Moms In Touch International, for your ministry to so many of us and thank you for your prayers and commitment to continue to call, encourage and train moms to pray in this most effective and eternally meaningful way!

Blessed to Pray in a MITI Group ... No Matter in Which State or Country God Has Us

By Stacey Antolik Georgia State Coordinator MITI is like some of the most popular fast food establishments. No matter where you go in the world, you can expect the same happy meal.  The Four Steps of Prayer include praying Scripture—the bread of life—like the meat and potatoes. Praying in one accord with one or more moms is like the seasoning of salt, which enhances the flavor of what is offered. The beverage is the safe environment of pouring out our hearts like water in the presence of the Lord.  I have had the privilege of praying in groups and serving in leadership in Georgia, Florida and now back in Georgia. With every MITI group, I receive the same happy meal—each with a slightly different flavor, but with the same basic ingredients. No matter where we live, God uses our prayers to impact our children, schools and the next generation. My theme verses are Psalms 78:6-7, “ … so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.” As Georgia State Coordinator, I have a passion to share this life-changing ministry one mom at a time to impact others worldwide for Christ! My prayer is that you will join in this army of praying moms. Click here to read a testimony from your State Coordinator. Have YOU experienced how praying in a MITI group is the same no matter where you live? If so, we'd love to hear! Just click "Comment" below and hit "Preview" when done.