Have you heard the term “prayer walk” and wondered what it means? Laura defines it simply as: Letting what you see prompt you to pray! In this week’s Martha Monday video, Laura encourages us to prayer walk our local schools and shares tips on how to do it!
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In the course of one day – even one hour – our words can encourage and inspire … or they can discourage and destroy.
You and I can easily recall a scene from our childhood, teenage years, or even last week, when the words of a friend, family member, or acquaintance brought a blessing that spurred us on – or robbed us of our joy, bringing tears to our eyes and pain to our hearts. Even after many years, those memories have the power to bring up thoughts and feelings as if they just happened.
Words carry heavy weight and great power. They can be used for good or evil. Perhaps the greatest indicator of our stewardship is how we use our words to influence others.
We teach and train our children to say the right things on the outside:
But we must be diligent to train their hearts. Jesus reminded us:
“…out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.”
Matthew 12:34
Our tongues are the bucket drawing up what is hidden in the well of our hearts. Training and taming our tongues must begin with what we pour into our hearts.
As we’ve been reading and writing in Proverbs, many of the passages have focused on the tongue and the power of words:
Please take a moment to read those verses again slowly. When you have finished, pray them back to God for yourself, your children, and your spouse.
Controlling and stewarding our words is another area for not only teaching our children, but actively living out a godly role model before them. Of course, we won’t always get it right. Of course, we will lose our tempers, become impatient, or speak rashly and without thought. But as we grow in Christ, yielding more and more to the Holy Spirit, we can hopefully see a downturn in those behaviors.
As the Spirit increasingly controls our hearts, our tongue will bring forth more of the Holy Spirit’s influence from that well: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
When you get it wrong, own it. Repent, apologize, receive forgiveness from God and from others, then move on. Don’t languish in self-condemnation.
Our good choices provide a godly example for our children – and even our poor choices (and there will be plenty of those!) model what to do when we get it wrong. As we repent and seek forgiveness, they have a recipe for a “do-over” … and aren’t we ALL grateful that the Kingdom of God has room for do-overs?
Let’s intentionally, consciously, deliberately use our tongues to inspire, build up, and encourage others today! 
In this week’s Friday video, Laura shared a prequel to our fall Bible study in I Corinthians, by looking briefly at Acts 18 where we find a little insight into how the church at Corinth was established. Please listen in and share this video with others, as a means of inviting them to join the Bible study in person, online, or by independently following along!
As we approach September and the start of this year’s Bible study, we invite women in the Northwest Arkansas / Northeast Oklahoma area to join us in person on Wednesday mornings, beginning September 7th. We meet from 9 – 11 a.m. (weather permitting) at Camp Siloam in Siloam Springs, AR. For those who live outside the area or can’t attend for other reasons, we are making it possible for you to join an online group or study along on your own.
Want to learn more about how you can participate? Visit our Facebook event page for all the relevant details!
When looking over verses from our Write the WORD bookmark, it’s often challenging to choose just one to unpack for the Sunday Soaking devotional. Instead, I’ve opted today to highlight three passages from our “Parenting By The Book” theme, and to suggest how to pray those verses back to God as you intercede for your precious ones:
My son, keep my words and store up my commands within you.
Proverbs 7:1
Lord, your word is life. I pray my children would not just memorize Your Word but would love it and live it. Give each of them an insatiable hunger and thirst for your truth that will never be satisfied this side of heaven. As they open Your Word, let it be with an expectant heart and an eagerness to learn. I pray that You would surprise and delight them, as they realize that something they read that morning applies directly to their lives that afternoon. May they marvel and meditate, listen and learn, speak and share Your Word. I pray each of my children would allow the light of your truth to illuminate their path and they would walk in the bright light of that truth all their days. Give me creativity and wisdom in how we, as a family, can store up Your commands, as we memorize passages together. May our family embrace all the blessing and benefits that come from knowing, loving, living, and hiding Your Word. (Psalm 119)
Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you;
rebuke the wise and they will love you.
Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still;
teach the righteous and they will add to their learning.
Proverbs 9:8-9
Jesus, I pray each of my lovelies would have teachable spirits. I pray they would have the humility and maturity to accept correction and grow wiser as a result. Give me great wisdom to disciple and discipline well – convict me, Holy Spirit, when I’m tempted to correct in anger. May love lead out as I rebuke. Above all, may my children know I love them, want what is best for them, and may they desire to grow through godly correction and training. Help me to be thoughtful, consistent, faithful, and true to Scripture as I teach and train my children. I pray they would be caught when guilty and I would respond calmly and appropriately. (James 1:20)
Lazy hands make for poverty, but diligent hands bring wealth.
He who gathers crops in summer is a prudent son,
but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son.
Proverbs 10:4-5
Dear God, it seems so logical to want our children to have a better life than ourselves. Help me to refuse to spoil them by failing to teach them the value of hard work and responsibility. Help me to intentionally increase responsibilities and broaden life skills with each birthday. Give each of them a desire to pursue excellence in all their duties and whether or not anyone is watching. May they be diligent whether serving as a volunteer or in a paid position. Ultimately, may each realize that it is You they are serving (Colossians 3:23)
A love for God’s Word, a teachable spirit, and a strong worth ethic.
If our children reach adulthood with those three traits, we can rest assured that we have done our jobs well. As is true in most areas of life, these biblical values are “more caught than taught.” Our faithful example will carry much more weight than our lectures.
We must show them – not just tell them.
As you and I pray for our children, we must also pray for ourselves, asking the Holy Spirit to spur us on to love the Word, model a teachable spirit, and demonstrate a strong work ethic. Let’s do it!
In Friday’s video, Laura introduced the topic of her upcoming Cross Church Siloam Springs Ladies Bible Study and extended an invitation to join us – in person or online – as we take a closer look at I Corinthians. If you live in the Northwest Arkansas / Northeast Oklahoma area, you can join us at Camp Siloam on Wednesdays, from 9 – 11 a.m., beginning September 7, 2022.
In this week’s all-new Martha Monday video, Laura shared two simple methods for cutting a watermelon into cubes or slices. Do you love watermelon but hate the hassle of cutting it? This video’s for you!
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“Above all else, guard your heart,
for it is the wellspring of life.”
Proverbs 4:23
What is it about children that has them always longing to be older—wanting more privileges and opportunities? Every mother has heard questions like:
The ones you hear may not be those specifically, but your child will ask to do things, see things, spend time with people, and go places that give you pause or even make you shudder.
We want desperately to protect them, but we also want to raise responsible, well-rounded adults who will impact the world for the Kingdom of King Jesus. In the midst of the child-rearing years, you’re often exhausted and overwhelmed, and may feel like you have all the time in the world to teach and train. Some days it’s just about survival and keeping them all alive!
A wise person once told me: The days go by slow, but the years go by fast. Take it from this mother of four adult children, that is sage insight!
This verse reminds us that all our teaching and training needs to zero in on the heart.
Physically speaking, the heart is the indicator of life. As long as there is a heartbeat, there is life—even as other organs may shut down. Remember that first ultrasound? I recall the technician pointing to a flashing light on the screen and telling me that was my baby’s heartbeat. Technology has come a long way since my first pregnancy in 1989, but I still tear up thinking about the wonder and joy of that experience.
As the writer of Proverbs 4:23 reminds us in this verse, the heart is the “wellspring of life.” It is the reservoir of our affections, motivations, and convictions; the source of our attitudes, actions, words, thoughts, and behaviors.
As parents, it’s easy to get caught up in controlling outward behaviors; to bully and force our children into compliance using our authority and parental rights.
Please don’t.
Don’t settle for “have to” when training your children. Instead, choose to pray, lead, and guide them to a place of “want to.” Go after their hearts. If we have done our job well as parents, each year should find us releasing more and more trust and responsibility to our children so they are ready to make wise decisions by the time they become adults.
Today I’d like to share ten “Guard Their Hearts” thoughts, as we unpack Proverbs 4:23 together:
GUARDING THEIR HEARTS IS YOUR JOB.
Whether through TV, books, friends, video games, the horrors to be found on the internet, or something else, the evil one wants to capture the hearts of our children. We don’t need to be fearful, but we must be aware. Don’t abdicate your responsibility.
It may be easy to keep a child occupied in front of a screen, so you can check your email or cook dinner, but know what they are watching. Don’t let anyone or anything engage your precious ones without first checking it out yourself. You would never open the front door and invite someone you’ve never met to babysit, so why allow a stranger on a screen to have access? This has become even more true as our culture embraces ever more warped and ungodly views on so many things.
TRAIN THEM IN SELF-CONTROL.
While it is your job to be the watchman on the walls of their hearts when they are young, eventually you want them to make good choices for themselves. The goal is helping them move from “have to” to “want to.” Work toward the day that your children claim this verse for themselves: I will set nothing wicked before my eyes… Psalm 101:3
EVERY CHILD IS DIFFERENT.
Parenting is not a one-size-fits-all plan. Just as some children learn to walk at 9 months and others at 16 months, so they will each be ready for growing-up opportunities at different ages. Don’t be afraid to deal with each child as the individual they are.
I chuckled when Peter looked at John and said to Jesus, “What about him?” Jesus responded: If I want him to be remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me. John 21:22b
If Jesus had a unique plan for each disciple, it’s certainly okay for parents to have a unique plan for each child.
EVERY FAMILY IS DIFFERENT.
Your family may have chosen to have no television in your home, to share one internet-connected computer, or decided your children will never spend the night with a friend. But make no mistake, you will still need to address the issues of heart.
THE LINE WILL EVENTUALLY HAVE TO BE CROSSED.
Setting up hedges of protection is our job. We must protect our children. But at some point they will grow up and they must be prepared for dealing with the temptations and challenges the world will present. They must cross the line at some point from parental control to self-control.
ALLOW THEM TO EXPERIENCE THE CONSEQUENCES OF THEIR CHOICES.
Don’t expect them to be perfect; they are being raised by imperfect parents. We are grown-up sinners raising little sinners. Their mess-ups offer the best opportunity for teaching and training. We do them a disservice if we don’t let them learn early on that choices have consequences. It is love that prompts a parent to discipline a child. In fact, we should pray they are caught when guilty, and pray that we as parents respond calmly and appropriately—seizing that situation as a teachable moment.
My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline, and do not resent his rebuke, because the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in. Proverbs 3:11-12
TRUST BUT VERIFY.
While some of our readers may be too young to remember when President Reagan was dealing with the Soviets, “trust but verify” was a good plan then, and it’s still a good plan for parents monitoring the behaviors of their children.
Trust that they will obey, but verify. It is your right—and responsibility—to monitor the websites they are visiting, the text messages they are sending, and the movies they are streaming. If they tell you they are going to a certain place, confirm that’s where they are. When/if they fail, don’t allow your own anger to rob you of the opportunity to teach and train.
My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. James 1:19-20
PRAISE THE GOOD CHOICES.
My mama used to say, “You get more flies with honey than vinegar.” It’s much easier to catch our children doing right and praise them for it, than to catch them doing wrong and criticize them. Praise for their good choices will, in turn, make it easier for them to receive our constructive criticism and discipline.
Above all, they must know and believe that we love them, and trust that we have their best interests at heart.
COMMUNICATION IS KEY.
Every relationship (whether it is a friendship, husband/wife, employer/employee, or parent/child) thrives or fails with communication. We can never assume that any other person—especially an immature child—understands our motivations and expectations.
Make sure your kids not only understand what you expect, but why. “Because I’m the mom!” may work for managing outward behavior, but tends to be not-so-effective when we’re going after their hearts.
PRAY.
James reminds us: …The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. James 5:16b Parenting is hard work. It is a spiritual, physical, emotional, and mental battle. The hearts of our children are on the line. We can’t do this on our own or with our own strength.
If you are a believer, you need to “woman up” … and fall to your knees in prayer. What a sweet relief to talk to the One who knows our kids best and loves them most—even more than we love them. His is a perfect, all-knowing, infallible love.
Mom, hang in there. Parenting is hard work, a great challenge that comes with the sweetest of blessings. Keep praying, and keep asking God for wisdom in how to guard their hearts—until they are prepared to guard their own.
When discussing the subject of privileges and growing up, I used to tell my kids, “You will know you are grown up when you can say no to yourself. Until then, it’s my job to say no for you!”
Would you join with me in praying that our children have the desire and self-control to guard their own hearts?
Father, thank you for these precious children that you have entrusted me to raise. Thank you for the encouragement and blessing your Word provides to assist me in this high and holy calling. Lord, fill me with Your Spirit, and let the fruit of Your Spirit be released upon me as I teach and train. I pray that love would lead out as I disciple and discipline my children. Help me to be wise and intentional to guard their hearts. I pray for the day they each have the desire to guard their own hearts. I pray that You would fill each with a desire to live to please You in all they do. Keep them from evil … protect them from evil … may they have no desire for evil. I pray my little ones would grow to be strong men and women of God that live to bring You glory!
In this week’s devotional video, Laura talks about the importance of praying for our children and grandchildren.
We’re only one week into the month of August, with weeks left to read, write, and ponder the verses from Proverbs in our current Write the WORD. Have you printed your bookmark and S.O.A.P. study pages? If not, we invite you to visit our Downloads page today, where you’ll find these, and other, free resources.
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
Proverbs 31:30
A woman who fears the Lord is a woman who is reverent, holy, and knows she exists to bring glory to the God who created and redeemed her. She is a woman who intentionally honors God with her choices – her thoughts, attitudes, actions, words, and behaviors.
In this final chapter of Proverbs, there is a long list of character traits describing what we commonly call the “Proverbs 31 Woman.” It’s noteworthy that this particular trait is the last mentioned, suggesting that fearing the Lord is the crowning characteristic that embodies all the others.
The writer reminds us that the ultimate praise for a woman of God comes to one who fears the Lord. To define this, we can go back to the very first chapter of Proverbs where we read this:
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,
but fools despise wisdom and discipline.
Proverbs 1:7
The place to find knowledge, wisdom, and discipline is God. Sometimes we don’t have it because we fail to ask for it (James 4:2b). All too often when we lack knowledge or wisdom, our first go-to is www-dot-something. We trust Google or an “expert” internet site to find answers to our questions.
But ultimately, real truth – eternal truth – can never be found apart from God.
For that kind of knowledge and wisdom, we must seek after God. We must know that He is the place to begin, if knowledge and wisdom are truly what we desire.
A woman of God asks God for help, then patiently waits on God to provide the answers. As a wife and mother, perhaps these are some knowledge and wisdom questions that need answered:
The knowledge we seek may be academic, spiritual, emotional, psychological, relational, or otherwise, but ultimately it all goes back to God. We ask and He will provide. And the process of asking and waiting for the answer is one of learning to trust Him. Our faith is bolstered. We become a woman who fears the Lord.
Knowledge and wisdom are often used interchangeably. But I like to think of it this way: knowledge is what I glean from studying God’s Word and asking Him for answers. Wisdom is how He leads me to apply that knowledge. Then, as we cooperate with Him, we exercise discipline to incorporate the answers into life.
Do you want to be a woman who “fears the Lord?” Would you ask God to place that desire in your heart? Will you choose to pray over large and small decisions and challenges in your life? Are you ready to seek knowledge, wisdom, and discipline that only God can provide?
In this week’s devotional video, Laura introduced our August Write the WORD topic: Parenting by the Book. We invite you to join us – for the second consecutive month – as we focus on Proverbs, this time with an eye toward parenting. What does Proverbs tell us about how to (and how NOT to) raise our children to be godly and faithful?
You can find the latest Write the WORD bookmark and optional S.O.A.P. study pages on our Downloads page, along with the August ‘Do It!’ List and other resources to encourage you to love God and love His Word.
In this week’s new Martha Monday video, Laura encourages us to tackle the task of doing a pantry (or freezer) inventory in August. She also shares a few items she uncovered as she completed her own pantry clean-out, and how she plans to use them!
Each month, we offer a FREE resource that we call our “Do It!” List. This list is the product of Laura’s years of raising a family and keeping a home, distilled into a printable single-page download that provides a framework for balancing our busy lives. Basic home-keeping essentials are divided into daily, weekly, and once-per-month tasks, and each month we also feature one special task to be done only once or twice per year. Visit our Downloads page to get your own copy of the August list, and be prepared to make progressing in balancing your HEART for God and others, with the demands of a busy HOME.
“He who gets wisdom loves his own soul,
he who cherishes understanding prospers.”
Proverbs 19:8
The writer of this Proverb was keenly aware of human nature: we tend to love our own soul and we desire prosperity.
Appealing to that part of our nature, the writer helps us see that if we truly love our soul, we will chase after wisdom, and if we truly desire prosperity, we will cherish understanding.
Wisdom doesn’t just expand our minds, it nourishes our souls. If I love my mind and my soul, I will intentionally seek after wisdom.
Wisdom is the best prescription for soul care.
So often we think of money when we hear the word “prosperity.” But defining prosperity with dollar signs is shallow, temporal, and certainly unsatisfying. Prosperity is more about building meaningful relationships than amassing resources. And one key to strong, meaningful relationships is understanding.
Thinking of relationships, several life connections come to mind: family, marriage, work, church, small groups, political parties, community organizations, and a myriad of others. When disagreements arise in those relationships, what is the goal? Is winning and getting my way the chief aim? Is the conversation about me – and only me – making my preferences and opinions heard? While the other person is speaking, am I listening … or planning what I will say next?
It seems easy to cherish understanding when everyone agrees. But when conflict arises, we’re presented with a true opportunity to demonstrate a heart of wisdom that cherishes understanding. In that moment, listening trumps talking, and understanding triumphs over winning. Prosperity looks like unity, collaboration, and even compromise. It means the person across from me is more valuable than getting my way. The relationship matters. Understanding the other person’s perspective matters.
If winning is my goal, then unavoidably, by its very definition, someone else loses. Who wants to be a part of a family, a team, a church group, or a workplace with ONE winner and a whole bunch of losers?
The writer of Proverbs doesn’t just say to walk in understanding, or to practice understanding, or to seek after understanding. Instead, he challenges us to cherish understanding.
As I learn to cherish understanding, relationships will be transformed. People become important. I’m letting go of managing behaviors or manipulating people to persuade them to agree with me. I acknowledge the inherent value of the other person, and want to honor and respect this individual whether he or she is my child, spouse, co-worker, co-laborer, or even my enemy.
If I want to nurture my own soul and if I want prosperity, I will cherish understanding.
Lord, would you transform our hearts? Forgive us for the selfish ways of our past. Forgive us for believing that getting our way was the ONLY way. Give us hearts that truly cherish understanding. Holy Spirit, work in us to be peacemakers, problem solvers, and people lovers. Make us prosperous in the ways that honor You and matter for eternity.
Proverbs 14:1 tells us that, “The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.” In this week’s devotional video, Laura shared her thoughts on this convicting passage and encouraged us to receive God’s grace for those times when we’ve done more “tearing down” than “building up” in our own lives.We hope you will be blessed by this teaching!
Fools show their annoyance at once,
but the prudent overlook an insult.
Proverbs 12:16
This Proverb is an example of antithetical parallelism. That’s just a fancy way of saying the first line is the opposite of the second. And for the follower of Christ, that means there are two polarized behaviors available to us when insulted: we can choose to be annoyed or we can choose to let it go.
Choice number one is easy. It takes no effort at all to be annoyed. We even rationalize annoyance: “I’m having a bad day” … so that makes rudeness, irritability, and anger acceptable. Any fool can respond with annoyance when provoked.
Contrasting with the fool’s response is that of the prudent. This is the woman who makes a conscious decision to not be annoyed. It doesn’t mean the insult is not real or even intentional. The difference is the response to it.
The problem with insults is they are often unexpected. It’s difficult (at best) to maintain our composure when blindsided by insults. If there was an early warning—like the road sign that clues us in to a sharp curve or bump ahead—we could hit our proverbial brakes, breathe deep, and be ready. But often it’s just the opposite. Not only do the insults often come unexpectedly, they also have an uncanny way of rearing up on a day when we slept poorly the night before, or when the air conditioning just failed or a toilet overflowed.
The key to responding well—to letting it go and releasing the annoyance—is authority. The follower of Christ has to decide, today and every day, who is in charge. Who controls us? If it is the Holy Spirit, then we choose to follow His lead and let go of an insult and the resulting annoyance.
Letting it go is hard, especially for those of us growing up in a society where we learned to demand our rights and stick up for ourselves. It may feel like a loss of dignity to simply let it go. But walking in the “opposite spirit” is a mark of spiritual growth. When we are Spirit-led, it enables us to make a deliberate choice to follow His lead and let go of our natural desire to bark back.
The bottom line is: Who controls you? The surly bank teller, less-than-helpful customer service rep, or tantrum-throwing toddler (or teenager) before you? Or the Holy Spirit?
When insults rile you, your response gives you away: in that moment, you’re more controlled by a human pushing your buttons than by the Holy Spirit. But when you let it go—when you allow a provocation to go unanswered—then you are being led by the Spirit of God.
We can never control the behavior of others, but we can change our response to it. Will you allow the Spirit of God to take the Word of God and allow you to release the annoyance that rises up when provoked? Will you choose to just let it go?
In this week’s devotional video, Laura asks: Do I speak rashly? We invite you to watch now as she shares practical wisdom from Proverbs.
With 2 weeks left in July, there is still plenty of time to join our Write the WORD study of Proverbs for the Woman of God. Visit our Downloads page now to find your free bookmark and optional S.O.A.P. pages.
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Do you find yourself feeling a bit guilty about “wasting” these long, relaxing days of summer? In our latest Martha Monday video, Laura shares 10 ideas to inspire you to make the most of the remaining weeks before we all return to busier fall schedules and too-full calendars.
Have you downloaded this month’s free Write the WORD bookmark and S.O.A.P. study pages? It’s not too late to join in our study of Proverbs for the Woman of God during the month of July! Visit our Downloads page today to find these and other free resources.
