Moms in Touch Monday: He is before all things

Today is a Moms in Touch Monday.  Every week I start thinking ahead of time about an attribute of God to use as the focus of our time of prayer for our kids.  Sometimes it is obvious to me well in advance, and other times really not until I sit down to put my plan on paper in the day or so beforehand.  I love the fact that many times they sort of "come out of the blue"--because it is then that I realize once again that God is active in my life, speaking to me in many moments and ways if I will just pay attention.

Last week I knew I had the verse for the week when I was trying to help Ben work through the middle school transition of carrying everything--EVERYTHING!--from class to class with him.  There is NO time for them to go back to lockers, so they have to have everything for the day in their binders. If you had seen his desk the last few years, you would know he was not the very best candidate for this task.  Honestly, I can't quite imagine how I would do it myself.  But he is the one who must.

As I looked with concern at his binder, the beast of burden, bulging with its contents, I thought of this verse:

"He (Jesus) is before all things, 

and in him all things hold together." 

 Colossians 1:17

So that is what we praised God for today.

Do you have a lot of things that you are trying to hold together?  Maybe this week's ACTS outline will help you take them to the Lord so he can do the job for you.

Adoration (praising God for who he is)  Key passage:  "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.  For by him all things were created:  things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.  He is before all things, and in him all things hold together."  Colossians 1:15-17

Today we praised God for the fact that in this new season of life, he went before our kids, knowing who their teachers would be and what their schedules would be.  He planned all along to take care of them, determining who the authorities in their lives would be.  He holds all of the pieces of our families' lives together--each personality, each relationship, each need.  We praised him for these and other things that came to mind as we thought about his pre-existent nature.

Confession  In light of those verses, we asked him to show us if there are any aspects of our lives where all things didn't seem to be holding together, so that we could take note of places where we might not be putting him before everything else, our where our priorities might not be "in him".  After all, sometimes we are guilty of thinking we can do it all ourselves, of thinking we must be the ones to hold everything together for each of our family members, or of crowding our schedules with things that might be desirable but not necessary or best for us. Or maybe that's just me.  ;-)  This was a time to quietly admit these things, to ask him to give us wisdom in our choices, and to help us trust him to hold things together for us and those we love.

Thanksgiving  We thanked God for the ways he has taken care of our kids in many of the details of their school start, through teachers that are good fits, evidence of their maturation in certain areas, and other things specific to each of us and our families.

Supplication (requests)  Key verses:  "My (Paul talking here) purpose is that they (a group of Christians) may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.  I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments.  For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is."  Colossians 2:2-5

This section came just a handful of verses after the passage above.  Really, we could have spent all day praying some of the different specifics of this passage for certain ones of our children.  Some of them needed to be encouraged in heart;  some needed to learn to be more orderly;  all of them need a firm faith in Christ, in order to allow him to be before everything else and trust him to hold their lives together.  And so on.  So we prayed for them.

This is how we pray at Moms in Touch.  Do you see anything in these passages that reminds you of something to be praying in praise, or on behalf of yourself or those you love?