The Most Important Step In Protecting Those You Love
Sometimes people do weird things to protect those they love. I know I have. I remember the look my son gave me when he arrived home around 2:00 in the morning to find me silently dancing in the living room. I was prayer-dancing, and he thought I was nuts. But God honored that prayer and my wayward son grew up to be a wonderful husband, father, and provider ... all things that were questionable at the time of my prayer dancing.If you're anything like me, you want to know that your kids are safe and secure. You also feel that way about the spiritual and physical health of the ones you love. And their job security. And it doesn't matter if they are 13 or 30.Let's face it, women are nurturers and it doesn't matter how much we age, we are still mother bears in the spirit when it comes to the people we care about the most.We also know that we aren't perfect. We don't pray enough. We don't love enough ... or we love to the extreme of enabling. (Been there, done that.) We miss the signals that God and others send us. So we often don't protect when we should.
Prayer walking the darkness
Many years ago a man walked and rode his horse around the boundaries of his town during the cover of darkness. He was prayer walking and mapping out the parts of the city walls that lay in ruins. Jerusalem's destruction was obvious, and people were suffering because of the lack of protection.Out of that midnight ride came a plan of action ... but first Nehemiah had to get an idea of what was going on. Where the walls were broken down. And what and where restoration was needed.And Nehemiah wasn't perfect. He was a normal man with flaws just like you and I. Yet, Nehemiah wasn't afraid to look at the ruin in front of him.
On site with insight
I know it might sound weird, but walking around the boundaries of your home while seeking the Lord will help you see the broken down walls in your family. Of course this "seeing" isn't physical, but in the spirit. It's getting clarity for what you may be missing ... where the enemy has entered because of a breach in the walls in the spirit realm.You may be seeing evidence of a broken wall, but have no clue how it happened. Or you might. Have drugs, pornography, rage, abandonment, or sexual immorality knocked the bricks out of the walls that protect your kids?Prayer walking your home also provides a time when God can download information on what restoration should look like so you can pray into God's plan.
Some last thoughts
Don't be afraid to look at the ruins.Don't let your past mistakes keep you from making another one. If you've been part of dismantling protective walls, you can help rebuild them in the spirit.Take the first step: Walk. See. Pray. Rinse and repeat. That's the first step ... and much of the ongoing process of protecting those you love.Do you have a favorite story about prayer walking your home? Please share it with us in the comments .... I always look forward to hearing how God is doing something similar in your life to what he is doing in mine.Oh ... I forgot to mention that prayer walking works even if you kids are grown and gone. I've walked through my adult children's home in my imagination as I pray. (That's what sanctified imaginations are for, right?)Have a great week, and I look forward to hearing from you.Susan"Jesus likes it when we share." -Adelaide, age 3: Pass this along to everybody and their brother. OK, maybe not everybody's brother, but you know ... all of your friends would be nice.Interested in more like this? Pick up my book How to Pray Effectively for the Things that Matter Most, or check out these posts: 5 Selfish Ways to Pray for Your Kids, and Yes, Prayer Changes Things.